Jogle charity run in world's smallest car – but where do you put your bagpipes?
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A charity drive from John O'Groats was scheduled to begin this morning with a bagpipe player at the wheel of the world's smallest car.
Thirty-one-year-old Alex Orchin, from the tiny village of Wivelsfield in East Sussex will roll along the route to Land's End in his tiny Peel P50 for the Children in Need charity.
"I've had an interest in old and unusual cars and I've had a number of them – such as a Model T Ford and my first car being a Morris Minor – but the Peel P50 is by far the weirdest one I've ever had," said Alex.
Alex's interest in offbeat travel modes also led him to undertake the London to Brighton bike ride on a penny-farthing in 2018 for the British Heart Foundation.
Four years ago when he got a three-wheeled microcar – a model that was originally made from 1962 to 1965 by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man – he said he would love to take it on "Britain's biggest journey", the long route from John O'Groats to Land's End.
"Children in Need is a charity I've always supported so I thought that was perfect. They build these P50 cars in London and do all the signwriting on it with charity stuff and pictures of Pudsey [bear] and suchlike and it worked out really well."
Alex explained that the P50 he will be driving was made in 2017 but is based on the original design from the first production models in the 1960s.
In 2010, the P50 was officially named the smallest production car ever built in the book of Guinness World Records.
"This journey, to our knowledge, is a first for this tiny car, that has a top speed of 35mph. It will take about two weeks to complete."
At the age of 10, Alex decided he wanted to play the bagpipes, considering it preferable by far to the violin.
Becoming a very accomplished player, he will be piping at stops along the Jogle route to "draw attention" to the charity run and hopefully collect money for Children in Need.
Supporting him in a 1988 Mercedes campervan is his friend Joely Raffle. She helped Alex take the P50 up to John O'Groats in the back of the campervan.
"The P50 is very fuel efficient and does 100 miles to the gallon and has a moped engine inside it. I use it all the time to go to work and go shopping. They make electric ones too now."
Alex says he looks forward to talking to the people he meets along the route and doing some bagpipe busking too. He plans to leave John O'Groats at 9am today and says he has already raised over £1000 for Children in Need.
To donate to Alex's charity bid visit his GoFundMe page at gofund.me/d29c0fad and look out for him along the route through Caithness in his tiny blue car over the weekend.
