Goodbye to Volvo

SUE Coe is preparing to say goodbye to her trusty old Volvo.

But instead of passing it onto a dealer she will be taking it on a 10,000-mile adventure before it is auctioned off for charity.

In July she sets off on the 2008 Mongolia Charity Rally on a route that will take her through the Ukraine and Russia before reaching Ulan Bator.

Sue, 64, who has an antiques shop in Malmesbury, is no stranger to driving on the continent and has already done more than 280,000 miles in the 16-year-old estate.

"I think I bought it in 1992 and it has just been all over the place," she said. "I used to take the kids off in June and just go south for six to eight weeks."

She got the idea of joining the rally, which starts from Hyde Park on July 5, while she was abroad.

"I drove to Istanbul last summer and when we were there we saw a couple of lads in a jeep who were doing the Mongol Rally."

She had already driven past a couple of 2CVs on their way to China.

Fired with enthusiasm when she got back to the UK Sue decided to find out more about the rally only to discover that it was for cars under 1,000ccs. Then she stumbled on the Mongolia Charity Rally - the same idea, but for any type of car.

She only has a rudimentary knowledge of car maintenance, but that does not worry her too much.

"It has never let me down," she said. "I just rely on the experts that you find on the road."

The closer Sue travels to Mongolia the higher the chances of encountering bandits and border guards requiring bribes.

So far in all her travels on the continent the only difficulty she has faced was when she got lost in a remote part of Kurdish Turkey and had her purse stolen by someone who opened the car door while she was inside.

Luckily people in the next village helped her to get the purse and all its contents back.

She will be raising money for Save the Children and CAMDA, a British-based disaster appeal helping Mongolian agriculture.

Her friend Kathryn Lee is providing back up in the UK and Sue hopes her daughter Sarah will accompany her.

She is also holding a bric-a-brac stall under the Market Cross on May 3 between 8.30am and noon.

6:49pm Tuesday 22nd April 2008