Year: 2011

Motoscape Banger Rally Insurance

Posted on by motoscape

ALL SYSTEMS GO!

You’ve got your entry form, you’ve got your passport, you’ve got your tool box, you’ve got your banger and fingers crossed it’ll still be running at the end of the rally!  But are you correctly insured?

This year the Motoscape Rally has teamed up with specialist motor insurer HIC (Herts Insurance Consultants) to offer a banger rally insurance scheme that will cover you both effectively and for a reasonable price.  It’ll mean no nasty surprises along the way, plus it’ll save you time when you check in at the start line. We know this specialist insurance gives you the correct level of cover you need to partake safely and legally in the rally.

AREN’T I INSURED ALREADY THOUGH?

This is up to you to check! Some insurers won’t cover you when you tell them you’re entering a charity rally, especially ones that include travel to overseas countries, however remember this is not a race, it is a European motor tour.

Check with your own insurance and then with HIC and judge for yourself on the best option.

WHAT ABOUT BY MY CO-DRIVERS?  WILL THEY BE COVERED?

The specialist cover HIC provide allows cover for up to four drivers, subject to circumstances and age of course, so you’ll have the peace of mind that everyone is covered fully and legitimately while driving but please bear in mind the cover is third party only.

HOW LONG DOES THE POLICY LAST?

This is up to you! The HIC policy can be tailored to suit your requirements. It might also be worth checking with your own insurance to see if they allow additional vehicles to be added to your policy on a short-term basis.

HOW DO I GET MY POLICY WITH HIC?

Just give HIC a call on the Motoscape Rally hotline: 0844 888 7251

You can also contact HIC by email at [email protected] or via the website, www.hertsinsurance.com

ARE THERE OTHER WAYS TO INSURE MY BANGER?

You should be able to take out a standard car insurance policy with added European cover. Remember, this is a motoring tour, it is not a race / speed rally, so do not mention anything to do with speed, rally and races as most insurance companies do not cover this.

Some people swap the insurance over from their own cars (not recommended if it means leaving an expensive car without theft cover); others take out a separate policy on a pay monthly basis and then cancel it when they get back home (check the terms and conditions that the policy can be cancelled within a set period). This way it will cost you just one month’s insurance.

The Motoscape Team are always on hand to give you advice on insurance for your banger, so don’t hesitate to give us a call, send an email, leave a comment below this blog or on Facebook and we’ll get back to you!

Which car to do the Motoscape Rally in?

Posted on by motoscape

One great thing about a banger rally is the variety of cars that take part. There are so many cars of all shapes and sizes to choose from, so here’s a few tips when considering the ideal vehicle!

1. Fuel Consumption

With the ever-increasing cost of fuel, you need to consider whether a petrol or diesel engine is most appropriate. The small petrol engines (under 1000cc) tend to be quite uneconomical on long journeys, not to mention the risk of over heating, however 1600cc – 2000cc are a good compromise and usually fairly economical on a run.

Diesels are economical and simplicity is the name of the game, therefore non-turbo models are best suited to the rally.

2. Comfort and Space

The rally involves a mixture of hills, country roads and motorways including the derestricted Auto Bahns (no speed limits!) in Germany. When picking a car, remember you will be spending quite a bit of time in it, so air con and comfy seats are well worth considering.

A reasonably powerful engine is ideal especially for those spectacular hills on the Stelvio Pass.

3. Simplicity

Pick a car that has simple mechanics just in case you need to do a roadside repair. Turbos and complicated electrical injection systems can become your worst nightmare if you get a malfunction, where as standard cars just keep running and if there is a problem you can usually repair relatively easily.

4. THE ENJOYMENT FACTOR!

This is the balance, do you take the “classic car” option and choose something like a traditional 4.2 Jag (the ultimate luxury) or a “banger car” such as a bog standard cavalier 1.6 GL (the original rep-mobile). Well only you can decide, there are plenty of cars to choose from (take a look at some of our popular choices from previous rallies), but whichever car you decide on the 2011 Motoscape Rally will be a trip of a lifetime – We can promise you that!

What car will you be taking on this years rally? Let us know in the comments box below!

Do Something Different

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One of our previous Motoscape entrants has been kind enough to write a quick blog for us on their take on the rally and doing something different, have a read below…

Bored, fed up and wanting to do something different? This was me in 2010!

I did the usual, surfing the net looking for ideas, but all I could find was the usual fun runs, coast to coast bike ride, hiking the Pen-y-ghent 3 peaks etc. or to the extreme of raising £5000 plus to go on a trip rafting the Zambezi (I know from previous fundraisers this takes an enormous amount of time)!

However, after a chance conversation with a work colleague I discovered the Motoscape Banger Rally. My colleague had already signed up for the 2010 rally to Prague and listening to his enthusiasm about the event, I did a bit more research, saw how amazing it looked, and decided this could be just the thing for me.

I managed to get a good mate to join me and 3 days later we had signed up for the Prague rally. Four weeks later we persuaded a local car dealer to donate a free car! He is a regular in our local pub, and it took a few pints to get him to agree to it, but it saved us buying a car!!

The car was, in our eyes anyway, a machine of beauty… L reg Vauxhall Cavalier 2.00 GL, petrol with a respectable 122,000 miles on the clock and in all round good condition, but with no MOT. Because we obtained the car for free, having no MOT wasn’t a big issue. So, we had the car checked and then MOT’d for a total cost of £216 and it was ready to roll.

We decided to raise money for our local cancer charity, so we did a ring round local businesses and pestered work colleagues and managed to get sponsorship of £1826.28 – a good effort I thought!!

That was it, car ready, sponsorship received and a few quid for petrol and beer money in our pockets and we ready for the rally!! Here’s hoping we will make it to the end…

The Result
The old cavalier became our best friend and (apart from a puncture) behaved impeccably, we even took in on the Nurburgring and it was AWESOME!!! Best experience ever!

We met some amazing people on the rally (and some even more amazing bangers!), and all in all I can say we had the best time ever, 7 countries in 7 days, highly recommended. I think I have now officially caught the banger rally bug, and next year I am thinking of doing it in an old Jag, can’t wait to see that perform on the Autobahn and the Nurburgring.

In my opinion, if you are looking for a real adventure at a reasonable cost, where you can have loads of fun while at the same time raising money for a great charity, then this is definitely the event for you. I will never do a fun run again!!

I also just want to say thanks to the organisers, Paul, Pete and Mark, we had a fantastic time, hope you can top this next year and I will be signing up for the improved route and might even bring the misses this time as she’s always wanted to visit Venice!

Cheers
David