Toyota has some rich pickings when it comes to robust transport for long-distance travel – if you happened to have a hankering to drive to Japan, say, then a Land Cruiser, Hilux or RAV4 would do just the trick.
The Japanese carmaker does a nice line in dependable four-wheel-drive cars that would easily cover the 12,500-mile journey without too much to worry about.
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But if you were Dan Hardley and Dave Brooks from Cambridgeshire you’d probably end up making the trip through 20 countries in a 16-year-old Yaris supermini. You know, just because.
In fact the pair work together at Fensport Performance, in Chatteris, a garage that specialises in Toyotas, so they know the car well. They picked the £1,000 Yaris for ease of repair on the move and have made alterations to the car to help it withstand the extreme rigours of the long journey.
The whole endeavour has been put together to raise funds for Children in Need, with people from all over the country sponsoring the pair, who plan to camp for most of the trip, with the odd stay in local hostels along the way. They'll be cooking meals using their trusty camping stove.
Dan and Dave left Cambridgeshire on Sunday 12 August, heading across Europe towards Turkey. Their schedule allows eight weeks to reach Vladivostock in eastern Russian, from where they will take a ferry to Japan, via South Korea. Should everything go smoothly they plan to arrive in Tokyo on Friday 5 October and will spend a week there before getting the plane home. The Yaris? That will make the return journey in a shipping container.
You can find more details of the trip, track the pair and sponsor them on their crazy roadtrip by visiting their Chatteris to Tokyo website.
Gallery: Cambridgeshire pair are driving to Tokyo in a 16-year-old Yaris