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Home I A Tale Of Two Cities I How It All Began I The Entrants I The Rules I Timetable I The Route I Their Story I Photo Albums
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ladies I How They Finished I BMC I Ford I Holden I Other Marques I Site Map I Memorabilia I Credits/About Us I Links
BUILDING A CAR FOR A MARATHON - by Basil Cardew
Now just how much thought, care and effort - apart from the cost - were involved in preparing the Marathon cars for the 10,000 miles of continuous night and day driving? It can be said, without fear of contradiction, that the car manufacturers put at least ₤8,000 into preparing each of their cars for the classic event.
The drawing by John Hill on the opposite page gives you a fairly detailed idea of how the British Leyland cars were worked on before they were brought to the start line. A similar mammoth effort was mounted by Ford of Britain with their cars for the greatest motoring test of endurance ever staged. They followed four main principles at their competition workshops.
The first was to make the cars light because of the dangers of flooding and other rigorous hazards on the course. They built them with aluminium bodies, bonnets, and doors along with a 'Triplex' laminated front screen. This reduced the weight of the cars to a minimum.
Their second care was for protection against the hazards of the road. This involved stout "kangaroo" crash bars in front as protection against crashing into animals as the competitors fought to maintain their averages in places of 61 miles per hour. This was a must as Fords remembered their experience in many Safari rallies in Africa, on one occasion when their car crashed into a buck, losing them a victory. A precaution to prevent petrol fumes percolating into the interior of the cars meant fitting a fireproof rear bulkhead at the back. Special aluminium splash shields were installed underneath to ward off the danger of water being sloshed into the engine compartment when fording rivers.
Brake lines and all fuel lines were fitted inside the car where they would normally run on the outside. This was to avoid stones whipping up and damaging the life-blood supply lines. Petrol tanks and the gearbox were protected by sump guards.
The third protection was entitled "coolness" - both for the crews and the engine. So a special electric fan was added and a "bug-beater" replaced the standard radiator grille. This was in the form of rectangular fly swatter and could be easily taken out for cleaning in areas - in Australia in particular - where the cars run into myriads of insects which normally seal up the radiator grille. So the "bug-beater" could be taken out and cleaned in a trice - a great improvement on my own experience of driving rally cars when we had to fiddle about with a toothbrush to allow the engine to breathe.
Coolness for the driver and passengers was ensured by insulating the car roof. The ordinary head lining was torn out to be replaced by insulation material to keep the car interior cool in Australia where day temperatures often reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit. This insulation also helps to keep the car warm in the acutely cold nights.
Comfort was the third consideration. Here, Fords worked with experts attached to the International Wool Secretariat who said that in Australia you would often see a farmer driving in the greatest heat with a big fleece over the car seats. This wards off the heat during the day and cold at night. So special seat covers in fleece were designed for Fords Marathon cars. In fact, the London-Sydney event was used as a 10,000 mile test bed to bring more comfort to the normal motorist in all climatic conditions.
These high spots of the preparations do not take in the usual competitors' work of strengthening the car suspension to cope with all manner of conditions and, of course, detuning the engine to cope with the bad petrol they have to pick up along the course.
Another insight to the vital job of preparing the Marathon cars comes from the Royal Navy whose official entry was Captain Hans Hamilton driving a BMC 1800 saloon. The Navy bulletin states: "The dynamic (which is the only way to describe them) team in the Special Tuning Department, have built the car with meticulous care and attention to detail. It would be wrong to hand out such details having appreciated how much the success or failure depends on the vehicle, and secrecy is part of the strategy. We can say that as engineers in the Royal Navy, we do not and are not expected to associate ourselves with shoddy workmanship or second-rate material. We also know a fine craftsman when we see one. Every person at Abingdon (seat of British Leyland's Competitions Department) who has been working on our car leaves nothing to be desired. They all deserve our praise and appreciation of their standards of quality and reliability, which match our own.
"We collected the almost finished product for a quick trial run-in and took her down to Plymouth and back. While there, we measured up our special stowages and wrote out a defect list. The latter was mainly nit-picking - the performance and handling characteristics were superb. We feel we have a car of rugged strength - some character too, and above all British."
Ninety-eight cars started in the Marathon so you can multiply the competitors' preparation efforts by that great number.
- Basil Cardew
A close-up of a car being prepared for the Marathon.
It is car 70 the Wilson's Caravan entry a BMC 1800 - registration no. VLT 1G.
Photo courtesy Ken Green
