Home

London to Sydney 1977

Home
Up
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LONDON TO SYDNEY 1977: The 'London to Sydney' caught my attention from the get go, the coverage in Australia was pretty poor until the vehicles actually hit Australian shores and when the surviving Teams were due for an over night stop at the Garden City Shopping Centre on the south side of Brisbane I just had to be there. The rally was not short on distance vs time covering a required distance of 30,000 kilometres in thirty days, all 'numerically linked' to the naming sponsor Singapore Airlines commemorating their 30 years in the airline industry in 1977.

I recall the Andrew Cowan/Mercedes Team were getting all the media attention, however my attention was drawn to a little red car........

THE PORSCHE 911: I love Porsche Cars, so I was biased toward these guys taking on big cars and trucks in my favourite sports car! Sobieslaw Zasada and Wojciecj Schramm (both Polish) made it to the finish line claiming 13th outright, 10th in Class 3 (over 2000cc) and 4th in the Private Owners Class.

PLENTY OF SPONSORS AND LIGHTS!

CHECKING IN

REMOTE OIL COOLING

IMPROMPTU REPAIRS IN THE CAR PARK AND A DECENT TYRE TREAD PATTERN THERE!

PEUGEOT: Ross Dunkerton (AU), Bob Watson (AU) and Roger Bonhomme (Eng) piloted this Peugeot 504TI to 5th outright and first in Class 2 (1300cc to 2000cc).

PLENTY OF SPONSORS

BIT OF A BINGLE SOMEWHERE

PADDY HOPKIRK: Paddy Hopkirk (Ireland), Michael Taylor (Eng) and Bob Riley (Au) piloted this Australian Total Petroleum sponsored Citroen CX2400 to 3rd outright, 3rd in Class C (over 2000cc) and were a member of the overall Team that won the coveted 'Manufacturers Team' award.

PADDY AT THE CHECK IN

PADDY, TOTAL & COKE, WHAT A GAS!

LEYLAND MINI MOKE & HANS: Adventurer Hans Tholstrup and John Crawford (Au) 'drove' the Coca Cola sponsored Mini Moke to the finish line somehow, they finished 34th outright and 2nd in Class 1 (up to 1300cc).

HANS THOLSTRUP, SIR I HAVE NO IDEA HOW YOU SURVIVED IN THIS.......

MERCEDES & ANDREW COWAN: The centre of attention, the Rank Organisation sponsored Mercedes 280E appeared to be the correct choice for the gruelling event. Andrew Cowan, Colin Makin and Mike Broad (all British) won the Rally, they finished 1st outright and 1st in Class 3 (over 2000cc).

*MERCEDES MUSEUM*: During a visit to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart in 2009 I came across the '280E' surrounded by 'Silver Arrow Mercedes Race Cars', images of the 'slightly refurbished' car in the Museum, are included below.

CHECKING IN

THE VIEW MOST OF THE OPPOSITION SAW

SLIGHTLY SECOND HAND IN THERE

ANDREW 'BRIGHT AS A PIN'

GRILLE DAMAGE

 

MERCEDES MUSEUM - 2009: THE '280E', WITH GRILLE AND SPOTLIGHT REPLACED, ON DISPLAY ADJACENT SOME VERY SPECIAL 'SILVER ARROWS'!!

CAR RALLIES CONTINUED: Please continue with my coverage of Car Rallies by selecting from the following...

 Up Repco Trial 1979 London to Sydney 1977

I LOVE NEW TECHNOLOGY, TABLETS, LAPTOPS, DIGITAL CAMERAS, MOBILE PHONES/WIRELESS BROADBAND, GPS, ETC.  ALL SO COOL AND 'PORTABLE'......


Copyright © 2013   Derek J. Hanbidge,  (aka Deejay51),  all rights reserved.
Revised: August 25, 2013.

Back Home Up