| GI enters car into Mongol Rally |
| Written by Anthony Batty | |
| Tuesday, 25 July 2006 | |
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On July 22nd 2006, the Globalisation Institute entered a car into the Mongol Rally. The car - a Nissan Micra - is being driven by two student members of the GI - Richard Mitchell and Anthony Batty - who are attempting to drive across nearly a quarter of the Earth's surface in a car that’s so underpowered, we wouldn’t be able to break the speed limit even if we wanted to. There is no entourage of support vehicles, no planned routes, no back up plans if you get lost, no professional drivers, no maps and no-one will come to your aid when you break down in the middle of the desert with only your co-driver to sort things out. About 200 cars left from Hyde Park in London, including our 1989 Nissan Micra. The aim is to make it to Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia (or as near as possible). The Mongol rally is now in its third year, its success and popularity growing exponentially, with an increase fivefold in the number of cars taking part from 2005 to 2006. This challenge is not all about adventure. Charity is the main reason behind the madness, with each of the 200 teams raising a minimum of £1000 to be split 75/25 between two very worth-while charities. The Mongol Rally isn't about comfort, neither does it have much to do with style, what we seek is adventure. Therefore the rule for every car on the rally is that it MUST have a 1 litre engine or less! Any car with an engine greater than 1000cc is strictly forbidden on this rally. After many hours trawling through eBay, we settled on a 1989 Nissan Micra Collette 998cc, which was purchased for £200 (complete with 9 months MOT and 2 months road tax). The transaction was carried out in Colchester, and the car survived its initiation of the up to York. The specifications of the car are as follows: Make/Model: Nissan Micra (K10) Collette Engine Size: 998cc 0-60mph: 15.8 seconds Horse Power: 52 bhp Top Speed: 90 mph The car has covered 79,000 miles, wears an ‘F’ reg plate and utilises a 4 speed gearbox. The only modifications performed thus far have been upgrading the speakers and stereo while acquiring a Haynes manual. Comments (0)
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