Micro Car Rally from England to Australia
19 February 1999
SEVEN LEAGUE BOOTS Babies Across the World Concept In the northern summer of the year 2000 a fleet of 100 MICROCARS will depart England to drive across the world to Australia. The rally will be restricted to microcars only; no larger vehicles are eligible to enter. The Aim We can no longer always justify large vehicles and the time is right to look seriously at modern microcars to save our resources in an increasingly crowded world. Vehicles The vehicles will be grouped according to age. Examples of cars eligible might be: Pre 1950 1950/75 1975/2000 Austin 7 BMW Isetta Suzuki Hatch Bantam Fiat Bambino Honda Scamp Fiat Topolina Goggomobile Subaru Mightyboy Peugeot bebe Morris Mini Swatch-Mercedes As a guide only, the definition of an eligible vehicle shall be that of the World Microcar Club; Length not more than 11 feet or 3.35 metres. Engine capacity not greater than 1,000cc Vehicles slightly outside this criteria may be accepted if they meet the spirit of the event. Rally Outline The fleet will depart England in May 2000. It will then proceed through Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. From India entrants will have the choice of finishing at stage one or shipping to Australia (arranged by the organizers). On arrival in Perth the fleet will then drive through the centre of Australia to Brisbane. A follow-up rally in 2001 is planned around USA allowing entrants to complete a "world circumnavigation" with their vehicles. This will emulate Hector Macquarrie's fantastic "Round the World" journey in his Austin 7 in 1930. (The first car to drive around the world). Organization The journey will be non-competitive (although there will be numerous prizes) and basically self-contained. At the majority of overnight stops hotel accommodation will be available for those who require it but there will be many times when camping out will be unavoidable. Each crew will be required to carry a tent and suitable bedding. Campsite catering will be by individual arrangement although the official support vehicle will carry a limited supply of drinking water. Because the aim is to prove microcars are as capable as large vehicles, no individual support vehicles are allowed. Negotiations are taking place with several professional overland bus companies. They will provide a fully self-contained bus tour to accompany the rally. This will give the opportunity for partners of crews to come along in some measure of comfort. No children under the age of 14 will be accepted in the cars or bus on the journey. The terrain will dictate the distances traveled each day but efforts will be made to avoid night driving. Early starts will be the order of the day with everyone in by mid to late afternoon. This is not a race, it is an adventure, and entrants will be expected to give consideration to others. A support truck will accompany the fleet to carry limited recovery equipment, tools etc. Each vehicle TYPE will be allocated limited space for spare parts. A second four-wheel drive support vehicle will act as rally Marshall. Both vehicles will be capable of towing cripples to the nearest civilization - nobody will be left stranded. Because costs are to be kept to a minimum (around $US3,000 per vehicle including shipping to Australia. Those wishing to ship back to Europe or North America will only be a few hundred dollars more) the rally will be run in the form of a tag-along adventure with crews responsible for their own enroute expenses. Each stop will be preplanned and adequate parking and camping space will be selected. This may become very friendly in some of the more crowded Asian cities! Of course there will be times when impromptu stops must be made due to weather, road closures and detours and bureaucratic delay. Organizers The organizers are experienced international expedition and event directors and can offer advice to potential entrants. A full event outline and list of "rules" along with lots of advice will be available shortly. Queries and expressions of interest should go to: Lang Kidby 1024 Dohles Rocks Road Griffin Queensland 4503 Australia Phone 61-7-3886 1688 Fax 61-7-3886 5359 Lang@st.net.au