This account is the story of the rally (and trip to/from it) from the perspective of the Morgan and its crew, and not an overview of the rally itself. This has been done in a more expert and timely fashion by others, and can be seen on the website of the rally organisers (www.classicrally.org.uk)

Friday 11 June Winchester to Verneuil, France
Left in good time for the 8.30 fast ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre. After 5 miles the Driver realised that he had his wife’s passport, not his own. A quick about turn, and 15 minutes later (and a reduction in cockpit temperature - the Navigator nobly refraining from comment) rejoined the M3 – by this time somewhat more congested with early morning rush hour traffic. However, despite the congestion becoming appreciably worse on the M27,   the ferry port was reached with time to spare
A quick crossing via LD Lines, and a pleasant run to our stop in Verneuil at the Moulin de Balines

Saturday 12 June Verneuil to Beaune
A pleasant drive cross country to arrive in time for scrutineering at the rally HQ hotel. Park alongside our good friends, Mark and Sue Godfrey, who, since meeting them on their rally debut several years ago, have gone on to win most of the rallies they have entered. However, the car looked less than ready, lacking a clutch. It appeared that it had failed as they reached Beaune, and they were waiting the arrival of a replacement via the service team who were expected that evening. Indeed, this was to be the case, and later in the evening we saw much activity, with Mark ready to lend a hand (or a large crowbar to be more precise)


Met many rallying friends, and admired in particular the oldest car entered, Alastair Caldwell’s Alfa Romeo 6C2500SS. According to Alastair the car is unique in that it was specially built for Hitler (hence the SS suffix?)

This was followed by dinner at the impressive Hospice de Beaune; the dinner was accompanied by superb wines, again courtesy of Maison Joseph Drouhin.


Day 1 Sunday 13 June Beaune to Valence
A reasonable start time of 1001 allowed the Navigator to reacquaint herself with the (distinctly period) rally instrumentation of the Morgan. The accuracy of our Halda Speedpilot (one decimal place of kilometre) was to prove a significant handicap against the sophistication of the equipment of other competitors.


The sun shone as we lined up for the off – almost the last time it was to do so until the end of the rally. As second oldest car, we were to start immediately after Alastair’s Alfa Romeo, a car as smooth and classy as the Morgan is basic. It was good to see that the new clutch had been successfully fitted to Mark and Sue’s MGB and they were ready to start.


Almost immediately after the start the sky clouded over, with rain starting shortly after crossing La Saone. The day comprised four regularities and two tests on the driver training course of the Circuit de Bresse. The Colway tyres performed well – sad that the company no longer exists.


Clearly the Morgan was not going to feature in the leader board, a combination of Driver skill and concentration (mostly) and the period equipment. The route featured wonderful minor roads with multiple hairpins and no doubt superb views if the weather had allowed. The road along the Gorges de la Bourne was an impressive piece of engineering


Day 2 Monday 14 June Valence to Millau
The scene in the car park before the start of Day 2 testified to the roads and the speeds that the rally demanded. Despite this the other Morgan, driven by David Cook with John Topsham as Navigator, was doing brilliantly, and was to finish a great 13th overall.


The second day was to have featured no less than 9 regularities. However the authorities required the cancellation of one, and modification of others. Even so the day was to prove long and hard, with arrival time at the hotel in the early evening. The day again comprised some great driving roads including the Gorges de Tarn, and some attractive time control locations (but alas little time to admire them, let alone have time for a coffee)


In the foreground is the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV of our good friends Franco and Claudia. We spent many a happy hour following (usually), or being followed, by them.
The night stop was in Millau. By this time the Morgan’s tyres were showing alarming signs of wear, as were the front brake pads. Interesting to note that after two days of the Classic Marathon there was more tyre wear than the whole of Peking Paris. Regarding brake pads, fellow Morgan owner David Cook was to come to our rescue later as the pace of the rally increased even further

Day 3 Tuesday 15 June Millau to Carcassonne
The day started, as usual, in steady rain and mist, which made the regularities interesting. It did, however, give the opportunity (in the middle of a regularity – we were taking matters very seriously) for a shot of the famous bridge of which the driver is proud.


