THE PLAN ...

In 1907 Prince Scipione Borghese of Italy won the world's first long distance race when he traveled nearly 12,000 miles from Peking (now Beijing) to Paris in a 7.5 litre Italia.  To mark the 100th anniversary of this event, a rally for vintage and veteran cars will leave Beijing on the 27th May 2007 to follow the original route to Paris.

Four wrinkly men from the South of England decided it would be a good idea to travel in the opposite direction (with a few detours) and meet the "official" rally somewhere in Mongolia. If any of the vehicles and Wrinklies survive this, there is a rumour that at least one vehicle may carry on to Vladivostok, ship across to Alaska and cross America in a round the world attempt, but this is definitely only a rumour!

Vehicles chosen for the journey are very tired Ford Transit vans that have been recycled for the trip. Renowned for cam belt failure and broken gearboxes they've been meticulously converted to luxury motor homes using anything to hand.

The Transit driven by Jonathan and Phil is 20 years old & the combined ages of van and drivers total 131 years. The second Transit driven by Jeff and Tegwyn is a mere 13 years old but add in the drivers and you get a total 132 years.