10,000 miles in a 1989 campervan

"The car is falling to pieces and my dad struggled to drive it to the end of the road at the weekend. It's absolutely terrifying," said Tom Reynolds, one half of the duo.

Probably not words you want to utter when you are just weeks away from driving that very same car through a dozen countries in a 10,000-mile charity challenge. And did we mention it's a 26-year-old tiny camper van with a 970cc engine needing a total overhaul?

But it wouldn't be the annual Mongol Rally if everything ran smoothly – as the website says, 'an adventure is only an adventure when things go wrong'.

Childhood friends Tom Reynolds and Tom Cambidge – 'the Toms' – have been on plenty of road trips together since their days at Wolverhampton Grammar, but their holiday jaunts to Germany and France pale in comparison to the mammoth trip they have ahead – dubbed The Vast and the Furious.

Departing Goodwood Racecourse, Chichester, in their 1989 Bedford Rascal on July 19, the pair will cross the finish line in Siberia a mere four weeks later – rumbling through France, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia in their £1,000 steed.

Deciding to leave Syria off the itinerary, Reynolds said there are still areas they are passing through that have been through recent political unrest.

The 'Vast and the Curious' van is quite poetic, Reynolds said: "As long as you keep yourself well-serviced and well MOT'd you can put quite a lot of miles on the clock.

"It's quite a healthy analogy.

"If we can get this van serviced and we look after it, like people looking after their bodies, it's capable of anything."

It is a 'daft' idea that first sparked during a discussion on pink-themed fun runs and daffodil yellow fundraisers.

Wondering what the male cancer charity was, they took to Google and found research and support charity Orchid.

"Just the fact we didn't know the answer, that's the reason we will do it.

"We are raising the profile of something neither of us knew about before, and hopefully hundreds more people will be able to name a male cancer charity because of it."

Asked whether he and his school mate would have predicted in years to come they would be tackling such a challenge together, Reynolds joked: "I never thought I would tolerate his company for this long.

"But no. We always both loved our cars and we did a lot of road trips together...but never something that has been to raise money for charity, and never something which is pretty much across the majority of the world's surface."

Cambidge, aged 32, is a London-based lawyer, and grew up near Codsall on his parents' Bishop's Wood farm.

Originally from Finchfield, Reynolds is currently teaching in Liverpool, and said the only thing that is nagging at the back of his mind is if they set off for the trip and haven't raised enough towards their fundraising target. I don't mind if it costs us £7,000 or £8,000, if we can raise £20,000 or a decent chunk for charity, it will all be worth it."

"We basically wanted the worst vehicle and a 1.2-litre. We were just looking for something cheap and something that people wouldn't think we could do it in.

"When you tell people what you are doing no-one bats an eyelid. But when you show people the vehicle, and believe me it looks a hell of a lot worse in real life than it does in the pictures, then their ears prick up."

They chose a van with a Japanese engine, as once they get out of Europe, should anything go wrong a Suzuki engine will be much easier to get repaired than many of the makes commonly found in the UK.

They also chose the Bedford Rascal as it was a mobile blank canvas, with the white panels providing plenty of advertising space for sponsors who want to get on board.

With costs of at least £5,000 to take on the challenge, Reynolds said their fundraising target is £15,000 so they can hand over at least £10,000 to the Orchid charity.

"If it gets us to the finish line, wonderful. But the idea of us getting there and not raising the money would be a very hollow victory.

"I would much rather look back and be able to say 'remember when we raised £25,000 driving to that place?' rather than just 'remember that time we drove to that place'."

For anyone who wants to help the team get to Siberia in one pieceemail thevastandthecurious@gmail.com or visit facebook.com/VastCurious

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/vastcurious or Text VAST89 and £2/£5/£10 to 70070.