Africa Rally 2008

So you ask yourself, how far would you go to raise money for a worthy cause? For John and I, we easily said that we would take on the Africa Rally 2008! We will be driving our VW Manx, which is currently in pieces stowed in my backyard. Given the current state of West/North Africa you might say we are a bit crazy but hey, that's the adventure. Dakar Rally has nothing on us since we don't have a multi million dollar vehicle nor a multi thousand dollar vehicle. I bought it for a grand and let me tell you, it needs a lot of work. Crazy? Possibly! So here is the plan:

1. Raise Money - thats where my friends, families, fools and companies come into play.
2. Start building the VW Manx "The Deathtrap" - I have it started and will need a lot of work put into it.
3. Obtain Visas - This is going to be a pain since we need 5 visas for africa.
4. Obtain IDP - Can't start a rally without it since the goal is to drive.
5. Obtain Carnet de Passage - A visa for "The Deathtrap"
6. Find a Route - This one is going to be fun.
7. Raise more money - After we hit out mark for our Charity we will be taking personal donations to ease the load of everything else.
8. Buy a ticket to London - Also figure out a way back into the US.
9. Ship "The Deathtrap" to London - Hopefully it will sail nicely
10. Say a Prayer - Africa isn't a walk in the park!

What I need from you! Support, both verbal and *cough cough* charitable.

Here is what we have so far for "The Deathtrap":

The only way I could trailer it home was to put it in the trailer crooked. It worked out fairly well.


The front view with the shell on the bare rolling chassis.


The night I finished my makeshift car port. Courtesy of Home Depot and Harbor Freight. I went with the spring collection of decorations.


Here is the shell lifted using two bicycle lifts.


When I said the frame was bare, I meant it.


We saw the main skeleton now the guts, a conglomerate of parts. This is going to be like putting together a puzzle with no picture but it is a VW bug so no biggie.


Count three engines, hopefully I can get one to work.


Well thats it for now. I will post more as I get to it. Again, to the right are two donation buttons. One is for Send a Cow and the other is a personal donation to Team Deathwish. We will be placing everyones name who sends in a donation on the vehicle. The bigger the donation the bigger the name or company. I will get those details in order when I can.