A fluffy rainbow car being driven by a group of intrepid ’Mad Manx’ fund-raisers has been stopped by police in Germany.

The team of four young men and women has set out from the island on a madcap mission to Mongolia to raise funds for Hospice Isle of Man.

But their rainbow car, complete with pink, blue, green and yellow stripes, long eyelashes, red tongue and cuddly fur, caught the eye not only of other drivers on the autobahn in Germany but also the border police in Upper Bavaria.

Gerrid Gottwald, deputy head of the Pidinger police service, said: ’Colleagues saw the car and thought: "Let’s take a look, because it is optisch herausragend (visually outstanding)".’

Police said the 20-year-old Toyota hatchback would have failed miserably if the team had tried to register it in Germany, but it was safe for travel and was allowed to continue on its journey.

The colourful vehicle had already come a long way before it was stranded in the parking lot on the Anger mountain in the district of Berchtesgadener - and it has many more miles to cover.

The Mad Manx team - comprising couple Adam and Fern Callister with Katharine Watling, who are all from Ramsey, plus Dan Simpson from Australia - are competing in the Mongol Rally in a converted Toyota Starlet. Vehicles must have an engine size of under 1200cc.

They plan to cover 10,000 miles in 75 days, arriving in Ulan-Ude, Siberia, on September 16. On their way they will visit no fewer than 21 countries including Iran, Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan.

The friends, who describe themselves as ’naive and totally unprepared’, have no support and no set route and have not pre-booked any accommodation.

After officially beginning the Mongol Rally in Prague, the team posted: ’Overtaken by most of the Mongol herd on the motorway today as the fluffy tiger likes it slow and steady (with four people and all our gear 60mph is about our limit!’

By day 23 yesterday (Monday) they had reached Rasht on Iran's Caspian Sea coast.

The team posted that they had been 'kidnapped by kindness'.

They said: 'The fluffy car has been well received in all of the countries we have passed through so far but the goodwill and hospitality in Iran has been unreal.

'Today we lost count of the amount of times we were flagged down, welcomed and invited to sit down for tea and a meal.'

As well as Hospice, the Mad Manx team are also raising funds for ’Cool Earth’, which campaigns against the deforestation of the rainforest.