The Cox family have put their faith in an 18-year-old Rover car to travel through Europe for a charity event.
Jon Cox, his father, Nigel, and friend Ged Hopgood are due to set off today on the 1,640-mile Crumball Rally.
Participants take on the challenge in a car that costs no more than £200. It is not a race – the aim is to finish.


The trio will raise money for the MS Trust as Jon’s wife, Becky, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010.

Car salesman Mr Cox, 31, of Jubilee Road, Devizes, bought the two-litre Rover for £60. It has 168,000 miles on the clock.

He, his father, 58, a heating engineer of Commercial Road, and Mr Hopgood, 47, of Waterside Park, who works at Aster housing group , Devizes, will travel from France, through Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.


The route goes through the Alps and a number of mountain passes including the Stelvio pass, which has 60 tight hairpin bends.

They have three days to complete it and if the car makes it home, Mr Cox will sell it on eBay with proceeds going to the MS Trust.


He said: “The car seemed okay on the journey from Cirencester [where he works] to Devizes.


“We have done a little bit of service work on it to check it’s okay; it should be. Mechanically it seems okay. We have bought a few spare parts in case they are needed during the journey.


“We are looking forward to it. We haven’t done anything like this before.”

Mrs Cox, 30, who has a four-year-old daughter, Lilia, said of the adventure: “I think it’s amazing. It’s quite a challenge to drive so far in a short space of time.”

Mrs Cox, who also works at Aster, raised £2,500 for the MS Trust by completing a sky dive last year.


She walks with a stick but thanks to monthly infusions of a drug called Tysabri at Southamp-ton Hospital, her relapses have stopped and the drug has slowed down the progression of her MS.

The team have an online donation site. Visit http://uk.virginmoney
giving.com/team/alpustoprague