For James Freeman, the Mystery Box Rally is about so much more than revving engines in the South Australian outback.
The event raises millions of dollars for cancer research, an idea that was built on tragedy.
Mr Freeman, the founder and rally director, lost both his parents to cancer within a year of each other — something he said still hurts deeply to talk about 15 years later.
"We were a very very close family. It's hard to even talk about now, but the rally has sort of forced me to talk about it because it's part of the story of why we're doing it," he said.
The rally brings hundreds of people together with a similar story, many of whom have been impacted by cancer themselves.
"We have people on the rallies who have cancer themselves, we have people who have been on the rallies for years and have passed away from cancer," Mr Freeman said.
The rally created an environment where difficult conversations surrounding cancer were the norm.
"We want to not only highlight those stories but take fundraising for something as horrible as cancer is, turn it on its head, inject some humour into it, and see what amount of funds we can really raise to have some significant impact."
$40m raised in 12 years
Mystery Box Rally's impact had been huge.
Over the past 12 years, Mr Freeman's car rallies raised more than $40 million for the Cancer Council.
And this year's Mystery Box Rally, which left from Port Lincoln on June 25, reached its fundraising goal of $1 million before engines even started.
"We work with the national health and medical research council to look at which of the most important national fundraising programs to sponsor, we fund those programs and announce which programs get funding every year," Mr Freeman said.
Teams were required to raise a minimum of $4,000 to participate.
"The ultimate goal was to cure cancer, but cancer isn't just one thing, it's a disease, so there are numerous different types of cancer and they've got to be treated differently.
"It's not just about that matter of curing it, it's about finding a better life for people who have cancer, finding better treatment."
Event's Port Lincoln debut
This year, for the first time, the Mystery Box Rally would begin and end in Port Lincoln with people making their way from as far as Tasmania.
Hundreds of cars more than 25 years old were expected to roll into Eyre Peninsula roads over the five days, unaware of their route until the morning of their journey.
"I really love highlighting the beauty of South Australia to people who come interstate. Any time we are anywhere in South Australia people are blown away," Mr Freeman said.
He said knowing hundreds of roaring cars were coming together to raise funds for cancer meant everything to him.
"The first year I hoped that we'd raise $60,000 we ended up raising $104,00. It was at that point that I was like, 'I think we might have something here, I think we might be able to make a real difference'."
