THIS time next week 31 teams from various parts of the motor industry will be in the middle of a four day long trip to Italy.

Everything from a Fiat Seicento to a Black Cab will be taking part in the marathon road-trip which sees competitors buying a car for £500 or less, driving to the home of Ferrari in Maranello, and driving home again to sell their cars for charity.

All the money raised will be donated to the motor charity BEN – and this year’s entry list is our biggest and best yet.

We will be tweeting and taking photos constantly throughout the trip to keep you updated. You can follow BEN on Twitter, and Car Dealer’s James Baggott, James Batchelor and Duncan Chappell.

1. Car Dealer Magazine

Team Members: James Baggott, Duncan Chappell and James Batchelor
Team Name: We’re keeping it a secret until Saturday!
Car: Volvo S80

2. Klarius QH Dragons

Team Members: (Team of 4) Annette Forster, Klarius group marketing director and Doug Bentley, Klarius Group R&D manager will both participate in the event.
Plan of action: Fitting our car with our popular OE quality parts to ensure reliability and planning the route so we don’t get lost.
Banger must have: A stereo system, a fridge in the back and temporary heated seats.
Car: Renault Safrane 2.5

3. Marshall Motor Group – Mountsorrel Honda

Team Name: Great Place to Work
Team Members: Ian Battle, Melanie Bailey-Malcolm
Plan of action: raise awareness of ‘BEN’, raise as much money as possible and to have fun!!
Banger must have: Reliability and a damn fine on-board technician!!
Car: Honda Accord

4. Marshall Motor Group – Peterborough Toyota

Team Name: So FARrari so good…..
Team Members: Steve Ingham, Steve Wilson
Plan of action: To take a Sat Nav that works this year !!! would be a good plan of action
Banger must have: A large diesel automatic cruiser. Last year’s Corolla was a tad bit small!
Car: Vauxhall Omega

5. Marshall Motor Group – Bury Ford

Team Name: A New hope
Team Members: Dez Thompson, John Cook
Plan of action: to rule through fear of force rather than force itself
Banger must have: a shielded thermal exhaust port
Car: Seat Toledo 1.9 TDI

6. Blackbird Communications

Team Name: Stuart Brooks, Anthony Brooks, Carl Burgess
Team Members: Team Moostang
Plan of action: To head ‘em off at the pass and get to Maranello before we run out of supplies
Banger must have: Air freshener
Car: Ford Escort

7. BEN

Team Name: When in Rome…
Team Members: Kelly Neal, Nick Kirman, Warren Neal
Plan of action: Don’t lose anyone .Get all teams there and back
Banger must have: No breakdowns please, we don’t have to share the comfort of our new car with anyone!
Car: Skoda Octavia

8. Bayliss Cheltenham

Team Name: Ghostbusters
Team Members: Westley Dunne, Terry West
Plan of action: Our plan of action is to survive the 4 days without breaking down and remembering which side of the road to drive on. Also to raise as much money for charity as possible and enjoy the adventure.
Banger must have: Sweets definitely, sat nav or very good map book,drinks and some really good cd`s to listen too. Plus a crew with a great sense of humour.
Car: Vauxhall Astra

9. Enterprise-Rent-a-Car

Team Name: Smokey & the Banger
Team Members: Troy Cox, Simon Clark
Plan of action: Make it there and back while evading Smokey & collecting car stickers from each petrol station/food stop.
Banger must have: Sat Nav, Redbull, power ballads compilation CDs & a huge moustache!!
Car: Toyota Avensis

10. BCA

Team Name: The Daleys
Team Members: James Gibson, Steve Sandle
Plan of action: To be humorous
Banger must have: Leather and Cruise control
Car: Alfa Romeo 147

11. Autotrade-mail

Team Name: ‘Shaaaaaagggguuuaaarrrrr’
Team Members: Alistair Jeff, Andy Whitehair
Plan of action: To find our ‘Mojo’ and bring it back for BEN
Banger must have: Mahogany cocktail cabinet, bottle opener, toilet roll, and wobble-headed thing for the dashboard…
Car: Jaguar XJ Sovereign

12. RC Brendon Specialist Cars

Team Name: Scuderia Combe Down / Poundland Racing
Team Members: Rob Brendon, Wags Firmin
Plan of action: Catch it with a ”dab of oppo”
Banger must have: Werther’s Original (multi-pack)
Car: Hyundai XG30

