"Pressing on to make up time and catch up with the others, we made it to the Iran side of the border late at night and we were told that we shouldn't cross no-man's land into Afghanistan as someone might take a shot at us, but we carried on anyway without incident. But when we reached the other side, the guards were all asleep, and when we banged on the door, they tumbled out pointing guns at us!
Handing over a carton of cigarettes allowed passage to the customs shed, where I came across a dead body waiting transport across the frontier as I wandered about with a torch looking for a customs officer! He was very helpful, and with our passports duly stamped, we made our way towards Kabul and then suddenly came across an army checkpoint. The car was going so fast, we demolished the pole that was positioned across the road. It's a tribute to the 1800's strength and the 'roo bar' that the front of the car was undamaged!
After Kabul we reached the Khyber Pass, and once again we were told to wait until dawn, as tribesman liked to take pot shots at the headlights of cars travelling by night. But we had to make up time, and made it quite safely, particularly as we were going so fast! All went well through Pakistan and down to Delhi in India, although there was a nasty moment when we came across a bullock cart that had been left out in the road.
The 1800 smashed it to bits, with little damage to the car other than bending the front wing and mudguard, which we sorted using a rope around a tree attached to the car, which was then driven backwards pulling out the metal!
However, we now knew that our rally was over as we would never manage to reach the ferry for Australia, so we went sightseeing at the Taj Mahal, which was the end of our once in a lifetime adventure."
Berwyn Williams.
Footnote:
Berwyn lost contact with Barry Hughes prior to his death some years ago, and would like to contact Barry's widow, Isobel to obtain a film that Barry made of their London-Sydney Rally fortunes. If you can assist in locating the film, contact me by email and I will pass on the information to Berwyn.
Berwyn Williams and Martin Esmor-Thomas drove (car 21 UDM 999G Austin 1800) with Barry Hughes as navigator.
Berwyn already had plenty of rallying experience behind him driving a Mini Cooper S, and he took the 1000cc award in the RAC Rally after reasoning it was pointless going the full 1275cc route at a time when the works team was so predominant.
Berwyn commented:
"Everything went smoothly until arriving in Istanbul where Turkish BMC mechanics looked after the car while we took a rest. Unfortunately, they removed the sump guard to work on the exhaust, but forgot to put back a protective layer of rubber between the sump guard and the gearbox, which led to serious problems later on. When crossing Turkey between Sivas and Erzincan we had an incident on a bridge constructed from sleepers with gaps between them and narrow planks you had to drive over. Approaching the bridge at speed, the 1800 slid sideways and then became stuck fast between gaps in the sleepers. Luckily, a busload of workmen came by, who lifted the car back onto the planks.
So on we went and everything worked fine until we'd almost crossed Iran and reached the Afghan border, where we hit a large rock, and unbeknown to us at the time, the sump guard cracked the gearbox casing as the protective layer of rubber had been removed. Driving along with a cloud of dust behind the car, we hadn't noticed the trail of oil we'd left behind us.
The crank was badly damaged and had to be replaced, but the telephone system was so poor, I couldn't make myself understood after telephoning the BMC agent in Tehran. Fortunately, there were some RAF personnel stationed nearby who managed to contact the dealer, and he told us that he had an MGB crank we could use, which meant I had to travel 400 miles back to Tehran to collect it.
The American military then came to our assistance providing a Jeep that took me to Mashhad, where I caught an old Iran DC4, which had oil pouring out of the engine nacelles as it took off, although I arrived safely in the end.
After collecting the crank, I arranged for an air taxi to take me back the same day, but dusk was approaching, and the pilot wouldn't take off as he needed to see roads and railway lines to navigate, so I took the DC4 back next morning. We fitted the crank and set off again the very next day. Not easy in a dusty yard with no facilities!"
Story ontinues below...
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
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
Berwyn Williams' Story
