THREE friends, a £250 car, and 3,000 miles to cover.
That's the challenge this group of intrepid fundraisers has taken up for charity.
Luke Maynard, 22, of Mayland, and friends Jonny Mear, 24, a manager at Morrisons in Maldon, and Chris Page, 22, an engineer of Mayland, will join hundreds of other contestants in the 2013 four-day Scumrun Rally across Europe on May 2.
Known as a poor man's version of the famous Gumball 3000, the rally requires teams to find a car worth less than £500 and cover the 3,000 miles across the continent with only a postcode delivered each morning as a guide to where they will end up.
Luke, a marine engineer with the Royal Navy, said: "I've always talked about wanting to get involved with a charity and given that I'm a big car enthusiast this seemed like the ideal way to do it.
"All we know for sure about where we're going is the ferry from Dover to Calais and then it's just a postcode each day, and campsites overnight."
Part of the fun for the boys has been turning their 1997 Vauxhall Astra into a Thunderbirds inspired racing machine.
"We've managed to find a local signage expert who usually works on racing cars but who put together something for our car for free after he heard it was for charity," said Luke, who works five days a week in Portsmouth on HMS Illustrious.
The group has also decided to design and wear themed costumes and not take them off for the entire four days in the hope of securing an extra prize.
"It's kind of like a dirty lad's holiday really," Luke joked.
The boys are now looking for people to dig deep to help them raise the £500 minimum sponsorship needed to take part, with all money raised donated to WellChild.
The national charity supports children and their families dealing with the consequences of serious illness and complex conditions.
To support the boys on their rally visit http://www.justgiving.com/TeamLDRScumRun
