Old bangers to brave the Sahara in eccentric mission to Dakar

Dozens of old bangers left Britain yesterday on a 3,500-mile motoring odyssey.

The only rule of entry in the Plymouth to Dakar Rally – a down-to-earth alternative to the annualParis to Dakar Rally – was that the vehicle of choice could not cost more than £100.

A convoy of 45 ancient cars including Ladas, Mercedes and Hillman Hunters, drove to the official start point to begin the three-week race across southern Europe, Morocco and the Sahara to Dakar, Senegal. A similar number of competitors began from other points along the south coast, according to Julian Nowill, 42, who organised the event for 90 enthusiasts. "I decided to organise a rally which would be a bit of a mickey-take on the Dakar race, which costs a five-figure sum to take part in," he said. "There will not be much racing. The real challenge is to get a 15-year-old MOT failure across thousands of miles of African terrain."

Mr Nowill, who left for Dakar in a Lada he bought after finding it in a hedge, said the team would travel alone except for professional guidance across rough terrain in Mauritania.

The competitors range from serious contenders to armchair-racing enthusiasts and include a comedian, an erotic novelist and a hairdresser. The route will take in treacherous stretches including the Western Sahara, where Mark Thatcher was famously lost in the Paris to Dakar Rally in 1982.

After therace, which Mr Nowill thought up while driving his Lada to St Petersburg last year, the cars will be donated to charities in Senegal and Gambia. Mr Nowill said: "I don't think all of us will make it, but those that do will prove themselves as sturdily built as their cars."