TWO students from East Oxford are to embark on a 10,000-mile journey to Mongolia - in a 19-year-old limousine with an artificial turf roof.

James Anderson, 21, and Alex Hill, 22, hope to complete this year's Mongol Rally - a charity event in which old bangers are driven from London to Ulaanbaatar, the Central Asian country's capital.

Setting off on July 19, the duo will cross two continents, five mountain ranges, two deserts and 17 countries in under a month.

Each team in the event must raise at least £1,000 for Mercy Corps, a charity providing aid to people living in poverty and areas of conflict.

To give their fundraising a flying start, they gathered together a group of fellow students to pose for risqué photos for a calendar, which they will sell to raise money towards their target.

Mr Anderson, who lives in Hurst Street, said: "We had already bought one car, a 20-year-old lime-green Fiat Panda, but unfortunately it failed its MoT so badly it has gone to the great car hospital in the sky.

"We have now got a limousine that cost us £500 on eBay. It's a stretched Ford Granada from 1989 and it has an artificial turf roof.

"The previous owner took it on a rally and replaced the vinyl roof, with the idea of making it into a golf tee. It's currently black, but we're going to paint it white for desert reasons - driving a black car in the heat might not be the most sensible idea.

"I'm not sure how many miles it has done, but it has been round the clock, and it has got an MoT to get us to beginning of the rally.

"Driving it is comparable to driving a boat - it's a bit wallowy, but there's plenty of room and it seats seven in the back."

Mr Anderson, who is studying economics and history at Oxford Brookes University, had to bid for one of 300 places on the popular expedition, which is scheduled to take about a month.

He said: "When I won a place I thought I had better round up some mates and get working on it - it's such a fantastic opportunity to do something for charity.

"We're going to be called Team Shake 'n' Bake, which is a motto from the Will Ferell film Talladega Nights, which follows a failing racing driver who manages to pull it out of the bag. Shake 'n' Bake is their secret handshake and we thought it was quite apt."

There are no set routes for the rally and Mr Anderson and Mr Hill admit they will take a relaxed approach to navigation on their way across Europe and Asia.

Mr Anderson said: "There's a massive amount of trepidation going into it."

The teams who reach the finish will auction off their cars in Ulaanbaatar before returning home.

Mr Anderson added: "We have looked at some of the customs of the countries we will be passing through, and we will be visiting people in their homes in Mongolia.

"It's the first time any of us have done anything like this, so we're slightly worried we will forget something."