Another important moment in Mini history, this time brought to you by the BBC’s On This Day website:
1966: Future of Monte Carlo Rally in Doubt
The Monte Carlo rally has ended in uproar over the disqualification of the British cars expected to fill the first four places.The first four to cross the finishing line were Timo Makinen (Finland) driving a British Motor Corporation Mini-Cooper, followed by Roger Clark (Ford Lotus Cortina), and Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk, both also driving BMC Minis.
But they were all ruled out of the prizes – with six other British cars for alleged infringements of complex regulations about the way their headlights dipped.
The official winner was announced as Pauli Toivonen, a Finn who lives in Paris, driving a Citroen.
BMC and Ford have lodged protests but even if they are upheld, the reputation of the rally has been severely dented.
You can read the entire story here.
Photo courtesy of the BBC.
<p>I’m afraid to admit, but I remember the Road & Track that month! Yipes, said Angela! Yeah, those headlights really affected how fast those Minis were! It was a stain on the Monte for years, and sadly a reflection of the racing scene in general back in the ’60’s – Le Mans had its share of scrutineering mysteries back then involving Brit cars, as well. Lotus quit factory efforts there after one notorious row.
How did Ferrari homologate so many cars with promised production runs that never materialized, while BMC, Ford and Porsche had to actually MAKE the cars? </p>
<p>Even L’Equipe, the French sporting newspaper which had been slating the Monte Minis, had to admit after examining the evidence that it was pretty much rigged for Citroen. The rather arcane regs had been re-written to make it hard for English cars that were modified in any way to win, but BMC and Ford were well able to pull more performance out of their cars, and Citroen wasn’t. </p>
<p>You’ll notice the next year, the Minis won again, with an essentially stock Mini, because once again, the regs had been re-written to make stock cars have a points advantage over modded ones. So what happened? BMC and the Flying Finns yumped their way to victory anyway. An excellent source is “The Works Minis”, by Peter Browning, essential for all Mini owners, IMHO. Minis have had to overcome a lot over the years.</p>
<pre><code> BCNU,
Rob in Dago
</code></pre>
<p>And the French wonder why the English don’t love them more –</p>
<p>Did they ever??</p>
<p>+++RB</p>
<p>heck the way I see it the only way the French could possibly win anything is by making the rules and disqualifying any winners that get in their way – of course I actually love the French (mostly).</p>
<p>Funny, this weekend on a whim I rented “A Man and a Woman” by Claude Lelouche. His 9-minute “Rondevouz” is incredible motoring, as any who’ve seen it will attest. Anyways, turns out one of the main characters in the movie is a race car driver for Ford, and takes part in this very rally championing a Mustang… while preparing for the race, a team member voices concern about the Coopers! They even talk about the problems over the disqualifications…</p>