from the website:

“If you have lots of money and a sense of adventure then the
Paris/Dakar Rally could be your cup of tea…”

“… If you have a sense of adventure but relatively little cash, then
the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge might be up your street!”.

Similar to the Paris Dakar rally – a car race from Europe to northwest Africa – except that the vehicles entered must cost less than ?100 (about $230 CDN). As IF I don’t want to do this. The route passes through France, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and Niger. Another difference from the Paris/Dakar event: more desert crossing.

When (if) they get there they are auctioned off for charity (last year they raised ?27 000!).

This year they have 200 teams, and 3 times as many people wanted to go. What spirit! What joie de vive! What an awful lot of really terrible cars they must have in England.

The convoys are arriving, or being given up on, now.

From one finisher:

With his help our group of six cars ? only one of which is four-wheel drive, made it across the Sahara in three days. This involved a fair amount of pushing and some frankly terrifying driving. Second gear and maximum revs seems to be the answer.

Our little Citroen van, plastered in El Reg vultures, enjoyed the sand and got us through with no big dramas. The driveshaft is clinging on with the help of a handful of plumber?s mastic and the iPod and iTrip still providing music.

Plumber’s mastic? Fabulous.

These fine people are “team Creamy Treats”, (from Deer Harbour Washington, I’ve been there!). They propose to drive

Plymouth England
to
Banjul, Gambia

4000 miles – 400 of it off road thru the Sahara Desert

In this 1971 Bedford Ice Cream Van?

I have to tear myself away from the list of teams (most with a website) because I need to eat some lunch and I could spend all day looking at pictures of ’83 Fiats with 2×4 roofracks laden down with used spare tires and jerrycans. These are my kind of people. These are my kind of cars. This is my kind of rally.

I wonder if they allow motorcycles?