8 replies to this topic

[Derwent Motorsport]

As a child I watched the cars on the Monte go through Baldock on the A1 many times and then later in Cumbria when they went through Carlisle. I seem to remember there were quite big numbers going from the Glasogow start.
A few questions:
The Glasgow starts were from 1950 to 1973 ?
Then there was a London start and then Dover and number dwindled. When was the last UK start?
Was there once a John O'Groats start pre war?
Was the route from Glasgow all on A roads, A74, A66, A1, A2 etc?

[Darren Galpin]

As a child I watched the cars on the Monte go through Baldock on the A1 many times and then later in Cumbria when they went through Carlisle. I seem to remember there were quite big numbers going from the Glasogow start.
A few questions:
The Glasgow starts were from 1950 to 1973 ?
Then there was a London start and then Dover and number dwindled. When was the last UK start?
Was there once a John O'Groats start pre war?
Was the route from Glasgow all on A roads, A74, A66, A1, A2 etc?

John O'Groats was a start in 1929, and 1931-1939. (Note that this is not exhaustive - the lack of a 1930 date does not imply that it wasn't used - I just lack the data!).

[Leigh Trevail]

So where did the 1949 rally start ? I thought that it was Glasgow but obviously I was wrong !

[Vitesse2]

So where did the 1949 rally start ? I thought that it was Glasgow but obviously I was wrong !

Perfectly correct, Leigh. Glasgow was the UK start in 1949 - most contestants had a trouble-free run apart from some ice near Newark: the Jowetts were apparently the most prone to skidding on it!

Source: Motor Sport Feb 1949

[Leigh Trevail]

Perfectly correct, Leigh. Glasgow was the UK start in 1949 - most contestants had a trouble-free run apart from some ice near Newark: the Jowetts were apparently the most prone to skidding on it!

Source: Motor Sport Feb 1949

Thank you!

[john winfield]

Perfectly correct, Leigh. Glasgow was the UK start in 1949 - most contestants had a trouble-free run apart from some ice near Newark: the Jowetts were apparently the most prone to skidding on it!

Source: Motor Sport Feb 1949

Same problem in 1960! In the '50 Years Ago' column of this week's Newark Advertiser: January 20th 1960 'Glasgow-starting entries for the Monte Carlo Rally all passed through Newark on schedule yesterday - despite some patches of ice, they all reached the Barnby Moor check point on time. The Advertiser newsphoto shows a well-wrapped up Singer Gazelle crew stop at Castle Motors, Newark for fuel.'
M. E. Marsh is the only Singer Gazelle Glasgow starter I can find on the 'teamdan' website.

[Rupertlt1]

A problem for researchers is identifying third crew members in rallies, often long forgotten:

 

1963 Monte Carlo Rally

 

#71 Sunbeam Rapier, crew Leslie Chamberlain/Peter Mullen. Note third crew member. Who is he?

 

https://library.revs...ion=p17257coll1

 

#176 Sunbeam Rapier, crew Ernest Hunt/Roger Mac/Colin Malkin

"Ernie Hunt, Roger Mac and Colin Malkin are sharing the third car, a Sunbeam Rapier."

Coventry Evening Telegraph, Saturday 19 January 1963

 

RGDS RLT 

[RS2000]

Biggest problem with that is that even official lists usually mentioned only two crew names when there were three.

[Dick Dastardly]

1959 Monte:  #82, Jag entered by Bobby Parkes & Geoff Howarth. Shortly before the rally, Bobby suffered appendicitis and was told he couldn't do the rally. He managed to persuade the doctors to allow him to compete provided he didn't drive....so my Dad, Arthur Senior, was drafted in....he did all the driving, whilst Bobby lay on the back seat throughout, they finished 8th overall, 1st in class, best British entry and leading Jaguar to the Team Prize..

1962 Monte:  #48, same car, Mike Kempley navigating, Bobby & Dad shared the driving...retired after a wrong note sent them over the side, only thorny brambles getting tangled in the wire wheels stopped them in their tracks.  .

Dad's name doesn't appear in the entry lists or results for either year.  

 

Edit: 1964 Monte: Bobby & Dad in a works Reliant Sabre 6.   imagine my delight on returning home [Brotherswater Hotel at foot of Kirkstone Pass] from Patterdale Primary School ..to find the entire Reliant team in the car park  . I was expecting Dad to have already left for Glasgow but he said he thought I'd want to see the cars etc before they left. Too dammed right I did. Even Graham Warner, in his book A Chequered Life, mentions going via the Lake District en route to Glasgow.

Dad & Bobby suffered a blow out on the Turini, sending them over the edge...a bit like Tanak's accident on the 2020 Monte. Fortunately, the fibreglass car stood up to the impact and both crew members suffered only light injuries. 

Edited by Dick Dastardly, 02 August 2021 - 11:32.