Challenge 2014

In 1970 to celebrate the upcoming World Cup in Mexico a rally was organised taking teams of competitors from the site of the 1966 final at Wembley to the Aztec stadium in Mexico City, the route passing through each competing nation and covering a total of 16000 miles.

In 2014 I intend to follow the route of the original rally in an Austin Maxi (one of the cars used on the original rally, an example of which finished 10^th overall). Why 2014? It is the 45^th anniversary of the Maxis launch and it is a world cup year (held in Brazil).

I am Adam Ransom and I have been organising the BL Challenge with a group of like minded friends annually since 2008. This involves one event per year and has included an around Britain coastline trip, a lap of the Isle of Man TT circuit and a 2500 mile European tour. In 2009 we were awarded the GTFM radio 'Mad as a Box of Badgers at Milking Time' award for the Coastal challenge and appeared on the radio show to talk about the experience. I am also the current editor of the Maxi Owners Club magazine and member of the Clubs committee, hence my bias towards BL's seventies hatchback.

This event is being run to raise funds for UNICEF which works in the UK to champion children’s rights, win support and raise money for our work with children everywhere. For over 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leading organisation for children, working to help them survive and thrive from early childhood through adolescence.

UNICEF believe that every child has the right to the best possible start in life. It is wrong for children to die needlessly; it is imperative to prevent their unnecessary deaths. Every child has the right to the highest standards of health and education. It is imperative to work to attain these standards.

The Challenge itself will be run in two legs, the first being a two week dash from the starting point at the 2014 Maxi Owners Club AGM, eastwards towards Budapest before returning west and out to the port of Lisbon. Here the car will be loaded onto a ship and after three weeks at sea the Maxi and I will rendezvous in Rio de Janeiro for the second leg, South and Central America. For this part of the event I have allowed myself three months to complete, a slightly longer time than the original rally, but one that will see me safely through such a large part of the world.

The full list of countries that will be visited is: UK, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatamala and Mexico.

Details of this project will be carried on my website www.blchallenge.org.uk where regular updates will be posted as well as information on previous BL Challenges and those planned for 2012 and 2013.

The only limiting factor at the moment is sponsorship to complete the journey. There is scope for both corporate and private sponsorship, please feel free to contact me should you wish to help.