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Teams involved in the Help for Heroes 4×4 European Rally 2012 have announced that since the first event in 2010, more than £400,000 has been raised.

The figure is especially astounding as the first event was supposed to be a one off that would only make a maximum of £20,000.

This year’s event runs between the 16^th and 28^th June, and starts from Littlecote House Hotel, Wiltshire, UK, retracing the route allied forces took after D-Day in 1945.

Covering more than 2000 miles, 45 vehicles crewed by serving and ex-military personnel, as well as civilians, are taking part, moving across Salisbury Plain, then to Portsmouth, across to France, and then Normandy and WWI battlefields in Ypres, Belgium.

It will then visit Arnhem in Holland, the infamous site of ‘Operation Market Garden’ before heading south to Bastogne back in Belgium, the site of the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, then the Alsace region of France, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial in Germany, and finally to Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ in the Bavarian Alps at Berchtesgaden.

Evo has once again produced a smashing video, this time showing tha madness and brilliance of the Mille Miglia.

Henry Catchpole took a new Jaguar XKR-S for the trip, bumping into Harry Metcalfe along the way, and leaving some big Jaguar rubber marks all over the road.

Some of the cars involved are stunning: classic Alfa Romeos, a Ferrari 275 GTS, a Mercedes 300 SL, a Jaguar XK 120, a Morris Minors, and even more modern cars like the Aston Martin DB9 and Harry’s Ferrari 550 Barchetta.

As Henry says, “it’s utterly insane”.

Carroll Shelby, a man famous for being at the forefront of the American muscle car scene, died on Thursday aged 89 in Baylor Hospital, Dallas.

Born in Texas, USA, January 1923, his interest in cars began when he was at high school, and continued to grow until he finally started to race cars professionally in the early 1950s, racing for teams like Maserati and Aston Martin, with whom he won Le Mans 24 in 1959.

Known as the ‘Flying Sergeant’, his racing also took him to compete in rounds of the 1958 and 1959 Formula 1 championships.

In 1960 he opened Shelby-American, a performance driving school, but quickly turned his attention to modifying and rebuilding cars, the first of which he sold in the USA was the AC Cobra, also known as the Shelby Cobra.

Shelby continued car development and modifications, working with manufacturers such as Ford to create the Shelby GT500, as well as AC and Dodge.

The Shelby name is still used by Ford to this day to denote the most powerful and most extreme muscle cars.

Carroll also set up the Carroll Shelby Foundation which provides medical assistance for children and education for the disadvantaged.

His death was announced by Carroll Shelby International.

Joe Conway, president of Carroll Shelby International , said “We are all deeply saddened, and feel a tremendous sense of loss for Carroll’s family, ourselves and the entire automotive industry.

“There has been no one like Carroll Shelby and never will be. However, we promised Carroll we would carry on, and he put the team, the products and the vision in place to do just that.”

“Carroll was a visionary who never stopped seeking ways to build faster, better cars,” said John Luft, board member of Shelby International.

“He was actively involved in each of the models we build today, the development of our parts business and each of the cars scheduled to be introduced over the next few years. Carroll Shelby was the ultimate competitor and his spirit will continue to guide our company.”

A tribute on CarrollShelby.com reads “1923-2012 – The Last American Legend. The race is run, the flag unfurled, the champion now will rest. God speed, Carroll Shelby, we will never forget you.”

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