Banger rally

A banger rally is a rally in a scrap or low value car on public roads. The event is a non-racing variant of banger racing. A banger rally may also be a charity rally where the teams taking part in the event also raise money for charity.

Banger rallies chiefly appear to be a United Kingdom-based phenomenon and most involve driving through Europe to various destinations where the cars are abandoned or auctioned for charity. Some events have a limit on how much a participant can spend on buying a car or the size of the engine. Participants in the events often decorate their vehicles with the stickers of sponsors or customising to a theme from popular culture.

The Rise of the Banger Rally

The banger rally first appeared when Julian Nowill took a group of sub £100 vehicles to Dakar over the Christmas and New Year of 2002/2003. The event was called the 'Plymouth Dakar' as a play on the name of the famous Paris Dakar rally. The event is now known as the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news_features/2003/dakar_rally.shtml "Wacky racers head for Sahara", "BBC News"] ]

Many new rallies have since developed and expanded on the banger rally concept with new challenges and more exotic locations. The directory of rallies [ [http://www.charityrallies.org/en/rallies/all Charity Rallies directory of rallies] ] lists over 20 active rallies, including most notably the Staples2Naples, the Mongol Rally, and the largest, the Budapest-Bamako.

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