A fund-raising drive with a difference delivered some belated cheer for Comic Relief and a positive test drive report on a brand new model for smart of Guildford.

The retailer put the new smart fortwo diesel to the test by staging its very own ‘How far can you go’ driving challenge.

Former employee John Rogers departed the Houndmills showroom last week in the car to see how far he could travel on a single tank of fuel. For every mile covered, smart of Guildford agreed to donate £1 to Comic Relief.

After driving to Stirling on day one (415 miles), John managed to reach just north of Inverness on the car’s 33-litre tank before refuelling – his journey of 584 miles generating £584 for the BBC charity appeal.

“We decided in advance not to run the tank dry but to drive until the fuel gauge read empty,” said John, who spent five-and-a-half years with the company as a full-time driver until retiring two years ago. “The area into which I was driving on the second day was becoming more and more remote, which made it sensible to fill up at this point.”

John travelled back via landmarks such as Stirling Castle, Loch Ness and Gretna Green to take some photos of the smart car on location for a showroom display about the trip. He returned to the retailer's Basingstoke showroom at the end of the third day having clocked up 1,231 miles in total.

“The smart proved that it was more than capable of a trip like this,” reported John. “Despite regular breaks and overnight stops, I had anticipated some back ache from spending an average of eight hours per day in the driving seat but I suffered none, which is great testament to the comfort of the car.”  

Rory Davidson, Sales Director of Mercedes-Benz and smart of Basingstoke and Guildford, was delighted with how the ‘fund-raising drive’ had gone.