When the British Army set
a new World Record for the non-stop drive from Cape Town
to London in 1983, they had no idea that their record of
14 days would last for 30 years.
On the anniversary, 1
February 2013, a fresh attempt is to be launched, when
two British rally drivers, Philip Young and Paul Brace,
set out in one of the smallest "eco" city-cars you can
buy from a British showroom - a two-cylinder, 875cc Fiat
Panda.
The two drivers have
extensive experience of the route, including driving
through Sudan and across the top of North Africa through
Libya.
Young and Brace have had
the car lightly modified with uprated suspension, a
long-range tank, which enables the Panda to drive 600
miles between top-ups, and underbody protection,
fitted-out by veteran, long-distance rally driver Tony
Fowkes. It also has been equipped with a Yellowbrick
tracker, the device which plots yachts in trans-world
yacht races, to confirm that their progress is within
local speed limits.
They leave Cape Town on 1
February and a giant map on a dedicated website will
monitor their progress, with the tracker bleeping every
30 minutes. They hope to drive 1,000 miles a day for ten
days, to cross the line at Marble Arch on 11 February,
at around 6.30pm, the same spot where the RAC Motor
Sports Association's Neil Eason Gibson camped out in a
deck chair to clock Brigadier John Hemsley's arrival in
1983.
The best-ever time of 11
days 14 hours for crossing the two Continents from
London to Cape Town was set by a Land Rover Discovery
two years ago. If the dynamic duo in their tiny Panda
can match that target, they ought to also take the
trophy for the best-ever time. The total distance is
10,300 miles.
The pair are hoping to
raise over £10,000 for the UK charity, Farm Africa,
which has agricultural projects in several countries
along their route.
The first record was set
in 1933, by a Morris 8; the driver, Alan Gilg, took 5
months and used 15 gallons of oil. This was reduced to
31 days by a journalist from The Motor magazine in 1939,
driving a new Wolseley, beaten after the War by the
newly-announced Austin Hampshire.
Rootes then entered the
fray and took the record in a Hillman Minx, beating that
in a Humber Snipe, before Eric Jackson snatched the
record by just 18 minutes driving a new Ford Cortina
1500 Super.