London-Sydney recreated

The London-Sydney Marathon of 1968 will be recreated in June 2004, when Nick Brittan’s company runs a 30-day, 10,000-mile trek to Australia. Open to pre-1978 historic rally cars as well as under-2000cc modem cars in near-standard trim, there is also a regularity class for modern 4WDs.

The original Marathon was won by Andrew Cowan’s Hillman Hunter co-driven by Colin Malkin and Brian Coyle – from Paddy Hopkirk’s BMC 1800.

“It’s still one of the greatest car adventures on the planet,” says Cowan. “I’ve lost count of the rallies I’ve done, but the London-Sydney is the one I remember.”

The gruelling month-long route crosses France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, India and Australia, with up to three timed stages over closed roads each day.