London to Sydney Marathon

[styria]

I guess back in the '60s or perhaps '70s (more likely), there were two P5 Rovers that made it all the way to Sydney, and on display on the Pyrmont Bridge a day or two after their arrival in Sydney. There was a huge crowd in  attendance and, as is normally the case, the participants were mobbed and bombarded with all manner of questions and enquiries. Now, I understand that  the cars   were heavily modified - one car I believe had a McPherson strut suspension arrangement, and I further believe that the rear spring rubber shackles were discarded and replaced by a more conventional mounting method.

The questions I have are these:

1. Would anyone know what modifications and alterations were carried out, and

2. What has happened  to those two Rovers - are they still in existence, were they shipped back to England etc. etc.

Any information may make fascinating reading.    Regards     Styria

[Warwick]

Somewhere safe, I have all the Melbourne newspaper clippings of the event, plus the official Daily Express booklet. (Just have to find it). As an 18-year-old, I followed the event with much interest. I've also got the video documentary. However, I suspect that sort of information will not be amongst it.
At the time, a friend's father was service manager for VW Australia, based at the manufacturing plant in Melbourne (Clayton). He was responsible for ensuring that the VWs had support.

You might find something in James Taylor's book.

[styria]

Warwick, thank you for your reply. Do you know what year the P5 models took part ? I have found a list of entries in Wikipedia which shows two Rover 2000s and also a P5B, but so far, no P5s. Would you know what may have happened to the P5s after the event. Museum ? Scrapped ? Still sitting somewhere covering dust ?  Regards      Styria      

[Warwick]

Stryia,

I've found my copy of the official booklet for the original 1968 marathon which includes the list of cars and competitors.
There are no P5s or P5Bs listed. The only Rovers were a pair of 2000s entered by the British Army Motoring Association, and a 2-wheel-drive Land-Rover.

I was living in Singapore when the 1977 rerun came through, and I knew a couple of the entrants (in a Datsun SSS), so they got me into a couple of the venues while the crews were taking a number of rest days before leaving for Perth to continue. The only Rovers in 1977 were 4 Range Rovers.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the 1993 rerun in which a couple of P5Bs competed? One was a Dutch entry and the other was Richard Martin-Hurst, the nephew (if I remember correctly) of William Martin-Hurst, the surrogate father of the Rover V8.

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