An Oxford man is selling his flash Porsche because he wants to drive around in the £100 miracle 'old banger' which took him half way across Europe in four days.

It may be nearly 20 years old and have 230,000 miles on the clock - that's the equivalent to driving round the earth nine times - but James Knox says his beige Mazda 626 goes like a dream.

Mr Knox, who runs his own security company. and his friend Nick Moorbath, who owns Oxford's Zodiac nightclub, bought the Mazda to take part in the inaugural 1,600 mile Scally Rally race from France to Spain.

The rules of the competition stated that only vehicles bought for £100 or less could compete and before the race the pair, who admitted they didn't know a great deal about fixing cars, feared they would have to ditch their four-wheeled friend when they reached Spain.

But not only did the car cross the finishing line without a single mechanical fault en route, it made it all the way back to Oxford without breaking down.

And Mr Knox, from Temple Cowley, was so impressed with his 'new' set of wheels that he now wants to drive it all the time instead of his classic white Porsche 968 Club sports car - worth £12,000.

He said: "It went like an absolute dream. We got a mechanic to give it a once over before we went, but the only things he did was free up one of the rear brakes, bleed the brakes, put in a new battery and change the oil.

"I guarantee I could run that car and keep it roadworthy for a year and it uses a lot less petrol than the Porsche - I'm going to turn that into a new kitchen now."

Mr Knox and Mr Moorbath flogged the old banger for at least 10 hours a day for four consecutive days as the race swept through France, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco on its journey to Spain.

And the 'old banger' went so well, the team called Make Poultry History came fifth out of the 100 teams which entered the race. In fact, it was so fast they picked up a speeding ticket.

Mr Knox added: "On a clear stretch of road we got it up to about 130mph.

"We definitely had the quickest car in the rally and that's saying something because there were some unbelievable bits of kit taking part - old BMWs, Jags, and even the odd limo.

"We got a speeding ticket coming through the Mont Blanc tunnel. I think that was the only one handed out to a race team."

The rally was not judged solely on who crossed the line first, the most points were awarded for a series of challenges which teams had to complete during the race.

On one day they had to send a postcard to reach Madrid before they arrived and on another they had to take a picture of their £100 car next to the most expensive vehicle they could find.

Fortunately, the pair stumbled across a Formula 1 McClaren worth several hundred thousand pounds.

Mr Knox and Mr Moorbath also raised £1,000 themselves which will be split between the local branch of the Samaritans and Barnados.

The old banger is not up for sale, but anyone interested in purchasing a hi-spec Porsche sports car can contact Mr Knox on 07802 541858.