A combination of three motives will lead Jessica Aldred’s SsangYong Chairman to the summer Shitbox Rally travelling from Rockhampton to Hobart next year.
Two of those reasons are deeply personal, and the third is sentimental.
For Jessica - who lives between Airlie Beach and Proserpine - the strange, Korean “luxury” car has been a companion deserving of a unique send off. And there was no better than the Shitbox Rally in March 2023 – which matches with her first personal cause: cancer research.
“We lost [my partner] Alastair’s dad to cancer about a year ago. There are not many better ways to raise funds for cancer research than the Rally,” Jessica said.
“That was the first reason to take part.”
Shitbox Rally’s, which run twice per year, sees cars worth roughly $1000 dollars head across Australia, driving through dirt road and rough terrain to raise funds for The Australian Cancer Council.
The second motivation is spending time with her co-driver, her dad, Tony Aldred, who lives in Kangaroo Valley south of Sydney, and is due to retire in the next two years.
“I had said, before he’s too old, we need to do something; one last big adventure. He lost his best mate to an aggressive brain cancer five years ago. It was something for us to do together for an issue close to our hearts,” Jessica said.
“And then with the car – it’s a weird, old car. It just made sense to use the Chairman – I really love it; it has a special place in my heart. Dad and I had a bit of a chuckle and thought naming it Chairman Meow would be fitting, especially as we’ll deck it out in the Rally.”
Tony and Jessica will fit the car out in large floppy cats’ ears, pin a tail in its boot, and have already started covering it in paw print stickers, which each denote a donation.
The paw prints vary in size depending on the amount submitted by the donor, and each has a name written on it. They hope to cover the whole car.
“I find it poignant to look at sometimes; some of those names are of people who’ve died. Some are of survivors; some are in hospital currently. It’s a nice way to take those people with us on the road,” Jessica said.
The pair have already raised $5600 dollars for cancer, and with six months left to fundraise, they hope to continue to add to their tally.
Over six days, the Chairman Meow car – which only sold around 100 models Australia-wide – will cruise across the Silverton Outback Track in March 2023, driven by the dad and daughter duo.
You can donate to the Chairman Meow team directly via the link: https://summer2023.shitboxrally.com.au/chairman-meow
Jessica Aldred with “Chairman Meow”, a SsangYong Chairman which will take her and her dad, Tony, across the country next year in the Shitbox Rally
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