Draft:Vantage World Tour

The Vantage World Tour (VWT) is a charity challenge supporting CALM. The challenge is being taken on by Philip Churchill, and his son William Churchill. They are aiming to drive around the world in their Aston Martin V8 Vantage, raising money for CALM. They have currently raised £13,621 in the first year of the challenge.

Background

The car is a Aston Martin V8 Vantage which already has had a few adventures of its own. It was part of the Project 30,000 challenge, where it completed 30,000 miles in 30 days. It was tested on roads all around Europe by Aston Martin employees.

Only a few years later it was part of the FIA's Driving Home Road Safety campaign which aimed to draw attention to the high road deaths in young people in Low Income Countries. The team featuring Richard Meredith and Phil Colley traveled the length of the Asia Highway, from Tokyo in the east, to Istanbul in the west. The journey covered 10,000 miles.

The Churchills came into possession of the car after spotting it for sale on a trip to London.

Launch

A photo of the two VWT drivers, outside the RAC talking about the challenge.

An event was held at the Royal Automobile Club to celebrate the start of the Vantage World Tour on the 26th February. During the event, Philip spoke about what the charity meant to him, William spoke about what they would be covering in the first leg, and James from CALM spoke about the work that they do, and what donations go towards. Afterwards all in attendance went outside to the front of the club to wave off the car, starting the tour.

The Vantage World Tour launch outside the Royal Automobile Club, with the car and support crew.

Pall Mall to Panama 2023

After setting of from London, the team made their way up to Liverpool, where the car, by now nicknamed 'KROSY'

On the 29th of March, 2023, the world tour set of from Times Square, and traveled to Chicago, before heading down to Richmond, Virginia to watch a NASCAR race. The pair continued through the southern states, to Houston, before crossing into Mexico. They continued south, stopping in Mexico City along the way before making it to Cancun, where the car was placed in storage.

The team returned in October, where they picked up the car and headed south. They headed south to the Lagoon of Seven Colours, before crossing into Belize. They enjoyed some time at the beach at Hopkins, before continuing down towards Guatemala. The broken roads challenged them with some damage to the car,