Banger rally

A banger rally is a rally in a scrap or low value car on public roads. The event is a non-racing variant of banger racing. A banger rally may also be a charity rally where the teams taking part in the event also raise money for charity. Banger rallies chiefly appear to be a United Kingdom-based phenomenon and most involve driving through Europe to various destinations where the cars are environmentally scrapped, sold or auctioned for charity. Some events have a limit on how much a participant can spend on buying a car or the size of the engine. Participants in the events often decorate their vehicles with the stickers of sponsors or customising to a theme from popular culture.

The Rise of the Banger Rally

The banger rally first appeared when Julian Nowill took a group of sub £100 vehicles to Dakar over the Christmas and New Year of 2002/2003. The event was called the 'Plymouth Dakar' as a play on the name of the famous Paris Dakar rally. The event is now known as the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge.^[1]

A variation of the Dakar appeared in 2003 in the form of Staples2Naples, Banger Rally for Wage Slaves. This event developed into the much copied European Banger Rally style which continues to this day in the film themed events run by the longest running banger rally organiser "The Crumball Rally Co." who have been running events since 2006.

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