TWO friends have hit the road for a trip of a lifetime from Bradford to sunny Southern Spain in a 45-year-old classic sports car.

Peter McKirgan and Mark Rayner left Clayton yesterday to head to Portsmouth for the overnight 20-hour ferry to Santander before the long haul down to Benahavis, finally arriving on Tuesday after travelling 1,000 miles.

Engineer Mr McKirgan, who lives in Blackberry Way, Cleckheaton, bought the restored Triumph TR6 two years ago, has been raising sponsorship for the trip in aid of the NSPCC.

Together Mr McKirgan and Mr Rayner, a 54-year-old self-employed tailor from Shelf, have so far raised £1,500 for the charity and will be rattling their collecting tins on the way to Spain.

The car will be left at Mr McKirgan's rented holiday apartment, close to Marbella, over the summer as he is going to work for oil company Shell in Iraq.

"I wanted to get the car down to Spain but thought I should do it for a good cause at the same time. The wife didn't want to come but luckily Mark was up for it and I've got myself a co-driver," said Mr McKirgan, 61.

The TR6 is a 1970 model and was restored by Yorkshire Restoration in Baildon.

Mr McKirgan said: "Like any old car you've just got to keep up with work that needs doing. The TR6 was the last true classic British sports car and was built by British Leyland.

"I've worked out how many strokes there will be on each piston and it's going to be over two million to get down to the south of Spain. A lot can happen in those two million strokes. You can never tell!

"I don't think for one minute anything will go wrong but it could and that's why this road trip is a bit of a challenge."

Mr McKirgan will be blogging about his journey and anyone who wants to make a donation should visit www.justgiving.com and search for TR6 Odyssey.

He also has a Facebook page for people making donations at TR6 Odyssey - NSPCC Sponsors.

The journey will take the pair first to Toledo in Central Spain, 70kms south of Madrid, and then on to historic Ronda famous for the dramatic gorge and new bridge that crosses over a 100m chasm.

The final leg of the journey includes hairpin bends, climbing up 3,800ft and back down again until finally reaching the mountain village of Benahavis.