Three friends complete Top Gear-style drive to the Arctic Circle in bangers including one with a bar in the boot

Three friends have completed a Top Gear-style drive from Manchester to the Arctic Circle in budget cars – including a Barbie-themed motor and another with a drinks bar in the boot.

Josh Kerr, 25, and his mates Jack Birtwistle, 26, and Elliott Barrott, 29, from Manchester, first tackled a Top Gear-style challenge in May 2024, driving £500 bangers to Ibiza.

In November 2024, they planned a new adventure to reach the Arctic Circle – with a budget of £1,500, Josh purchased a 2003 Toyota RAV4, Jack got a 2004 Honda CR-V and Elliott bought a 2008 Jeep Patriot.

They set off on their 2,050 mile round trip on February 28, catching a ferry to Rotterdam, where they enlisted the help of a stranger to randomly assign them each a car for the rest of the journey.

Driving through the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and into Norway, the trio – who have more than 30,000 subscribers on YouTube – snowmobiled with a fan and ate fermented fish off their bonnets before reaching the Arctic Circle in a snowstorm on March 5.

After Elliott dashed to the airport as he had to be back in the office the next day, Josh and Jack wrapped up the trip in Bodo, Norway, where they watched a football match in Aspmyra Stadion, and returned home on March 11.

Josh told PA Real Life: “The bar in the boot came in handy when we were up there because all the places were so expensive to buy a drink, you’d be paying 20 quid for a cocktail.

“The Arctic Circle was like another planet… I can’t believe we made it.”

In November last year, Josh and his mates decided to take on the challenge having completed a similar outing before.

Josh said: “We had so much fun last time and you don’t meet many people who have drove to the Arctic Circle.

“We were inspired by Top Gear – just by having fun doing a driving challenge with your mates.”

They each bought a four-wheel-drive car with a budget of £1,500, as well as an additional £400 for winter tyres.

Josh purchased a 2003 Toyota RAV4, adding a bar in the boot, with a cocktail making set, fridge, chopping board, blender and LED lights.

Jack opted for a 2004 Honda CR-V which he had spray-painted hot pink, added the Barbie logo to the bonnet and doors, and changed the number plate to ‘BARBIE’.

He also decked out the interior with pink leather and a fluffy steering wheel.

Elliott bought a 2008 Jeep Patriot, repainted it brown and sprayed the Louis Vuitton ‘LV’ logo on top in gold.

To test the cars, they drove the NC500 – a 516-mile scenic route around the north coast of Scotland – in January 2025.

They even took the cars around a racetrack to see which one was fastest, with Elliott in the Jeep winning.

After returning home, they had a “few issues to sort out” like the Toyota having an “over boost” where the turbocharger delivered more boost pressure than intended.

On February 28, they set off from Manchester to Hull, catching a ferry to Rotterdam, joined by a cameraman, Brad, who filmed from the passenger seat.

On the ferry, they asked a stranger to randomly decide who would drive which car for the remainder of the trip.

Josh said: “We just said we’d ask the next person who walks past us and we did.”

Elliott ended up with the Toyota, Jack had the Honda and Josh drove the Jeep.

They arrived in Rotterdam the next morning and since they had all previously visited the Netherlands and Germany, decided to drive through both countries as quickly as possible.

By the following day, they had made it to Denmark, stopping in Copenhagen for a “look around”.

They continued on to Malmo and Gothenburg in Sweden and onto Oslo in Norway, where they challenged themselves to eat fermented herring off the car’s bonnet, which they thought was “the smelliest thing ever”.

Next on the route was the fjords before a follower, called Knut, invited the group to go snowmobiling.

“It wasn’t just any snowmobile… it was like one of the fastest accelerating machines in the world,” Josh added.

“He said it could do 0 to 62 miles per hour in 1.7 seconds so I flew straight off the back when I tried to accelerate.”

Their next destination was Oppdal, a ski town in Norway, which required navigating a mountain pass.

They stayed in an Airbnb overnight, and on the morning of March 5, headed up to the Arctic Circle.

Josh said: “As we were getting close, we were thinking, ‘We’re about an hour away, we’ve done it, it’s all been so easy, it’s completed’.

“And then it started to snow… after 20 minutes of sitting there in silence, concentrating really hard and driving we just got to the sign, and we got a photo, basically showing we got there.”

However, Elliott needed to reach Bodo Airport the next day.

“He had no annual leave left at work so he had to carry on driving for another two hours, an hour in the snow blizzard,” Josh explained.

“As soon as he pulled out of the Arctic Circle Centre, he span out, that’s how bad the snow was at that point.

“The next day we went to the Arctic Circle Centre in daylight, so we saw what was all around us.

“It was just endless, like snowy mountains and just constant snow everywhere.”

The following day, Josh and Jack drove to Bodo, picked up Elliott’s car, and watched FK Bodo/Glimt play against Olympiacos.

They arrived home on March 11, with the group spending around £3,500 on fuel over the entire trip.

Josh has since listed his car for sale on Facebook Marketplace, noting there is an “optional bar in the boot”.

They have started sharing the journey on their YouTube channel, The Three Hombres, where they have 33,500 subscribers.

To find out more, visit: www.youtube.com/@TheThreeHombres.