TWO Oxford men will be on the starting line today for a real-life wacky race across Europe.

Tom Wheeler and Ally Larman, both 25 and from Beckley, near Oxford, will be using a battered Ford Mondeo for the race, which starts at Lille, in northern France, and finishes in Barcelona, Spain.

The P-registration Mondeo, which was given to them by a friend, has been decorated with multi-coloured spots, and pink wheels with both competitors’ names emblazoned across the windscreen.

The 70 teams involved will spend the first day of the event driving to Thun, in Switzerland, for an overnight stop.

Tomorrow, they will make their way back into France via the Alps and then over the St Bernard Pass, made famous as the setting for scenes in the 1969 film The Italian Job.

The drivers will then continue into Sauze D’Oulx, an Italian ski resort, before heading towards the French Riviera, passing through Monaco and southern France to get to Barcelona.

It should take them five days to complete the run, with the first team over the finish line winning a £1,000 Ferrari driving experience.

The friends aim to raise hundreds of pounds in sponsorship for the special care baby unit at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.

The race covers 1,500 miles, but Tom and Alistair said they hope to travel further than the finish line and end up driving 2,500 miles – if the car holds together.

Mr Wheeler, a telecommunications salesman, said he wanted to donate the money to the special care baby unit because friends had recently lost their newborn daughter.

He said: “My best friend and his wife had a baby girl back in February, but she sadly passed away shortly after she was born.

“After this happened, I wanted to help in some way, so this rally will be in memory of baby Chloe.”

Earlier this year, he raised more than £5,000 for the Oxford Children’s Hospital by completing the Oxford Mail-sponsored OX5 run around the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.

The duo have so far raised more than £300, but said “the sky was the limit”.

Mr Wheeler said: “We’ve had a really positive response so far. It’s something a bit different.

“I have always wanted to do a drive across Europe. I saw the rally advertised and thought it would be a great fundraising opportunity.”

To make a donation to the duo’s fundraising efforts, see justgiving/tomwheeler_rally