The A40 Farina Club is pleased to be following the two members who are pitting their A40s against this internationally famous rally.
Chris Mockeridge and navigator J
ohn Varney are aboard their Mk 2 "Tina the Farina" and because their starting point is on the near Continent, we have, at the time of writing, no information on their progress but naturally wish them well.
However,
Colin Levin and
Fergus Millar in car number 406 started from a very wet and dark Glasgow yesterday to begin their journey south.
One of their Passage Controls happened to be in my home town of Banbury where members
Liz Smith (driving up from Henley-on-Thames) and
Derek Minter (from Maidenhead) motored up in their A40s to join my wife
Bar and me with our A40 in an informal classic car display around the area of the Start Gate.
Our cars attracted considerable interest especially when we told folk about the two A40s in this year's Rally. (We suffered all the usual "My dad/gran/teacher had one of them", or "I learned to drive in one.")
We spotted the rally cars arriving at the Park Fermée and I went down to find Colin and Fergus...
...and, in fact,
they found me! They knew that three Club members were hoping to meet them and, despite their long drive and need for a rest and some lunch, insisted on returning to our display cars to meet everyone - a most generous gesture which we all appreciated.
- left to right: Liz, Fergus, Colin, Keith and Derek.
We didn't want to keep them long, as they only had a little over an hour for the break and so we chased them off back to their car. All-too-soon it was time for the competitors to depart and here's car 406 being flagged away amid music, disco smoke and cheers.
- Off to Monte Carlo !
- A frantic wave from Fergus as they shot past.
After all the cars had left, all those folk who wished to, could themselves drive over the Passage Control as we headed home (not Monte Carlo !) Naturally, three little A40 Farinas couldn't resist:
- Leading the charge, Keith in his Mk1 saloon (Bar taking the photos...)
- ...followed by Derek in his Mk2 Countryman...
- ...and, finally, Liz in her Mk 1 saloon.
For us three, it was home for tea after a fascinating little show, enjoyed despite the drizzly weather. For Colin and Fergus, of course, they were already well on the way in the 1,300 mile dash to the South of France.
But their story has only just begun: for them the emotional journey is being run in commemmoration of Colin's late father
Gerald who, a quarter-of-a century earlier had 'done' the Monte in the same car. Here he is, standing proudly (on the right) at the Finish Gate by the Mediterranean along with his navigator/co-driver
Bernard Buss.
And a final twist to their extraordinary story? Colin was originally being accompanied by brother
Richard who, just two weeks before the rally, fell and broke an ankle. Panic! "Don't worry," said Richard, "I can still co-drive if necessary."
"Oh yes?" came the reply. "With a pair of crutches and wearing a moon boot over your plaster? I don't think so!"
Thus it came to pass that a totally unexpecting work colleague, Fergus, was bullied into joining Colin in the mad endeavour after never having done any rallying before!
I'm sure that the spirit of Gerald is with them all the way to the Finish, and as info is received, I'll add it to this thread. Until then, join me in wishing the pair - and the car! - all the very best for a resounding success.
