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28 May 2012
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You are in: Kent > People > Your Stories > Sevenoaks to Stockholm in a Sauna

The boys in the Alps.

The boys in the Alps.

Sevenoaks to Stockholm in a Sauna

Chris Wilkinson and Tom Sharrad have driven from Sevenoaks to Stockholm in a Volvo estate. But it was no ordinary road trip, they dressed up the Volvo to look like a sauna.

The West Kent duo set themselves the 4000 mile journey to raise money for brain tumour charity, the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust.

tom and chris

The first leg of their epic journey was as participants in the “Czech Wrecks” banger rally from Calais to Prague.

Once arriving in Prague, instead of returning home, Chris and Tom's journey continued to Sweden, to show their beloved Volvo its native lands.

The Volvo, which already had 186,000 miles on the clock before the trip, has seen 12 countries - France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and back to England.

On their return Tom said "The sauna roared into Rally HQ in Sevenoaks at 9:30pm on Saturday 5th September. The word “roared” is not used metaphorically. The hole in the manifold is now so huge that it’s not unlike driving a large dragon."

The last 1200 miles took just under 26 hours, including a quick kip in a Danish petrol station and a refuel every six metres or so. Apart from our temporarily cooked brakes and various electrical glitches, the car ran without serious fault for the whole trip.

Tom starting on the sauna transformation

With the charity challenge completed, the Volvo-turned-sauna will be auctioned along with her spare parts following some mechanical work to get her back into top shape.

So far, Chris and Tom have raised over £4500 for Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust. They chose the charity because Tom had a brain tumour as an infant and Chris's mother overcame a benign dermoid cyst on the brain.

last updated: 09/09/2009 at 13:20
created: 14/08/2009

You are in: Kent > People > Your Stories > Sevenoaks to Stockholm in a Sauna



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