The original Marathon was the result of a lunch in late 1967, during a period of despondency in Britain caused by the devaluation of the pound. Sir Max Aitken, proprietor of the Daily Express and two of his editorial executives, Jocelyn Stevens and Tommy Sopwith, decided to create an event which their newspaper could sponsor, and which would serve to raise the country's spirits. Such an event would, it was felt, act as a showcase for British engineering and would boost export sales in the countries through which it passed.

The initial UK£10,000 (AU$21,429) winner's prize offered by the Daily Express was soon joined by a £3,000 ($6,438) runners-up award and two £2,000 ($4,285) prizes for the third-placed team and for the highest-placed Australians, all of which were underwritten by the Daily Telegraph newspaper and its proprietor Sir Frank Packer, who was eager to promote the Antipodean leg of the race.

The London - Sydney Marathon Route

An eight man organising committee was established to create a suitably challenging but navigable route. Jack Sears, organising secretary and himself a former racing driver, plotted a 7,000 mile course covering eleven countries in as many days. In order to cover the greatest distance overland with the most varied terrain, it was decided to route the rally from London to Dover, then by ferry to Calais and then on to Paris, Turin, Beograd, through Bulgaria to Istanbul and then to Sivas and Erzincan and then to Teheran in Iran, Kabul in Afghanistan, Sarobi in West Pakistan and on to Bombay via Delhi.

The first 72 cars to arrive were to be taken by sea to Fremantle in Western Australia on-board the P&O liner S.S. Chusan, where they would be disembarked and then drive the final 2,600 miles to Sydney. The event received great publicity, and over 800 applications were received, with 100 being accepted (see below).

An Incident Filled Marathon

The first leg of the marathon was the run from Crystal Palace in South London to the Channel port of Dover. Cheering crowds lined the London streets to catch the unforgettable sight of the most international rallying event yet to be staged. The cars were loaded onto the Maid Of Kent ferry and 75 minutes later, disembarked at Calais where the reception hall was jammed with photographers, journalists and well wishers - a phenomenon that was to be repeated across the world.

Leaving at 1 minute intervals, the 98 contestants sped off into the night towards Paris. An unexpected hazard on the road to Paris was thick fog which at times reduced the cars to a walking pace. Ice and freezing fog continued to be a hazard on the early morning run to Turin. French customs men decided to enforce currency export rules and checked all the crews' money at the Mont Blanc tunnel. A number of cars suffered mechanical problems on the Italian leg but the three Citroëns stormed on although one of the teams had their passports given to another team in an hotel in Turin which caused some anguish.

There was an unexpected hazard in Turkey, children throwing rocks at the cars, denting the bodywork and smashing windscreens. By the time the leading cars had reached Sivas, several competitors had dropped out. The first `big killer' stage, the route from Sivas to Erzincan lay ahead. 170 miles/272 km of twisting mountain trail, at night in driving sleet.

With Hydrolastic suspension working over-time, Paddy Hopkirk's BMC 1800 jumps its way across darkest Afghanistan
towards Bombay and two weeks rest before the savage Australian sections...

Roger Clark broke away from the rest of the field, covering the stage at an average speed of very close to 60 mph/100 kph in his Lotus Cortina for the 170 mile stage. The competitors had a break at Teheran while the cars were handed over to the mechanics prior to the longest single stage of the Marathon, the 1500 miles/2400 km stretch to Kabul through the Elburz mountains. First into Kabul was Harry Firth in a Holden entered by the Sydney Telegraph. Only 33 cars managed to arrive within the allotted time.

The next stage, Kabul - Sairobi - Delhi, added a new hazard - dust. Paddy Hopkirk in his works BMC 1800 lost five minutes on this stage as did Roger Clark who still remained in the lead. The well tarmaced road through the Khyber Pass and into Pakistan presented few problems and surprisingly, both Pakistan and India chose to forget their political differences and co-operate in allowing the competitors to cross the border that had been closed for the previous three years.

The nine day voyage to Australia gave the competitors the chance to relax and unwind after the hardships of the previous week. Many of the drivers went down with stomach upsets and the Australian crews decided it was time to put the frighteners on their rivals, describing the perils of dust covered potholes and suicidal kangaroos.

At dawn on Friday, December 13, the Chusan docked at Fremantle and the cars were unloaded. Local police then set about booking 26 of the competitors for mechanical defects and illegal equipment such as sirens and flashing headlamps. The hostility of the police towards the event would continue throughout the remainder of the rally.

The following day, the cars were lined up for a Le Mans style start at Perth's Gloucester Park. Western Australia's Premier David Brand and other celebrities flagged the cars off at three minute intervals. As luck would have it, the Australian teams were the first to encounter kangaroo problems.

The Marathon was turning into a three-cornered race between Roger Clark, Simo Lampinen (The `Flying Finn') in the Ford Taunus and Lucien Bianchi in the DS 21. Unfortunately for Clark, his Lotus Cortina suffered a piston failure and despite cannibalising Eric Jackson's car, he dropped to third place. He made a fantastic recovery however and managed to pass Lampinen and push at Bianchi's lead.

Peter Vanson's DS 21 limped into the Mingary check point with a suspension failure. Bianchi however was still going strong and at Omeo, he had incurred only seven penalty points against Clark's 12 and Lampinen's 40. Lampinen and Staepalarae were booked by the police in Victoria for speeding after a 75 mph/120 kph chase. The police threatened to impound the car at one stage. Soon after leaving the Omeo check point, Clark suffered a broken differential but, encountering a Cortina by the roadside, tried to buy the rear axle. The owner initially refused but then said `You're Roger Clark, the English driver, aren't you?' and parted with his rear axle. After an 80 minute delay at the local garage while the axle was fitted, Clark was once again back in contention.

Bianchi appeared unstoppable. By now he was five points clear of Clark who was lying third. The Taunus then broke a tie rod leaving Andrew Cowan in the Hillman Hunter to assume second place. So confident where Citroen that Bianchi had won the rally that they put a full page advertisement in most of the British newspapers of the day. 

And then, disaster...

The race was all but won by Bianchi and Ogier. Not far from the Nowra control point, 156 km (98 miles) from Sydney, with Ogier at the wheel and Bianchi dozing in the front seat, the DS 21 hit a Mini head on in a section of road that was supposed to be closed to the public. The DS 21 was wrecked and Bianchi was badly injured.

Paddy Hopkirk arrived on the scene in his Austin 1800 and promptly threw up any chance of winning the rally by turning round and going for help. It was rumoured that the occupants of the Mini were a pair of off-duty policemen who were both `drunk as skunks'.

Hopkirk, the first driver on the scene, gave up his chance of victory when he stopped to tend to the injured and extinguish the flames in the burning cars.

That left Andrew Cowan, who had requested "a car to come last" from the Chrysler factory on the assumption that only half a dozen drivers would even reach Sydney, to take an unexpected victory in his Hillman Hunter and claim the £10,000 prize. Hopkirk finished second, while Aussie Ian Vaughan was third in a factory-entered XT Ford Falcon GT.

A Word On The XT GT Falcon

In competition the XT GT Falcon was not a resounding success - but suprisingly the cars biggest success was in the London - Sydney Marathon. The three car works team led by Harry Firth won the team's prize and the Vaughan/Forsyth/Ellis car finished third. The great strength of the body and the reliability of the engine and transmission had been convincingly demonstrated.

London - Sydney Marathon Accepted Entry List / Official Placings

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