We're at cabo da roca, the most westerly point in europe and our final destination. It's absolutely stunning and incredibly nearly all the cars made it here.
Plan is now petrol, cash, bbq and then the world famous coconuts club!
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Sunday, 24 August 2008
We made it!
Home straight
We are one hour from cabo da roca, trooping down the portuguese motorway in our convoy of a porsche 944, honda accord, ford mondeo, ford escort, toyota celica and the pug. A brief overheating moment around midday worried us combined with the fading brakes over the twisting hills. A big party awaits the successful sucateers at the coconuts club.
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Last day
We're on the final leg of the sucata run, driving from salamanca to cascais, portugal.
There's some convoy action today. We're following the landshark toyota celica and behind us are the essex grannies in their escort convertible, the sultans of bling and a clapped out renault 25.
Yesterday was spent driving on the N1, an empty highway that cuts through the heart of spain. We passed huge cliffs and small villages asleep in the afternoon heat. Our choice of a convertible makes even more sense now!
Our starter motor had seized up so we had to push start the car every time we stopped. It seems to have willed itself back to life today, fingers crossed... Luke closed his door yesterday morning and one of the headlamps fell off and shattered into a dozen pieces. Not the best timing as we were being watched by 2 coachloads of spaniards. To add insult to injury, we then had to push the car away to get it started. All of this in our 80s get up, god knows what the spanish made of us.
Funniest breakdown so far happened to team Epic Fail in their alfa. After making it as far as salamanca with almost no brake pads, they managed to break their only ignition key by accidentally throwing it on the windscreen! Cue no boot access and no way of starting the car. Luckily the crazy welsh guys broke the ignition barrel and the steering lock so the alfa is back on the road.
We all meet up every night in town for drinks and we haven't made it to bed before 3am yet. It's getting more and more difficult to get up in the morning.
There are now nine cars in the convoy, woohoo!
Tonight is the big party in cabo da roca. Hopefully we'll make it there in good time and have a siesta by the beach to charge up our batteries.
Over and out.
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Friday, 22 August 2008
Viva espana
We have arrived in san sebastian, weather great campsite full of sucateers with cars we never thought would make it. Pug going well, currently parked up alongside 6 other teams surrounding a spanish newlywed couple. A lot of alcohol is on the cards tonight as san sabastian is picturesque and appears very lively... More to follow
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Sunshine at last!
We are now on the way to our next stop - St Sebastian. There is a scheduled visit to the vinyards of bordeaux on the way.
The sun is out and we are bathing in its rays.
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Thursday, 21 August 2008
Rain and a punctured croc
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Start line!!!
One crate of beer down, 2 to go. Thank you budweiser!
We manged to grab 5 hours sleep and woke up at our generous host raphael's. Breakfast was the chocolate cake raph made at 4am in a drug-addled haze. His flat is in a 17th century courtyard building, an old coach inn. It was absolutely stunning and really great of him to put us up. It's camping all the way now!
The car got covered in bat shit last night so luke got straight to work on the bonnet while I secured the croc and alex packed the car.
Some idiots who are also taking part in the rally burst our croc Elvis with a cigarette last night. Not to worry, keen bike enthusiast that he is, raph had a puncture repair kit so Elvis lives again.
The effort that had gone into most of the cars was impressive. A few of them needed minor repairs this morning. Thankfully all the pug needs is a generous top up of air in the rear driver's side tyre!
After the staggered start, about a dozen of us got lost on an industrial site. the guys working there didn't look too amused by our antics.
We've just left rouen and are cruising in the sunshine and trying to forget how hungry we all are.
Next stop: food!
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008
We've made it to the white cliffs of Dover
We've been upgraded to the illustrious Speedferries Premiere Classe, courtesy of some anonymous emlpoyees at check in!
The journey went fine, elvis the croc spearheading the way although the car does tend to roll a bit over 60 mph.
Ferry delayed an hour, bring on France!
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Update
Tomorrow's the big day and we've raised just under £3500 so far. The cut-off for donations is sunday so please don't hesitate to donate if you haven't done so already.
Many thanks for your continued support!
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Friday, 8 August 2008
Ronin - De Niro, Reno, Bean, Pryce.... and a CJ!!!
Ronin - some say famous for it's car chase seen. But did you know it featured a Peugeot 205 CJ????
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Target smashed!
Hi all,
Thanks to your generosity, we've hit the £1500 mark. We've decided to up the ante to £2000. We've got just over 2 weeks until we set off, please dig deep!
Thanks to your generosity, we've hit the £1500 mark. We've decided to up the ante to £2000. We've got just over 2 weeks until we set off, please dig deep!
Monday, 4 August 2008
Big day for fundraising
We've had our best day yet, with 14 people donating a total of £290! This has pushed our total up to £1,330, ever closer to our target
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Photo shoot
We went shopping for our matching outfits and returned to partake in some promotional work. We needed some photos in our gear to get our fundraising up and running...
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Wheels in motion
Right from the outset we'd agreed on an 80s theme thinking we'd have plenty of options. After spending hours on ebay, autotrader and pistonheads, we'd agreed that the car had to meet the following criteria:
- Convertible
- White (preferably)
- (Reasonably) reliable
- Simple mechanics (no turbos)
- Minimal modifications
- £250 max (Sucata Rules)
General:
Length: 3700mm
Width: 1570mm
Height : 1380mm
Weight: 885kg
Performance:
0-60: 12.7 secs
Top Speed: 101mph
MPG: 39
Engine:
Capacity: 1360cc
BHP: 70
Torque: 82lb/ft
Induction: Normally Aspirated
Cylinders: 4
Valves: 8
Brakes:
Brake Front: Solid Discs
Brake Rear: Dums
Monday, 10 March 2008
We're in!
What is the Sucata Run?
The Sucata Run is a bargain basement tour where teams of up to 4 people drive to Europe's most westerly point in 4 days in bangers costing no more than £250. It takes place over the August bank holiday weekend (21st - 25th) and culminates at the breath taking Guincho beach on the Portuguese coast.
What is the Route?
The tour runs from Rouen, the stunning capital of Normandy, to Cabo de Roca, Europe's most westerly in point in Portugal. On the way it passes through La Rochelle, the most attractive and unspoilt seaside town of France, San Sebastian, the Spanish summer capital, and the beautiful Salamanca, Spain's original party city.
- Thurs 21st Aug: Rouen to La Rochelle.
- Fri 22nd Aug: La Rochelle to San Sebastian
- Sat 23rd Aug: San Sebastian to Salamanca
- Sun 24th Aug: Salamanca to Cabo da Roca
- Mon 25th Aug: Time to relax on the beach... or nurse your hangover
Who are Gemin-i?
Gemin-i.org is a charity specialising in developing innovative solutions to improve education in the developing and developed worlds. To find out more please visit the website.
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