A Difficult Monte Carlo

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30051, 8 February 1963, Page 9

A Difficult Monte Carlo

i\F the 292 cars that started in the 1963 Monte Carlo rally, only 102 arrived at the finish after covering 2500 miles in the worst winter conditions that Europe has experienced for decades.

The winner of the event, for the second successive year, was the Swedish driver, E. Carlsson, in the diminutive 841 c.c. Saab. He was followed by P. Toivonen (Citroen DS), R. Aaltonen (Morris Mini Cooper), L. Bianchi (Citroen DS), and R. Neyret (Citroen DS). Citroens filled five of the first 10 places. Mini Coopers two, and Volvos two.

The surprise of the rally was the excellent performance of the American-entered team of Ford Falcon Future Sprints. One of these cars made fastest time on all six

of the special tests, and had it not been for mechanical troubles which caused loss of time on the road, this car would have won the rally outright on the first attempt.

Last year the famous “Monte” was held in good weather, and much of the rally was little more than a tour through Europe. This year the conditions were very different, and drivers had to concentrate every minute of the journey.

There were eight starting points, but all the starters from Athens and Lisbon were eliminated, the first by heavy and impassable snow drifts and the latter by a combination of weather and mechanical troubles.

Only 28 of file 80 Paris starters finished and of the 20 Frankfurt starters only

three arrived at Mone Carlo. Ten of the 65 Glasgow starters finished. Stockholm had the biggest proportion of finishers, with 47 of the 75 completing the journey.

Only eight cars arrived of the 32 Monte Carlo starters and six of the 11 Warsaw starters finished.

The routes from the various starting points ail converged at Rheims. Drivers and crews spoke of the intense cold they had experienced, and there were many narrow escapes on the icy roads and tales of ingenious

The works Sunbeam Rapier of P. Procter and D. Mabbs kept running for a time on brandy and eggs. The heating system failed and the windscreen began to ice badly, but Proctor acquired a bottle of brandy from somewhere to pour over the windscreen, as it made good de-icing fluid.

Later, the car’s cylinder head gasket failed and the cooling system began to lose liquid. The crew broke two raw eggs into the radiator, and this sealed the leak for the next 900 miles.

The Ford Cortina of H. Taytor suffered dynamo failure, but a spare was quickly purchased from one of the spectators atong the route who owned a Consul Classic. The Ford Falcon of B. LjungfeMt, which recorded fastest time over the special stages, suffered first from dutch trouble and later from brake trouble.

Conditions over the Vosges mountains were easier than on many parts of the course, but many competitors suffered broken windscreens

and lights from flying stones and also flying studs from the steel-studded ice tyres. Many of the drivers handed over to their co-drtvers on the easier sections, in order to be rested for the hard special stages ahead.

Roads were never completely free of ice and snow, and several cars had trouble, many arriving at controls with dented and damaged panelwork. The Sunbeam Rapier of Misses Rosemary Smith and Rosemary Seers skidded on ice while travelling at a

walking pace, and went into a ravine. It rolled three times and landed on its wheels, but both girls, who were not wearing their safety belts, were thrown out and injured. A Mercedes driver took them to hospital, and lost so much time in doing so that he was put out at the rally.

On the last day of the rally there where more icy passes and snow. Although 102 cars reached the final control, two of them were excluded tor missing a control and losing papers, so the official number of finishers was 100 out of 292. Last year 247 finished out of 313.

None of the first 10 placegetters lost any marks on the road, and the rally was decided on the special tests. The Citroen which took second place could have won by recording a good time in the final test, three laps of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, but it failed to make up the necessary nine seconds on Carlsson’s Saab.

British cars won six of the 13 classes, but gained only six places in the first 20 place-getters. Of the first 10 cars, eight had frontwheel drive, which shows the superiority of this layout in ice and snow.