Later on Anthony Preston’s route took us weaving through the countryside in the shadow of the bridge. The first part of the day comprised 4 regularities, with a mid afternoon break in Carcassonne where we enjoyed revisiting the famous town




The late afternoon restart for a couple more regularities followed by 2 tests and dinner at the Chateau de Lascours, where we were each given a bottle of there famous wine. (one we were to part with later as a small token in return for a garage proprietor’s generosity – but more of that later) The Morgan had by now taken such a hammering that we decided to miss what was apparently an excellent dinner at the chateau to do some serious fettling. This involved changing round tyres to put on the two spares the Morgan carries, and swapping round the brake pads in an attempt to preserve some front braking.
The benefit of this was that the Driver avoided being presented with a bottle of Harpic by Keith Baud (apparently for collecting a cone on one of the tests – but overall for being “clean round the bend”) (The last time he collected a prize from Keith was on a previous marathon, when he received Keith’s map of the day’s route, as we visited a time control the incorrect direction, having gone over the wrong mountain)

Day 4 Wednesday 16 June Carcassonne to St-Lary
Again a hectic day with 7 regularities, 6 tests and 8 time controls. By this time this Morgan crew had lost the will to live (I jest, as the roads were amazing, and the camaraderie amongst the lower ranks great). The lunch stop was in the medieval Bastide town of Mirepoix, where we parked in the attractive town square. Whilst we managed to keep up speedwise with many more modern cars in the rally, we were not in the same league of accuracy as the front runners. In addition I am bound to point out that despite the best efforts of the Navigator, going the right way round cones does not come naturally to the Driver.
The days blend into one, but our recollection is that the “superb mountain view” offered for our descent into St-Lary was once again obscured by mist and rain. Over dinner that evening David Cook came over, to present us with his spare set of brake pads – a very generous gesture and much appreciated (why had we got through a set of tyres and brake pads, and he hadn’t? Perhaps the Hawk blue pads I was using that were so effective had a downside to them)


Day 5 Thursday 17 June  St-Lary to Biarritz
The scene the following morning showed that the Morgan was not the only car to suffer severe tyre wear. Amongst others, Drexel and Patricia Gillespie were seen to be looking anxiously for replacements for their Sunbeam Tiger. The service teams were kept busy.


Six regularities and just one test faced the remaining teams  on Day 5 (by this time no less than 8 of the 50 odd competitors had retired) again the day was wet, with poor visibility – a great pity as the day included some great cols – Tourmalet, Aubisque, Spandelles, all of which feature fantastic views and amazing bird life. Sadly we saw nothing of either. Some very inventive tulips from Anthony resulted in a hilarious regularity with the back runners falling about laughing as we finally reached the marshals – who obviously shared our type of humour (apparently they had been accused of not being visible enough). Note the weather protection.


The day ended with a run in to Biarritz, which reminded the Driver of a winter day at his home town of Brighton


Day 6 18 June Biarritz to Biarritz
An early start for what was scheduled to be a shortish day. The first regularity took place in thick cloud, reducing our speed for safety reasons to nearer 20 Km/hour instead of the 48 required. Late for the start of the next (self-start) one – but by some miracle only seconds late at the control.
After another fast regularity down the twisting Col d’Aphanize (multiple hairpins) to a smooth transport section to the next time control – well it would have been if the right side front wheel hadn’t decided to go on a separate route. Amazingly the stub axle had decided to shear on a straight and level mountain road. The damage apart from the stub axle included a broken brake disc and sheared calliper, leaving the lugs attached to the axle.


The Navigator got out the requisite notice board for the situation – “OK” (?)- to notify other competitors that we did not need urgent assistance  The motorcycle wet gear worn for the day was welcome as the weather was wet cold and cloudy. The situation was designed for that most modern of inventions – the mobile (allowable as we had “retired”) – but naturally no reception


The rest of the rally passed as the Navigator stood stoically in the mist showing the OK board and waving crews past.


The service crew par excellence of Peter and Betty Banham  turned up – Peter’s initial optimism about carrying out one his famous fixes rapidly disappeared as he surveyed the ruins.


Peter helpfully offers to arrange a breakdown truck (he still feels – quite unnecessarily – guilty at leaving us to our fate in the Gobi desert) and also see if a UK Morgan agent can supply spares. Peter and Betty disappear into the mist. Next to arrive are Andy Inskip and Rob Kitchen. Andy strides purposefully to view the scene (not sure whether Rob’s pose shows support or just “here we go again”- perhaps after seeing remains of brake disc)

But after close inspection comes to same conclusion as Peter


Andy and Rob then, helpfully for morale – leave us their tent, and – more usefully – Rob leaving the Navigator with a supply of Kit Kat (kindly supplied by sponsors CES). They then disappear into the gathering gloom, leaving us, as they did in Mongolia, to a further spell of waiting - in this case on the mountainside. The Navigator barely had time to reopen her book before the “roving” marshals Chris and Geoff appeared.


