Banger off on 10,000 mile journey

1:52pm Wednesday 16th July 2008

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TWO men and an old banger are setting off on a 10,000 mile trip for charity this weekend.

Rob Green, from High Wycombe, and Jon Taylor of Hughenden Valley will be driving their J-reg one litre VW polo all the way from London to Mongolia to raise £2,000.

Mr Green, a firefighter at High Wycombe fire station, said he and his co-driver, a mechanic, hoped to reach Mongolia within four weeks of setting off on Saturday.

But should they break down, they would have to fix their banger themselves.

"We're getting no support at all," he said. "They wave goodbye to you in London, they meet us in Prague for a leaving party, then that's it. There's no other help - we are totally on our own.

"If we do go wrong, we've got the bits to replace the workings and luckily Jon's a mechanic."

The two men found out about the mammoth trek during an internet search - and having taken part in a number of long-distance car events throughout Europe they signed up immediately.

"We found it and thought it seemed a bit more interesting than other events we've done," said Mr Green.

A few minor alterations had been made to the car to protect the underside, but other than that it remains in the same condition they bought it in.

Mr Green added he and Mr Taylor would probably head for home via the trans-Siberian railway as part of a bigger adventure.

Half of the money they hope to raise will be donated to Chalfont St Peter-based charity the Myotubular Trust, which funds research into a rare muscle disease.

Wendy Hughes, co-founder of the Myotubular Trust and a friend of both drivers, said: "There are lovely guys and it's really good of them to help us."