Banger rallies, anybody here ever done one?

[dollywobbler]

An RR one would be super-cool.

As for not going overseas, next Spring will see a group of 2CVers (myself included) driving about 3000 miles around the UK in a figure of 8 in two weeks. So much of this country I have not seen! It's called the Eight-ball rally and should be great fun. There's a treasure hunt aspect to it but you don't have to do that part. Lands End to John O Groats is such a cliché that the organiser came up with something better!

[bigrod]

vicsmith said:

I remember reading about one very similar to the one Pog describes, there was even a team dressed as ....wait for it....Reservoir Dogs! You can imagine that lot`s pub converstaion for the next six years - "We were in an OLD car! Dressed as RESERVOIR DOGS!"

^^^^See that. That was me in Italy last year that was!

It wasn't just one team, it was all of us. It was the 'challenge' for the day. Can't remember all the details, but it was quite a giggle. 300 people. With water pistols. It was quite entertaining. I do have one or two tales but I'll spare you the 'pub braying'. There's some footage of the shenanigans on the video I posted on YouTube. I still giggle at it, but maybe you had to be there.

[bigrod]

dollywobbler said:

An RR one would be super-cool.

As for not going overseas, next Spring will see a group of 2CVers (myself included) driving about 3000 miles around the UK in a figure of 8 in two weeks. So much of this country I have not seen! It's called the Eight-ball rally and should be great fun. There's a treasure hunt aspect to it but you don't have to do that part. Lands End to John O Groats is such a cliché that the organiser came up with something better!

Brilliant! I'd been mulling over a similar idea myself recently. Don't think I could bring myself to do it in a 2CV though.

[montythemole]

I also disagree (a bit) with Pogweasel.

My mate and I did Home2Rome last year in the 924 and had a good time, raised just shy of 3k for Cancer Research, cost us about £500 each to do the event (paid our own fees).

Basically if you look at it as a driving holiday seeing some great places in Europe and raising a few quid in the process you'll do OK.

Yes some of the teams are witless tw&ts. One team of 40+ year olds in particular would turn up for breakfast each morning still wrecked (God knows which one was sober enough to drive) and then proceed to comment on everything that happened in an overly loud, more obnoxious version of Tim-nice-but-dim "Oh look they even have butter in France" "I can see that girls nipples through her outfit etc" Just avoid these teams and stick with the ones that are just out for a laugh or using it as send off for their much loved but now nearly dead car.

If you're thinking about doing it then just do it! It's only a week out of your life and once you get old you'll regret not doing it.

Random tips:
Get sat-nav - saves arguements, means you get places, warns of speed cameras (fines in Switzerland are eye watering) and displays your actual speed in KPH or MPH which is dead handy when your car has a busted speedo.

Try to have more than 2 in a team - It's a lot of driving, I often do 600m a day for work in a nice modern car but even I was finding the worst days of 600m+ in a day in a heap hard work.

If you can get enough mates run two cars, then you can switch between them, keep an eye out for each other etc, maybe have a bit of banger bashing.

Do not attempt to drive back in 2 days like we did. 1400miles may seem possible but it ain't fun. Take the rest of the week and have a leisurely stroll, maybe do the ring or a beer festival, whatever. Europe is a suprisingly cool place, often overlooked as people fly off to Oz, USA, Thailand etc. Sotto Marina was excellent, Rome and Venice you need to see at some point in your life.

[montythemole]

Oh and fit a stereo. We didn't. We had Ipods and speakers. The ipods went flat. We forgot chargers. We learnt to whistle.....

[Ether]

It's not too hard to do a long distance independently. I drove a big(ish) chunk without going on a rally. It was brilliant fun, but yeah, get a stereo.

I agree with Pog to some extent. Most rally types tend to be the sort of folk who would describe themselves as 'a bit mad' and think a novelty tie is the pinnacle of hilarity.

But there are some really sound people who go on these things, too.

[danblez]

Yeah I did the staples2naples a couple of years ago and it was fantastic, chugging over the alps in the Wagon o Doom was an experience never to be forgotten.

I will forever feel guilty for the death of the wagon although he did go out in a blaze of glory!



The wagon and Benzboy are the reasons why I was introduced to this wonderful place.

Pog is kind of right though there are a lot of people who don't enter into the true spirit of it all.

[bigrod]

That Mazda's a legend!!!

The one thing you MUST do if you're going over the Alps is make sure you've got good brakes. I upgraded all of the Omega brakes to Senator 24v items. It didn't cost me anything as I had them lying around, but I'm thankful I did.

We heard stories of smoke billowing from hammered brakes, wheel bearing grease melting and leaving the building and one of the teams had a Transit Diesel Automatic, (Yes they made them! How slow can you go?), that melted it's hubcaps!!!

We actually stopped to help a team with a Volvo who's brake pedal rather predictably met the floor coming down one of the passes. I had asked them if they'd serviced the brakes and they said no. not even new pads!! The brake pipes must have been full of condensation!!

Rather stupidly in hindsight, I offered to drive in front to the bottom of the pass so they might use our car as a brake if the worst happened. Fortunately they got to the bottom and it was the last pass so could relax a bit after that.