We hear from them that  the assistance organisation needs to speak personally to the Driver before authorising the recovery service. Thus the Driver departs with roving marshals in search of a signal or landline, leaving the Navigator to her fate as the weather worsens.
Luckily the marshals have spotted a friendly café only 10 Km away at Mendines which appears to be open. Beatrice Bilbro is on duty and kindly allows us use of her phone. After a couple more hours (and several excellent coffees) a breakdown truck is arranged. We return to the car, en route finding a signal and hearing that the truck driver can’t find the road with the Morgan. Somehow manage to con Geoff into point duty at the appropriate intersection to direct the truck when it eventually appears. Cater for all eventualities by leaving him with supply of Pringles. He seems totally phlegmatic about this, comparing the Pyrenees advantageously with marshalling on the Welsh rallies in winter.



Return to the Morgan to find Navigator happily (?) reading her book.


Next to arrive are the young marshals Ed, Russell and Chris. Other Chris and Geoff have to depart for return that night to England.  Russell takes over from Geoff on point duty, with communications improved (?) by the walkie-talkies the marshals have. Time passes as we wait for the breakdown truck, enlivened by a Q & A session between the marshals (example – Q. What is the definition of a sheep in French? A. Un vache avec un woolly jumper)
The breakdown truck arrives driven by a charming Frenchman, Pierre, not in the least concerned to be driving around on a Friday evening in the rain and cloud looking for a 3-wheeled Morgan (readily understandable in view of future events).  15 minutes later the Morgan is successfully loaded onto the low-loader without any further damage.


Pierre and Morgan disappear backwards into the mist looking for a place to turn round.


In view of the time Pierre cannot deliver the car to Biarritz that evening, but will take it to his garage in neighbouring village Gottein-Libbarrenz. We agree to ring him tomorrow to decide tactics on repairs. Young marshal decide that if we go straight to the dinner venue we can arrive in time for the final rally dinner at the 5 star Chateau de Brindos – the only downside is we are all in shorts. Decide this is not a show-stopper (it almost was as we arrive in the middle of prize giving) and go on to a great welcome from Franco, Claudia and Michael (Porsche 911). It was good to see our friends Chris and Nigel Gray take the Concours prize for their immaculate Mercedes 280SL –They used the rally as a shakedown for their forthcoming Carrera Copacabana rally
The meal proves to be superb, and the interlude gives the Driver a chance to call fellow Morgan owner and helper in dire need, Kevin. (he having had some practice on the occasion of the Gobi desert breakdown). He nobly promises to get on the case first thing in the morning.

Saturday 19 June Biarritz to Barcus
Visit HQ hotel and congratulate Jeremy Dickson on his organisation and choice of marshals and service crew. Decide that subject to being able to work on car at Pierre’s garage we will stay locally near Gottein-Libbarrenz  A quick call to Pierre confirms this is no problem, so book for the following two nights at Chez Chilo at nearby Barcus. Hear from Kevin that all Morgan dealers are at Buxton, and nothing can be done ‘till Monday. So procure hire car and travel in luxury to Barcus, the weather now deciding to improve markedly.

Sunday 20 June Barcus
No action possible on car or spares front so decide to relax with some sightseeing. Visit Col de la Madelaine which has an amazing 15th C chapel built on a pagan worship site for the god of lightning.  


Next stop the Gorges of Kakuetta again a “not to be missed” experience.


On the way back appreciate the amount of rain that must have fallen to cause the widespread devastation that affected much of the South of France over the previous week


Monday 21 June Barcus
Turn up at Pierre’s garage – to find that we have totally fallen on our feet. The Morgan is set up for us on axle stands amongst a load of 4X4 vehicles built by Pierre for Paris-Dakar, and Pierre himself is veteran of no less than 37 Paris-Dakar races, including three as route advisor.


