Three Wolves fans are taking the road trip of a lifetime to raise money for underprivileged children in the city.

The intrepid trio will drive more than 1,500 miles in an old car emblazoned in the team colours to Rome as part of a rally which draws hundreds of entrants from around the world.

Life-long friends Mark Riley, aged 37, Peter Shore, 36, and Jonathan Jackson, 38, will drive a gold and black 1979 Austin Maxi in the Home to Rome Charity Rally which starts in the French port of Calais on September 23rd.

The team will leave Wolverhampton on September 20th and head for Dover. The car was bought for just £100 from the auction site eBay by Peter, who will be the team’s mechanic. But the car may have tripled in value after the Wolves players signed the car when they gathered at Molineux on the Saturday before their match at Stoke. The whole team was on hand to give the car a send off and wish the drivers luck. The drivers in the Wolves team are originally from Albrighton and former pupils at Wolverhampton Grammar School.

They got together for the challenge to raise money for Wolves Aid, which arranges sporting events for children in the city.

The outward journey consists of more than 1,500 miles
and will take them around six days to complete.

Prizes are also on offer for the best bodge job, the biggest pile of rubbish and the team that takes the longest to hitch-hike.

Mark, who now lives in London and works as a freelance media producer, said: “We were meant to scrap the car in Rome but now it’s signed there’s a lot of people who would be interested in it, so we might have to bring it back. We’re not quite sure what to do with it, though, because it would mean another six-day journey to bring it back to England.”

“So many people have said how good it looks with the Wolves colours and the signatures that it might help raise more money if we bring it back.”

Even though Peter now lives in Exeter and Jonathan lives in Leeds, the three have kept in touch ever since their school days.

Mark said: “The car needed a lot of work doing to it but the rules state that you can’t spend more than £100 on it. It was Peter who found it from a man in Devon who had been trying to sell it and just couldn’t find a buyer.” 

The rally emulates the grand 17th century tours by young aristocratic men travelling for years around Florence, Milan, Venice Rome and Paris.

Also happening at the same time is the race’s sister rally, Staples to Naples.

Mark said: “It’s going to be interesting what happens when we all meet up in Italy.”

Wolves Aid is a registered charity committed to helping youngsters with special needs by supporting local Sporting or Educational projects.

Courtesy of Express & Star