Story
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online.
On April 5th and 6th 2008, in true 'Top Gear' style, brothers Bill and Pete, along with 2 friends and a car each are pitting their haggling and driving skills to the test against...... EACH OTHER in The Benyon Brothers' Banger Challenge.
We will be racing (within the rules of the road obviously) from Stoke-on-Trent to Loch Lomond (nr Glasgow) in Scotland. But not in any old car. Well, actually......
.....not ANY old car: The car must be legitimately purchased and within the budget of £150. Any further costs incurred (bar tax and insurance) will culminate in time-penalties at the end of the challenge. Time bonuses can also be rewarded for certain styles of car, mod cons and fuel economy.
The winner will be the team that makes it to Loch Lomond in one piece (well all the necessary pieces anyhow) and in the shortest possible time, after penalties and bonuses have been added/subtracted.
If anybody wants to run a sweepstake on how long it takes the winners (or losers) then feel free but make sure we get the profits for Depression Alliance.
We Made It!!!
As you can see from the photo above both cars made it to our Scottish Destination,BallochCastle: on the banks of Loch Lomand, on Saturday. Considering it was a 272 mile trip from J16 of the M6 it was quite astounding that we made it with less than 10mins between us. Please note that this was with the winners having a 10min head start due to technicalities to begin with (so in fact the car that came second actually did the trip quicker!!). We also staggered the starts due to the competitiveness between my brother Bill and myself (we didn’t want the challenge to end in tears on first the slip road). From my tone you can probably tell that the car in front was in fact my brother’s K-reg Volvo 940 Wentworth Turbo that cost the grand total of £150 (with MoT)and already had 180000 on the clock (but only did 20miles to the gallon). They arrived at 2:11pm. We arrived at 2:20pm.
We have worked out – amicably - that my brother will keep the trophy for the next 6months and I will have it for the 2nd 6 months. And yes that does mean there will be another challenge next year!!.
Thank you to everybody who has donated already and to everyone who hasn’t please remember that you can still donate. Thank you so much.
I have once again chosen Depression Alliance as our charity of choice and will be again donating the money in memory of my late wife Suzanne, but also a friend, Rachel Pugh who died in similarly tragic circumstances in November last year.
Please give generously. Please, please, please.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Depression Alliance will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor me now!
Many thanks for your support,
Pete and Bill x