Replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to travel from South Shropshire to Swiss Alps for charity
A replica of one of the world's most famous cars - made from donated parts - will make a near-1,000 mile journey from Ludlow to the Swiss Alps to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
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The 'Madmen', creators of 'The Chitty Challenge', were formed after team leader Tim Preece suffered symptomless prostate cancer. The 60-year-old had to have his prostate removed as well as 26 lymph nodes, but unfortunately his cancer returned. After seven weeks of radiotherapy, Tim is cancer-free, and his team who passionately believe that men need to know more about prostate cancer and the need for annual testing was formed.
Over the last year they have built a replica of the iconic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, all from donated parts, and it was unveiled at Burwarton Show earlier this month.
The car will make a journey to Switzerland, via Germany, setting off on Sunday, August 18 from Ludlow Castle. The car is going to be on display outside the castle from 10am to 1.30pm before it sets off on its journey that takes in scenes from the film and ends in Switzerland after a tough drive through the Alps.
The replica car will make most of its journey on the back of a trailer. The first stop will be Cobstone Windmill in the Chilterns, which in the film was the home of the eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts, played by Dick Van Dyke.
The car will then venture to Rothenburg, which was used as the Vulgarian village, and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car will be exhibited in the main square before moving to the Kriminal Museum in Rothenburg.
During the final leg of its journey the car will be driven over the Susten, Furka and Grimsel passes, in tribute to James Bond creator Ian Fleming who wrote the children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
In a memorable scene from film Goldfinger, Bond navigates the Furka Pass in an Aston Martin DB5, and so the replica car built on a 1929 Humber chassis and running gear with a Morris 1000 engine and gear box will make the gruelling and ambitious challenge to drive over all of the passes, reaching heights of more than 2,400m on each pass.
The group's GoFundMe page that is raising money for Prostate Cancer UK says: "We hope that our Chitty replica will raise money for the incredible work that Prostate Cancer UK do, but mainly that it raises awareness among men, encouraging a regular PSA test, and most importantly that it gets men talking about all of these things."
Donations can be made to the group at justgiving.com/page/chittychallengemadmen.