[danblez]

Yeah I must admit coming down was pretty scary and we didn't even check the brakes. Benzboy seemed quite trustworthy and he said it had had new pads.

The worst for us was the propshaft wanting to separate itself from the car at 22mph which strangely was the terminal velocity on our way up!

[Lankytim]

Mixed reaction! Thanks for making me laugh Pog, funnily enough I was thinking of using a K reg astra I have tucked away and a while back I was considering using a H reg Volvo 740 saloon until someone ran a digger into it. I can see the issue about cars not being real "bangers" but where can you get a car thats got a smokey engine, panels hanging off, held together with gaffer tape and has flintstones style holes in the floor? The MOT is too strict nowadays and cars are scrapped long before they get to that stage. I remember reading PC a while back and someone used a Hunter on a rally, really fitted the image of a banger!

Ok, some of the other competitors are tw@ts and can be annoying and don't enter into the spirit of the event but they can be avoided/ignored I guess....

The entry fee is £175 (iirc), what does that actually buy you? Why cant someone just drive to Prage by themselves and not pay the organisers anything?

[montythemole]

The entrance fee buys you t-shirts, name tags things, and the map/challenge book. Then you get emails which the 'team' hotels each night so you can hang out in the same places. You get challenges to do each day from the 'dull but keep people awake whilst being passenger' games to far more intertesting stuff.

Generally team numbers for the cars are extra. We missed the deadline when we did ours so got some of ebay that I think looked better anyway.

Technically you could tag along with an event, public roads etc but it would be a bit tightarse and don't expect the organisers to take if well.

I'm considering just doing a tour of Europe myself next year, just a few mates, a car (with AC) and then amble around with a rough plan of where we're going, doing it a bit on the fly. The main downside of these rallies is you cover a lot of ground in a short time, so if you arrive late to a cool place you may just get time for a beer and bed before leaving again, glimpsing stuff out the window you'd have loved to have seen up close.

[Lankytim]

I wouldnt want to "tag along" for free, just ditch the whole group rally idea alltogether and go along solo.

[montythemole]

If going solo I'd have a look at the rally websites and check out the routes as the more established ones have found the best places to see and the best routes to drive, then basically copy them.

Beware France, the middle bit is HUGE and DULL. We came back via Switzerland and a few kms in Germany and was far more interesting. Driving from Calais to somewhere interesting whilst staying in France is a full day of mind aching tedium and large tolls. Of course if you're doing your own thing you could catch the ferry to somewhere esle and start in a far more interesting country entirely!

[Lankytim]

Ill have to look into a solo route. Ive got a Volvo 245 that would be ideal, it cost £50 and looks pretty damn shonky, Id like to bring it back though- bag some duty free!

[dollywobbler]

Stuff France. You can get to Belgium pretty quickly! Amazing how similar European countries seem when you stick to autoroutes though. Boooorrrrriiiiinnnnng!

[autohausdolby]

After doing a couple of trips to France in my Mk2 Polo this year I really would like to go and do a bit more continental driving. I'd have to get something with a higher top speed than my Caddy though. 70 is pushing it's outer limits ;D

[craig]

Went on Ramshackle Valencia in the summer in a Jag XJR. There was alsorts there but most of it was junk (£100 limit on your car). We did drive it home and with a 4ltr lump under the bonnet and the sports button on the dash it wasn't cheap. Well worth it though and recomend it to anyone.

Yep it was only £100!!

[bigrod]

It's remarkable how many XJ40s you see on these rallies. There were three IIRC on S2N and I see pic's of them on loads of other 'events'.

There were also two Merc' limos that were quite noteable but quite believable they only cost the £100. There are some people who turn up in newish cars who are really taking the p155 and that practice is frowned upon severely.

I think the definition of a banger is somewhat open to interpretation. I was considering using my Monza on one next year, but it's never going to be ready in time and while it's maybe not reached classic status yet, I think it's a bit removed from being an outright banger.

[dave21478]

I see the road routes around europe events as more of a driving holiday than any kind of challenge. Its certain that money is raised for charity, but from what I have seen, large entrance fees seem to net you little for your money. Id rather just go it solo or with a few friends on a road trip, than one of these organised events, where you drive quickly through the areas and actually see very little of it.

For me a proper challenge adventure is the ones where there is a real chance of failure/death. The Plymouth to Dakar (I don't think its dakar anymore due to political instability!) would be a good example - crossing namibia in an ice-cream van, repairing sumps that have been torn openm by rocks with chemical metal, bribing mirrored avaitor shade wearing, AK47 carrying customs officials,..... thats the sort of thing thats worth of the "motoring challenge" name

[grahamwithimps]

You see that's the problem with a cost limit on a banger rally. I bought my Bluebird for £113 from ebay and even with the cost of the new radiator it still weighs in at under £200. I would drive it around the world tomorrow and only really need to put oil and petrol in it - it'll cruise down the autoroutes at 130kph all day if asked to. Mind you I might just doze off with the sheer boredom of it...

Graham