A CHELMSFORD man plans an epic drive to drive from Chelmsford to Morocco's Western Sahara desert in a Nissan Micra.
Anton Mayo, 24, from Manor Road Chelmsford and Ben Topping, 25, from Manchester left Essex on Saturday (June 21) on their mammoth journey along the Morocco, Algeria border.
The pair plan to already have crossed the Mediterranean by Monday morning at Algeciras in southern Spain to Tangiers in Morocco and to be heading towards Marrakech, the country's capital city.
"We have been talking about doing this for years and decided now is the time to take the plunge and raise some money for charity in the process," said Anton, who works as an engineer for Advanced Engineering Engine Research in Basildon.
"It will be tough, camping out in the wild, travelling 250 miles a day with no air conditioning and sleep deprivation is going to be hard, what will make it even more of a challenge is it is probably the most ridiculous car we could possibly do it in."
The duo who met at Oxford Brookes University, aim to raise £2,500 for Cancer Research and those that donate can write their name on the 1996 Micra that is also kitted out with air horns flash lights and a roof rack.
They plan to travel to the Rif mountains through to the middle atlas mountains over high atlas, then onto the Sahara and be back in England by July 6.
"We want to raise as much money as possible but if we could get £2,500 that would be great.
"We're excited, looking forward to the challenge, my biggest fear is breaking down before we even get to Dover, and we only just started thinking about how dangerous this trip could be," added Anton.
Since buying the red car two weeks ago the vehicle has suffered a few mechanical problems with a gearbox malfunction and clutch problems.
To follow Anton and Ben's journey they will be updating their website with pictures and posts as make their trek across the desert at www.micramachines.co.uk and their Justgiving page www.justgiving.com/manchester-morocco.
