Andy Pitt and Chris Sargisson are planning to drive a car they rebuilt by hand to Sad Hill Cemetery in Spain and back, whilst dressed as two of the characters from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Here, the good friends explain why they want to raise funds for Alzheimer’s UK and Brave Futures
Who are you both and what do you do?
Andy P: Owner of Service Service Recruitment Agency and partner of Dick’s Bar in Norwich. I dabble in a couple of other businesses too and am a useless habitual classic car purchaser.
Chris S: By day, chap who worked a lot in Tech start-ups, now CEO of an innovation business. By night, hapless car repairer and muso.
How do you know each other?
Andy P: I met Chris about 18 years ago as I was, as a side hustle, doing photography for events. Chris has a band (which I am now in) and sings, and his drummer at the time, whom I knew through recruitment, asked me if I wanted to take some shots of a pub gig they were doing. I met Chris that night, ended up drinking with guys and becoming best mates with him.
Chris S: I can’t remember but think it involved dinking and a band which is probably why I can’t remember.
When did you first have the idea for driving to Sad Hill Cemetery in Spain? And why there?
Andy P: One of my favourite films is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The end of the film is a tense showdown in Sad Hill Cemetery between the three main characters. The cemetery was made specifically for the movie, I believe in 1968. After they completed filming, they walked away and left the area, allowing mother nature to reclaim the space. 10 years ago, the location was rediscovered, and a group of movie fan volunteers spent months uncovering it and bringing it back to life. There is something about taking this car, which was left to rot, due to be scrapped, and then found and rescued, to a cemetery that has gone through a similar story.
I think to engage people in a journey and hopefully get them to give generously to a charity, the event needs some excitement and jeopardy. So, we figured a car that two unskilled middle-aged blokes built being taken on a long drive abroad to an unusual destination whilst being dressed as two of the main characters from the film (yes, that will happen!) might just add elements of interest.
Can the car make it to Spain, let alone make it out of the UK? Will we manage to fit all our stuff in this tiny car, or will we just be travelling with our toothbrushes?
Chris S: We both happened upon the destination from very different viewpoints. Andy, a favourite film. Me… I always wanted to dress like a gun slinger, specifically and more recently Rik Mayall in the comedy ‘A fist full of Travelers Cheques’.
And what can you say about the car – it’s been a labour of love?
Andy P: The car was part of a collection of rotting cars that were in a barn on the outskirts of Norwich. The chap who owned these cars was ill and had to go to a residential home, and I’d been asked by my friend, who is the son of the owner, to photograph the discovery and removal process of the cars as he suspected there might be some interesting finds.
This was in 2019. In the barns on his land were two Lamborghinis, several rare Mazdas, Range Rovers, Scimitars, a 1950’s fire engine (which the chap had bought because he needed a ladder to allow him to get to the roof of his house to fix a loose tile!) and a Gordon Keeble (very rare!) amongst others.
Sat at the back of one of the sheds I spotted a sad looking white Mk1 Mazda MX5. It was in such a rough state that it was due to be scrapped…you could almost hear it rotting. Having owned a Mk1 MX5 before, I knew how available the parts were for it and how much of a community there was for these cars. Plus, they are rising in value, so I wondered if I might be able to do something to make some money.
So, I contacted Chris and asked him if he fancied a challenge because we both had been seeking a new adventure, as in 2018 we drove across eight countries in four days in my 1968 Ford Mustang to raise money for charity and wanted to do something else automotive related.
This was perfect. We could have an adventure, learn mechanics and fabrication and perhaps make a bit of money at the end. So, we got the car to Chris’s house and set about stripping the entire thing. We had to learn a lot. We fabricated panels, learnt to weld, broadened our limited knowledge of mechanics and, for two evenings a week, we set about bringing the car back to life.
It took a long, long time, not helped by the pandemic, which kept us from working on it for quite a few months. However, we eventually put the car in for its MOT, and it passed! We never did sell it as we’re quite sentimental about it. It has now passed its second MOT, and we realised it has only done about 50 miles since it was rebuilt, so it’s time to take it for a run!
Chris S: It’s been a labour, and I’ve loved it. So out of my comfort zone. I like taking things apart, not so good with putting them back together, especially when your life depends on it (brakes, steering…brakes…bits that might catch fire that are not supposed to catch fire). During lock down it was a real distraction, an escape into the unknown and staved off the madness of being locked in.
Why have you chosen to raise money for Alzheimer’s UK and Brave Futures in particular?
Andy P: Alzheimer’s has always been my charity of choice, having lost a close family member to it, seeing him deteriorate over a long period of time. You lose a person twice with this condition. There is an awful inevitability to the condition that affects not just the sufferer, but those close to the sufferer too. These charities need our constant help and support, and I try to do something every year for them.
Chris S: Brave Futures for me. I’m a survivor and an ambassador for the charity; their service is essential but stretched to the limit.
When do you set off and how can people support what you’re doing?
Andy P: We set off on Friday May 2nd 2025. We will broadcast and post on our TikTok channel @super7028, my own Instagram page, super70photgraphy, and our YouTube channel, Playing With Cars (@playingwithcars70).
Chris S: May 2nd is D day and we’ll count down with all sorts of insight as well as tracking the whole journey, even if we blow up just outside Wymondham.
Depending on how this one goes, will this be the first of many charity car rides, do you think?
Andy P: Having already completed one big drive in 2018, this is the second charity drive. There is also a big one planned for September, but at this stage, I can’t say too much about it as we’re just working on the final aspects of it.
Chris S: I really hope so, the search is already on for the next pile of scrap to ruin.
Andy and Chris are planning to drive to Sad Hill Cemetery in Spain on May 2, 2025. Andy Pitt is fundraising for Alzheimer’s Society and Chris Sargisson is fundraising for Brave Futures.
Featured images – supplied
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