The MG Entries
Car 47 Nova Magazine, Gt. Britain, MGB, Mrs J. Denton
Car 52 J. Sprinzel, Gt. Britain, MG Midget, J. Sprinzel
John Sprinzel, former RAF pilot in the smallest car in the Marathon, an MG Midget, car no. 52 came in 20 minutes late after negotiating the Lataban Pass. He described the dust along the way as worse than any London pea-souper (fog).
John Smailes
Car 47. Jean Denton's MGB
On the way from Paris, Nova magazine's MGB was having trouble with a fault in the overdrive solenoid.
Woman driver, Jean Denton, arrived downstairs in the AGIP motel in Turin fighting fit after four hours sleep, shaking off nausea she incurred on the drive from Paris. "I can't ride in the navigator's seat," Jean said, as she climbed into her MGB which she shared with Tom Boyce. "I'm sick every time I'm not driving."
Miss Denton and Mr. Boyce had spent hours attempting, in vain, to repair their MG's overdrive unit which failed before Turin.
John Smailes
John Sprintzel
There were two MG entries in the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon.
Car 47 was driven by Mrs Jean Denton sponsored by Nova Magazine and car 52 was privately entered by John Sprinzel a MG Midget - the smallest car entered in the Marathon.
Jean Denton
English journalist John Sprinzel, leading on points in the Private Entrants Classification, lost a wheel when his hub assembly broke away on the transport stage between Menindee and Gunbar.
Sprinzel, down only 123 points in his tiny MG Midget caught a ride back to Menindee and contacted BMC service control in Broken Hill, where they had set up a giant office to process the requests of every driver and keep a running table of points lost overall. Broken Hill co-ordinator Bob Gaff immediately launched a hunt throughout the Hill for an Austin Healey Sprite.
BMC did not have the parts. In less than an hour he had located a Sprite, stripped an entire hub assembly and sent it off with Tony Fall in his BMC 1800 running in the middle of the field. With time to spare, Sprinzel seized the parts and discovered they were designed for the right hand side. His damage was on the left.
Again he trekked back to Menindee, and again BMC men in Broken Hill attacked the hapless Austin Healey. This time the parts were given to the Telegraph girls in the Morris 1100 who were running fast at the rear of the field. Seven hours later they were handed to Sprinzel - but after fitting them, he was nine and a half hours down - and out of the running.
He and his co-driver Roy Fidler turned around and drove straight down the highway to arrive fresh and relaxed at Warwick Farm next day.
The little Midget had put up a fantastic effort
John Smailes
Car 52 the MG Midget entered and driven by John Sprinzel
Photo courtesy: John Smailes
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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
Jean Denton's MGB car 47
Photo courtesy Peter Robinson and Jon Mauleon
John Sprinzel considers the front end problem en-route in Australia
Photo courtesy Jon Mauleon
Looking more like a toy car in no. 52, John Sprinzel leaves Crystal Palace on his epic journey in the smallest car in the Marathon - an MG Midget
Another view of John Sprinzel's MG Midget leaving Crystal Palace.
Photo courtesy Ian Monastyrski
