A father and son drove to Monaco and back in a convertible that cost just £750 - and had to drive the whole way with the top down.

Steve Thomas and his 25-year-old son Joshua from Maidstone have driven 1590 miles to raise money for Ben - a charity supporting people working in the motor trade.

The duo said were among 50 teams from across the country and have raised almost £1000.

Joshua owns Uniche Motor Company, a car trading business in Gillingham, and wanted to support others in his industry by taking part in the Bangers 4 Ben Rally.

They did not make the cut at first, but a last-minute dropout gave them a chance to participate.

In only three weeks, the 25-year-old and his dad had to buy a car up to £750, personalize it, and drive it to Monaco and back dressed in a James Bond themed outfit.

Ben will get all the money raised from the journey and once the vehicles are auctioned.

Steve described the long journey, which began last Saturday morning.

He said: "We left on Saturday morning at about 6.30 from Maidstone and went down to the ferry port where we all met and crossed to France.

"We then had a long drive to Lyon, where we stayed over for the night. The next morning we carried on with our drive to Monaco, going past Saint Tropez and got to Monaco Sunday evening and stayed in Nice overnight.

"This year’s theme was James Bond so even the destination was thought about it with the theme in mind, to have a casino and so on.

"The next morning we started making our way back through the French Alps and spent the night in Grenoble. Our last day was Tuesday, where drove up to Calais and made it home."

An unexpected technicality made their journey even more interesting - as they found out they had to drive the entire time with the roof down on their convertible 2004 Audi A4.

Steven explained: "This was perhaps our biggest challenge. It was a lot of driving and having to do so with the roof down was definitely interesting.

"There are lots of fun rules about what we can and can't do, and one of them is that if you buy a convertible, you have to do the entire challenge with the roof down.

"Most of the times was fine, it was particularly stunning around the mountains. It was very beautiful.

"But some days were pretty horrendous because it just rained all day, so we were just soaked while driving.

"It's kind of been the best thing and the worst thing at the same time."

The pair hope their car design is successful at the auction, as they added a special tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II on their "Shaguar" car

Steve said: "We have wrapped our old Audi convertible to look like the Austin Powers Shaguar.

"Our car had a big Union Jack and we put a picture of Queen Elizabeth’s head and the dates just as sort of a mark of respect.

"Everyone signed their name on the image so it’ll hopefully raise a lot of money for the charity because it was quite a nice and unique thing to do."

Now back home, Steve and Joshua said they definitely want to give the challenge another shot next year, as it was an unforgettable experience.

Steve said: " It's going to be a bit of a calm down now but it's been really great. It was a great chance to spend time with my son and we've made lots of new friends. You also become quite emotionally attached to the car when you spend so much time on it.

"I think if we can we’ll definitely do this again next year. They have a lot of applicants, so we'll need to be organized."