#MYBANGERRALLY:
JOHN FENWICK
Rally Route(s): Champagne Charlie, Black Forest Gateaux and Loch Ness Monster
Year(s): 2015, 2016, 2017
Car(s): Saab 93 (2001) and Saab 93 convertible (2000)
My brother in law had seen a MCOB post on Facebook and shared the post asking if anyone fancies a challenge, I replied immediately saying “Me, Me, Me” so we signed up and entered our first lads only rally, after that I decided that as I had so much fun on the first rally that I really needed to do another, my original team weren’t able to do the dates for the next rally so I asked my wife, knowing it’s all good fun and isn’t just a rally full of male only groups, I knew she would enjoy it so signed her up, she now has the rally bug and has done 2 to date, we are planning many more with Bust Rallies.
THE CARS
Sourced the cars locally, the first car was found by trawling through every garage in the area and eventually found s garage that wanted to get rid of an old Saab for £300, I found the second car on Autotrader at a local(ish) garage, I went to see it and bought it for £300, the first Saab didn’t need anything other than a service, the second needed a new turbo, oil cooler, gearbox, welding, service and a full set of disks and pads
THE TEAM
1st Team- Me (John Fenwick) James Fisher (brother in law) and Damien Kelleher (brother in law)
2nd Team- Me (John Fenwick) and Gemma Fenwick (the wife)!!
3rd Team- Me (John Fenwick) and Gemma Fenwick (the wife) we loved it so much we did it again!
THE CHARITY
We took part to raise money for charity, we have raised money for LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) Cystic Fibrosis, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospital, Headlines and WI Denman. All received a minimum of £500.
FANCY DRESS
Hawaiian shirts and straw hats, bin men outfit, nuns, (this wasn’t a great choice for 3 men in Italy on a Sunday morning, we hadn’t considered how religious the Italians are when deciding on costumes) prisoner costumes, penguin costumes, togas.
DECORATION
First car with sponsor stickers and ways to sponsor us and follow our journey on social media, the second was wrapped in a team name design, it was designed and fitted by a local sign maker and done for a discount as I told them to advertise their business on the car (got it for half price)
CHALLENGES
I remember almost all of the challenges and the struggles we had trying to complete them, the most memorable was when we had to photograph one of the team wearing a helmet, as we were walking down a German street I noticed a motorcycle parked up with its helmet on the seat, it was strapped to the bike so I crouched down and made it look like I was wearing it for a photo, just as I was doing this the owner returned and didn’t look happy! I tried to explain but he didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak German, so as he unlocked his bike I took his helmet, popped it on my head and quickly took a photo before he realised what I was doing.
HIGHLIGHTS
Great fun trying to complete the wacky daily challenges,
Lining up on the first day with all the other teams
The first night meeting with all rally goers in fancy dress
Spotting other cars on route
Finding other teams completing the same challenges as us and working together to get as many points as possible
Every night in a new town
The last night and presentations
Driving some of the best roads in the world
Seeing parts of the world I wouldn’t have seen otherwise
WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BANGER?
The first car went to scrap heaven in Nice, the second has now done 2 rallies and is currently sat on my drive still dressed up and is waiting to do another rally.