George Coelho writes...
(Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/brattleshot/The2008ClassicSafariChallenge)
"We returned yesterday from Cape Town after the almost month-long rally. You
probably know that we picked up second place in our class being narrowly beaten
by a Sunbeam Tiger. Margo really drove well and got kudos from Phil Young, who
usually is pretty conservative in praising anyone. See: http://www.endurorally.com/extra23.html
The car performed well and the only real problems were with the rear
suspension, a known weak point on the car. The shocks came through the metal
after a grueling section on the second day! The mechanics patched them with
some metal plates which saw us through the rally with daily inspection. I will
finally get around to reinforcing these and the fronts when the car returns.
Lance had fixed these some years ago and I should have had them reinforced then.
Many people had suspension problems since we were told in writing that the
roads would be smooth and there would be no "grueling competition." They
couldn't have been more wrong.... This was the toughest rally we have ever done.
We must have done 2k on washboard gravel and everything in the car started to
come undone. I could tighten the front shock top nuts with my fingers
eventually! Even nylocks were unscrewing on the various cars.
We did not baby the car as you can see with only
The engine was superb and we regularly had the car to 90 mph on gravel. We
used very little oil through 8000 km.
All in all, I must thank you for the rally preparation without which we
surely would not have placed like we did. The reliable car made all the
difference as you can see from the results. The 122 owner, Erik, from Holland, will be
contacting you shortly about working some of your magic on the car."
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