Less than a month to go!
Yes, we are now less than ONE MONTH to go on the LAST EVER Veterans Banger Rally.
Yes you are reading that right......This will be the LAST Veterans Banger Rally.
in 2024, the organisation and management of the rally will move to a 3 person team, working under the title of the Veterans Honour Rally.
With this in mind, we have decided, after a few favours pulled in and a heap of good luck from one of our teams, who directed me to a production company for a well known channel 5 TV show......... (Ahem. Above!!) that they will be filming with us and also using some of our own footage too, to put together a feature for the show!!
YES, we will be able to say, "As seen on TV"...........
I/We needed to come up with something big to end my/our involvement in the VBR and it was decided (for me!) ****
** Background story - I am as some of you know an RN veteran of some 13years (88-2001) and when talking to some people, it was mentioned, "Oh, you are Ex navy!, you must have loads of tattoo's?"
To be perfectly honest, I have nothing against anyone with a tattoo of any shape or form, but personally on me, the thought of them just makes my physically sick (voming in own mouth as I type!).
back to the blog.......
As I mentioned, it was decided that if (AND ITS A BLOODY BIG IF!!) I was to reach my target on my justgiving page, that I would not only have a tattoo done whilst in Benidorm, but would also have it filmed by the TV production company to be aired sometime in early 2024!
Reluctantly, I have agreed to this under duress! lol (well a couple of whiskeys actually!)
I now have a bounty on my head, but I am feeling rather confident as currently, my fundraising total stands at a massive £20 out of £1000 needed!!!, so it looks like I am safe.
As I type this message to you all (tattoo free!) I am being goaded by so called friends to put the link to the official JustGiving page on here.............
I don't suspect that anyone would like to see a grown man cry, or even pass out with the pain, under the watchful eye of a camera crew, but..........
On a much happier note, (No longer vomming in my own mouth!), we also now have a little Youtube channel if you want to see any of the antics from the start of the rally, to the very end and you can find it by searching for @theGrumpyOldVeteran
The majority of the cars taking part are now up to speed and chomping at the bit to set off for the rally, with some unusual cars this year, such as
Reliant Robin Pick-up!
Romanian Trabant! (3 cylinder!)
Classic VW Beetle
Replica WRC Toyota Corolla
A moving Rugby Pitch!
A very special, one off Nissan Micra by our friends and mechanics from HomeBuilt.
Ghostbusters
and so much more!!!!!
Dover will not know what has hit it when we all turn up on the 24th of September!
30 vehicles are scheduled to take part, but the big question is..............
How many will finish?
On another note,
Our rally mascot this year is Miss Donna Kee-Babb! (Pictured above) and she will be travelling with EVERY team on the rally at least once for a minimum of 50 miles, however when she is passed onto the next team, the team she is departing from must buy her a leaving gift to travel with her! (30 teams = 30 gifts!) and all must travel with her...........Oh, and being a true lady, Miss Kee-Babb, does NOT like small presents!! the bigger the better!
To give you an idea, on a previous rally, our mascot was bought a 3mtr tall inflatable Unicorn!
On arrival in Gibraltar, we will be auctioning off Miss Donna Kee-Babb AND all her "gifts" to raise funds for Cancer Relief Gibraltar.
Everyone is a winner!
For more info, keep your eyes peeled or check out The Grumpy Old Veteran on Facebook and YouTube or keep in touch on the @VeteransBangerRally page on Facebook, where there will be daily videos and updates from a lot of the teams.
https://www.facebook.com/Veteransbangerrally
Monday 28th August 2023 @20.45
BREAKING NEWS!
In the last few minutes, we have had a team drop out..............
Would you like to be impulsive and join us?
No cost to you as the ferry etc has already been paid for etc......
Get in touch NOW via veteransbangerrally@gmail.com
Anyway, I am going to lay down in a darkened room for now and hope (nay PRAY!) that I get NO more donations on my page..............
Stay safe and stay friendly
Yours Aye
John
aka The Grumpy Old Veteran!