Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[roverdriver]

In my story 'Almost Coast to Coast in Australia', (the start of which can be found here-
http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15972 ),I mention encountering cars, all heading towards Perth, Western Australia, that appeared to be either participating, or heading to, a rally. We were even invited to the start of the rally.

I managed to find out how some aspects of the event worked by chatting with participants, however a good e-mail friend, Terry has had almost first hand experience, so I'll let him give the details, but first consider this. How many of us would be willing to work to raise sponsorship funds, prepare a car, then (as in many cases) drive that car 2,200 miles or more, just to get to the start of the event- all at our own costs?

Terry says-

Hi Dane,
Allow me to fill you in on the "mystery rally" you came across.

This is an annual fund-raising event put on for the benefit of the Cancer Council, and a couple of years ago it attracted the interest of my daughter Chelsea and her then partner (now husband) Nathan. It's called as you no-doubt know, the Sh*tbox Rally.
The aim is to drive your sh*tbox, a car which you have bought and prepared for $1000 or less (Yeah, sure!). They are pretty flexible on that point, but the vehicle needs to look the part anyway.
The route varies from year to year, and Chelse/Nathan's year the route was Melbourne to Cairns via a pre-determined route which took them through some torturous tracks taking in quite a bit of outback Aus. Entry cost is $4000 and the aim is to raise as much as possible before and along the way, in Chelsea's case they made $10,500, so with 150 entries, you can see it's a great money-spinner for the C.C.
At the end of the rally your car is relinquished to the organizers who then put it up for auction (lose/lose!) or you can buy it back for a figure decided by the committee.
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Now for some photos-











As I wandered along taking pictures, I came across the car and crew shown above. At the time the crew were bending over applying more stickers. The bearded chap looked up and said "You're Dane aren't you?". Now when one is over 2,000 miles from home, one would expect a little anonymity, but here was a fellow who recognised me. We had met a month or so before as he had some Rover and Land Rover bits at his home in the Dandenong Ranges, just up the road, about 100 miles from my place.

Back to the photos-















































It was quite obvious that the aim of the exercise, as well as fund-raising , was to have as much fun as possible. The route for this rally was from Perth to Darwin using quite a few lesser-known 'roads' which in fact are really just tracks. The distance for the rally itself is about 4,000 K's or
about 2,500 miles.

I'll let Terry finish the story-

Chelsea and Nathan bought their car back after having a dream run in it with no troubles except a blown tyre or two, and to this day Nathan drives it, signs and stickers intact. What a fabulous adventure they had!
Pic SRstart73 above shows their car, with some of my artwork/handiwork adorning it.
The start was very exciting, at the Melb Zoo, 9am. The atmosphere was incredible, with people dressed in costumes, with themselves and cars in themes, the area was permeated with good vibes, everyone obviously doing it for Cancer, and they were prepared for maximum fun!! It was so good that my nephew and I decided we have to do it ourselves. However, the next one was going to begin at Adelaide and on to Perth ("Yours" I guess) [No, that was last year, this one is Perth to Darwin- Dane] and the logistics presented as too bloody hard from Corowa, so we shelved the idea.
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O.K. now readers. Who is putting their hand up for the 2015 Sh*tbox Rally?
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Rick]

Looks like fun and very worthwhile to boot, not sure I'd want to hand over my car at the end though

RJ
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[Penman]

Hi
We have something similar in Europe.
http://www.screwballrally.co.uk/index.html

I think I read about another one which goes from Europe down to West Africa and they leave the cars there as charity gifts for the locals.
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[peter scott]

I don't think it's a charity event but we also have the Rust 2 Rome rally. http://www.rust2rome.com/

Peter
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