1968 London to Sydney Marathon

London to Sydney Rally - 1968.It was 1967, and at a time of doom and gloom in the UK, mainly due to the devaluation of the pound sterling, by Harold Wilson the Prime Minister. He defended the decision assuring voters, that the measure would tackle the "root cause" of the nation's economic problems... The then proprietor of the Daily Express, Sir Max Aitken along with 2 other senior editors, came up with a plan. They decided to create an event, that the newspaper could sponsor. This event would hopefully raise the nation's spirits. The London to Sydney Marathon was born. It was felt such an event would showcase "British Engineering", and hopefully boost export sales. The Daily Express, came up with a 1st Prize of £10,000, and teamed up with the Daily Telegraph in Australia who contributed £2,000 for the highest placed Australian Team to finish the rally. So with the sponsorship elements set, an 8 man organizing committee was set up to form a challenging (but navigable) route from London to Sydney. As news spread of the inaugural event, a limit of 100 entrants was set and the public's imagination was captured...

London to Sydney Rally Route.
Nothing like this had ever been seen or done before, on such an epic scale, of over 10,000 miles! The route was planned with Jack Sears at the helm, and the rally was devised to pass through 11 different countries, lasting 23 days! Many individuals and works teams entered the rally mainly from Europe with some from Australia too.

Although at the time, Ford of Germany did not have a recognised "Motorsport Division", it was decided to enter 3 Cars. These were to be the latest P7b's, in the form of 20mRS 2 Door Sedans.

The three car RS line up was crewed by

• Dieter Glemser / Martin Braungart in No.14
• Gilbert Staepelaere / Simo Lampinen in No. 57
• Herbert Klient / Gunther Klapproth in No. 92

Setting off from London on the 24th November 1968, the 98 Cars and crews were about to take on the arduous rally covering 11 country's in as many days and over 7,000 miles! It became clear that many crews, 26 in all, had retired along the route to India - where the liner, SS Chusan, would transport the remaining 72 crews and cars from Bombay to Fremantle on the West coast of Australia.

Any repairs attempted on any of the cars during the 8 day voyage would result in elimination from the event. The voyage began on the 5th December from Bombay, landing at Fremantle on the 13th December, where an overnight stop was taken at Perth. The route now was west to east across Australia and some 2,900 miles to Sydney. With 2 of the 3 20mRS cars finishing the rally, the new Rallye Sport had made its mark on an enduring and epic rally. The first of its type. With just over half of the crews and cars finishing, 58 in total, the P7b RS proved to be a very competitive car. This was a pivotal moment in RS marque, and history was made.

Klient / Klapproth finished 7th and Staepelaere / Lampinen finished 16th. Unfortunately Glemser / Braungart did not finish.

Just weeks later, one of the 2 finishing RS cars went on to Win the East African Safari 1969 and the 1st ever victory in RS history!