THEY WANTED MUD

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31344, 14 April 1967, Page 11

THEY WANTED MUD

JJUSINESS-CONSCIOUS African natives were eagerly awaiting this year’s East African Safari rally, and had rain fallen they would have made money pushing competitors out of the clinging axle-deep mud. As it was, the rally was the driest on record, with choking clouds of dust. This year crews would have had to pay from £3 to £5 a push. One car that would have been easier to extricate from mud than most would have been the R. Aal-tonen-H. Liddon Mini Cooper S, which eventually retired. On both front wings and on

either side on the rear of the roof, grab handles were fitted. They were designed so poles could be pushed through them to lift the car out of mud.

The Mini also had footrests front and rear, the front rest to enable the co-driver to improve traction in slippery conditions, and the rear one for him to jump on after the car had been extricated.

A major problem this year —as well as the dust—was natives throwing barrages of rocks at the cars as they came around hairpin turns. This has been a danger for years.