No L-plates on charity drive to Mongolia in a £400 banger

Published on Wednesday 18 February 2009 08:58

HE'S only just thrown away his L-plates after taking three attempts to pass his driving test.

But now Thomas McThomas is planning to drive 10,000 miles from London to Mongolia in a ten-year-old pick-up truck in the name of charity – and adventure.

The 22-year-old student has barely driven since passing his test in November 2008 but is set to swap Edinburgh's roads for the Gobi Desert when he takes part in this year's Mongol Rally with his flatmate Alastair Sloan, 21 – also a student at Edinburgh University.

The adventurous pair, who live in the New Town, will leave from London's Hyde Park on July 11 and hope to make it to Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, eight weeks later.

Thomas and Alastair purchased the red Daihatsu Hijet for a modest 411 after spotting the vehicle on eBay, and travelled from Edinburgh to Durham last month to purchase the truck

They plan to fill the back of the tiny truck with old clothes and educational materials to donate to the Mongolians, but there's no guarantee they will even make it to their destination.

Thomas said: "We had the truck for about a week and then it broke down because of an electrical fault. It's not that surprising when we bought it for 411."

He added: "It's not a serious problem and, if nothing else, it is preparing us for the journey because there will be hundreds of problems.

"It is a comedy car, it's tiny and has got a flashing yellow-orange light on the top – it's just ridiculous and we had to go for that one. It looks like it weighs about 800 kilos and the wheels are only about a foot high. We are going to modify it to make it rally-worthy."

Thomas's only lengthy drive since passing his test was to pick up the truck in Durham.

"The drive was terrifying," he said. "I've hardly done any driving since I passed my test so it will be a bit of an adventure. I really enjoy driving – what I have done of it – so I have still got that sort of keenness you initially have."

The route is entirely up to participants to decide on but Thomas and Alastair have opted to travel via France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

The pair have already raised 697 for charity Save the Children and hope to raise around 3000 in total.

They also plan to donate the truck to a farming community in Mongolia – if they make it.