One of the competitors in this rustbucket rally describes the event as "a typically eccentric, stupid, petrolhead, British thing to do." Several of the American competitors would agree, but they loved it regardless. Emily Horgan's explanation of why she wanted to drive a decrepit 1980 car, with a block of wood holding up one window, for 4,500 miles from England, across a slice of the Sahara to Banjul in Gambia, is slender. "It was a harebrained scheme to get away and have an adventure," said Horgan, who lives in Washington, D.C. "There was an element of risk and surprise." Entry fee is about $350; vehicles can't cost more than roughly $175. Rules are loosely applied, however, and as the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "this nevertheless guarantees departing in an unbelievably unworthy vehicle." The Plymouth-to-Banjul Challenge is unsupported, driving through Africa can be dangerous, but every year some 150 competitors participate, helping to raise money for charity. And the views are spectacular, as seen here on the fourwheeldrift Web site.