He is very happy not only for us to work on the car at his garage, but also offering to give a hand when needed.
Efficient as ever, Kevin rings to say that Melvyn Rutter ( www.melvyn-rutter.net )has a stub axle, king pin and brake disc, and possibly a calliper. Call Melvyn and find that calliper is wrong side – so order axle, king pin and disc. Melvyn organises bushes to be fitted to stub axle and reamed to fit new king pin. Denise organises courier to arrive no later than 1700 hours next day – great news.
Start to dismantle front suspension – with an amazed Pierre looking on.


He can’t believe a car produced today can be so basic. However, he has another look at the broken calliper and reckons he can weld it up sufficient to get us back to the UK. Even better news. (If that fails, we revert to Plan A – to drive back with one front brake – not ideal.) As the rally had taken a ferocious toll on tyres we ask Pierre if he can source a couple of 185 X 15   tyres – and this is organised.
We take a late picnic up the nearest col and find alternative hotel as Chez Chilo shut Mondays. Auberge de l’Etable (www.auberge-etable.com) in neighbouring Montory proves an excellent choice – great food and even a proprietor who is another Paris-Dakar competitor (the plastered up ankle not a result of the race, merely a torn Achilles tendon)


Tuesday 22 June Montory
Arrive at Pierre’s garage to meet him in his office – featuring an incredible array of Paris-Dakar and other trophies.


The Driver uses the time to panel beat the crease in the rear wing, caused by a slow speed contact with a wall in a miniscule alleyway as we wrong slotted on the way to a regularity mid rally. Meanwhile Pierre prepared for welding up the calliper using old axle and brake disc as jig. Pierre is an engineer with the highest standards, and decides, because of distortion following the stub axle failure, to await the replacement parts to ensure good alignment of the calliper with the brake disc. Melvyn and Denise have done a great job as the parcel duly arrives at 1630. The Navigator unpacks the vital pieces which are rapidly assembled as a unit


Pierre and son Patrice prove to be ace welders, taking incredible care in lining up the calliper and tack welding to ensure no distortion; that process continued using a special fluxed rod suitable for cast iron, and completed by reinforcing pieces either side of the broken lugs.


The final product fully justified Pierre’s evident pleasure in the completed repair


The unit is fitted, but as this wasn’t completed until 2030, we decided to stay a further night at Montory, before setting off back to the UK the following day. Before leaving The driver goes to pay the bill (2 tyres, replacement aeroquip brake cable, 5 litres oil, about 5 man hours work…) the amount requested …106 Euros. Unbelievable. Despite remonstrations, they insist that this is what we should pay. Unbelievable generosity and friendship and a unique experience. Thank you so much, Pierre and Patrice.

Wednesday 23 June Montory to Saint Fort sur Gironde
Call in at Pierre’s garage to fill up and thank him and Patrice again, using the brakes with care (despite the quality of Pierre’s welding)

Manage to book up for the night at the Chateau des Salles (www.chateaudessalles.com) a favourite from previous trips. Sylvie, running the hotel had aspirations to take over from the Driver on the next rally


Owner of the adjoining farm and vineyard, Alain, welcomed the Morgan and crew, having apparently seen them on the Morgan centenary laps at last year’s Circuit des Ramparts at Angouleme. The Driver admired his collection of cars, and was delighted to receive an invitation to join the group which attends the event each year. We were also delighted to be given a bottle of the local speciality produced by the chateau, Pineau de Charentes


The Navigator received it on behalf of the crew, responding in the traditional French manner

Sylvie provided a great dinner and a very friendly and comfortable stopover.

Thursday 24 June Saint Fort sur Gironde to Tours
Leaving Chateau des Salles we motored up the A10 autoroute (minimum use of brakes) to Tours, stopping en route for an excellent picnic of Marenne oysters.

Friday 25 June  Tours to Winchester
Left our overnight stop at Chateau de l’Aubriere for Le Havre


Despite driving so as to avoid any substantial use of the brakes, we were able to fit in a brief stop at Giverney, seeing our good friends Patricia and Pascal who gave us an excellent lunch before rushing off to Le Havre for the ferry back.
The crossing back gave time for reflection.
The Classic Marathon was the first retirement for the Morgan in 15 years of competition, but the experiences more than made up for the disappointment. Whilst for this crew the pace set had been too fast, the Classic Rally association’s organisation of the event was excellent, and this crew in particular had appreciated the contents of the daily CES “goodie” bag, particularly when stuck on the mountainside on the final day.
It seems appropriate to end the rather long dissertation on the travails of the Morgan with a photo of Pierre and Patrice’s work in all its glory