A HIGHLAND FLING

The International Scottish Rally was a favourite with Army rally crews, who mounted up in their Land Rovers, and set off with the top rally aces of the period for a gentle tour of Scotland.

Les Dalton was one such competitor, and the first obstacle was the cost. Therefore, sponsorship had to be gained from anyone happy to part with hard cash in return for the guarantee that they would definitely sell more of their goods if their name was emblazoned on the side of his Land Rover. Not easy, even in the 1970s.

However, after assistance from various quarters, including Alan Allard, who provided a turbocharger, and Unipart who lent an overdrive unit, plus Les’s ability to procure some fuel, the team arrived at the Glasgow starting point. The co-driver for this excursion was SSM Bellamy-Brown of the 4^th RTR, in the absence of the usual Bob Price. The entry was number 75, which showed that the overall entry was low, as normally Land Rovers were numbered between 105 and 130.

The rally commenced in torrential rain, and the canvas top leaked. (Nothing new there, then). The first special stage was a tarmac section, and the Land Rover ended up fortieth fastest. The team enjoyed a very good first twenty four hours, and at Aviemore were in 35^th place overall, and leading the only other four wheel drive vehicle, a works Subaru. (They have obviously come on a bit since then)

However……the gremlins then struck. The power produced by the turbocharged engine proved a bit much for the rear differential and a couple of teeth broke off the crown wheel. This did no good at all, but fortunately (?) the whole diff broke up, and with good luck, it all broke cleanly. With four wheel drive engaged, but obviously with just the front wheels actually driving, the intrepid duo set off on the next stage, and indeed the remainder of the rally in this mode.

I am assured that driving at speed on rally stages, in this manner, is not for the fainthearted, nor for the weak of wrist. 370 miles were driven in this way, 84 of which were special stages. Not too deterred by the odd handling, the team pressed on, but the fact that the vehicle did not necessarily go where it was required to made competitive rallying hard work. They still managed to beat the Subaru on one special stage, however.

Another minor problem occurred when a pipe detached itself from the turbo, dropping the engine on to two cylinders from about 70 mph. A bit of jubilee clip tightening cured this, and the team were off again. Eventually, they were classified in 42^nd place, still ahead of the Subaru, and still managing 80 plus mph on some stages in spite of the problems. How would they have done if the diff had remained intact ?

With thanks to Les Dalton and the RAOC magazine.