Getting Ready for the Off...

EctoPussy nearly complete thanks to Geoff, his pals + Beer

The picture shows Ecto-1; or EctoPussy as it's officially known.  Not for any rude reasons you understand; but genuinely because the Crumball Rally Thundercrawl 2010 loosely has a James Bond theme to it, while we were intent on a Ghostbusters inspired chariot. So as as nod to Bond we settled on a name which is close to Octopussy. (I'm told that's a famous Bond film).
The picture shows some of the people that are responsible for her look (of which a bit more later).  The only person missing is Charlie; must've been taking the photo.



Why?

We happened upon the existence of Banger Rallys across Europe a few years ago.  I'm not sure if it was Matt or I that saw it first, but it was definitely while in a pub and definitely something we liked the look of - I won't explain it here, but take a look at the website if you'd like to know more..  At the time it never materialised not least because there weren't an abundance of people that had a clue what was going on under the bonnet of a car moving around in our circles and the thought of fending for ourselves somewhere in deepest Poland (the first rally we saw was the Ramshackle; a banger trip to Krakow) didn't appeal.
Not much has changed since then, as far as I'm aware all of us travelling in our two cars (the other car being captained by Guy Spencer) can be classified as 'engine illiterate', but the route only takes us over the Alps, so not a problem if we break down and need to fend for selves it'll be a doddle.  There is though, the small matter of Matt getting married this year which has basically meant that in his mind he has free rein to get mates to do what he wants over the period of the last 6 months.

Having said that, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure everyone's really excited about the next few days now it's here, just that the extra nudge that came from Matt getting married helped generate the initial momentum.  Once the cars were bought and being worked on, the anticiption really started flowing and now, it's fair to say the only thing stopping me from wetting myself is the need to make sure such small matters as insurance and brake check are taken care of.

The Makings of EctoPussy

As the day progressed, more were keeping a watching brief!

I've already mentioned Geoff and Pals and without doubt they completely excelled themselves back on a roasting hot day at the end of June.  It's fair to say that Charlie, Matt and I would never be described as artists unless prefaced with the word piss, so when a constant stream of people turned up on the afternoon of the 26th June, all of whom looked handy weilding a paint brush the relief I felt in the knowledge that for the rest of the day all I had to do was make regular booze runs to Sainsburys (other supermarkets are available) was like the feeling you used to get when you hadn't done your homework then found out a supply teacher was taking the lesson anyway (Not that it happened often Mum).
Should also at this point say thanks to the people at Antenna Studios in South Norwood for letting us do all this in your carpark for the day, much appreciated.
So anyway, in short the day went really well, in the space of 10 hours we managed to convert a near black dog of a Mondeo into a nearly gleaming Ecto 1 imitation, ready for the simple task of negotiating the thick end of a thousand miles through Europe, not to mention consume approx 150 mini scotch eggs and 72 bottles / cans of beer!...

...We didn't drive her home that evening...

Anyway, off to try on the Jump Suit and Proton Pack.  Keep looking back for posts over the next few days and follow us on twitter (if you want)...