13. Marshall Motor Group – Knebworth Vauxhall

Team Name: Not too Fast, Far too Furious
Team Members: Andrew Kurland, Steven Humphries
Plan of action: To annoy as many Italians as possible
Banger must have: Jenson Button & Lewis Hamilton, & Martin Whitmarsh as team manager
Car: Renault Clio

14. ACF Car Finance

Team Name: Team GB
Team Members: Leyton Cooper, Mark Cranmer
Plan of action: Get there in one piece
Banger must have: Copious Red Bull
Car: Volvo 850

15. Dealer Auction Limited

Team Name: Dealer Auction
Team Members: Gavin Smith, Clive Colyer
Plan of action: Challenge everything, win all the trophies
Banger must have: Toll dodging Sav Nav
Car: Volvo V40

16. North Oxford Garage

Team Name: NOG
Team Members: Graham Livesey, Robert Buckingham

17. Aston Barclay plc

Team Name: Barclay Bangers
Team Members: David Scarborough, Mark Baxter
Plan of action: Swap our Madza MX-5 Sportscar for a Ferrari and hope no one notices
Banger must have: No rust or dents
Car: Mazda MX-5

18. Aston Barclay plc

Team Members: Chris Thomas, Rob Morgan
Team Name: Astons Italian stallions
Plan of action: Get there without getting lost!!!
Banger must have: Breakdown phone number!!!
Car: Alfa Romeo 147

19. Aston Barclay plc

Team Members: Ryan Heard, Robert Bennett
Car: London Taxis International TX1

20. HPI

Team Members: Andy Entwistle, Toni Emmins-Entwistle
Team Name: HPI Wacky Racers
Plan of action: Scheme, cheat and lie to make sure we complete the trip
Banger must have: Air con… which we don’t have!
Car: BMW 520

21. Crystal Communications

Team Members: Greg Whitaker, Roy Norman
Team Name: Team Aftermarket Magazine
Car: Alfa Romeo 145

22. Gforces Web Management

Team Members: Kevin Robins, Chris Laird
Team Name: Well, I hope he likes spaghetti
Plan of action: To get no speeding tickets
Banger must have: Coolant
Car: BMW 528i

23. Gforces Web Management

Team Members: Chris Mead, Anthony Bliss
Team Name: Lavish Convoy North
Plan of action: To pull off the heist of our lives avoiding all traffic jams
Banger must have: Lucky mascot
Car: Volvo V70

24. Hargreaves Garage (Vauxhall & Chevrolet)

Team Members: Chris Hargreaves, Chris Craven
Car: Vauxhall Omega mv6

25. Marshall Motor Group – Cambridge Jaguar

Team Members: Phil Harvey, Theo Runham
Team Name: Cambridge Jag Mafia
Car: Fiat Seicento Sporting

26. Marshall Motor Group – Harrogate

Team Members: Paul Gibson, Anthony Addison
Team Name: The Phoenix
Car: Honda Accord

27. Marshall Motor Group – York Honda

Team Members: Nick Nicholson, Richard Pearson
Team Name: The Lost Boys
Plan of action: Maximise photo opportunities and alert local paper to photograph the beast once painted
Banger must have: Pedestrian friendly bull-bar made from pipe insulation, knew that Blue Peter badge would come in use one day!
Car: Renault Espace

28. Sturgess Jaguar

Team Members: Anthony Kennedy, Glyn Benstead
Car: Vauxhall Frontera

29. Marshall Jaguar Cambridge

Team name: Cambridge Jag Mafia
Plan of action: Get there!
Banger must have: Great theme, great company, great food, great wine, great time

30. The AA

Team Name: Scrumpy
Team Members: Steve Neath, Rolf Martin, John Crew, Robert Martin (aka Bob)
Plan of action: Not to breakdown & have to call The AA!!
Banger must have: Take enough good music
Car: Volkswagen Sharan

31. The AA

Team Members: Steve Clarke, Wayne Short
Car: Fiat Coupe

And not forgetting…

Two AA vans will be following us along the way, and they are:

Team Name: AA Buda
Team Members: Andy McMorran, Paul Bowman
Plan of action: No breakdowns
Banger must have: Spares Parts
Car: Ford Transit

Team Name: The Taffies
Team Members: Brian Evans
Plan of action: Give AA Buda all the breakdowns!
Banger must have: AA Van
Car: Ford Transit