Classics cars take on Himalayas in rally

TODAY marks the start of the 16,000km Beijing to Paris rally, following in the wheel tracks of the intrepid adventurers who first traversed the route in 1904.

So what car would you choose for a six-week run in a rally for pre-1968 vehicles from Beijing to Paris, that at one stage traverses the Himalaya Mountains at dizzying altitudes of up to 4,850m?

It was the easiest of decisions, according to Gerry Crown and John Bryson, two intrepid Australian adventurers who reckon there's nothing better for that daunting drive than a 1964 EH Holden sedan.

They're confident the venerable EH has as good a chance of any of the odd assortment of 98 vehicles setting off from China's capital today to be still running at the finish in Paris on October 18.

One has to say it is a better choice of car than that on which a few hopeful entrants are relying, such as an ancient 1907 La France, a massive three-ton Rolls-Royce vice-regal limousine that conveyed Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip on their first Australian tour in 1953 and a sundry assortment of Model A Fords.

The EH Holden option materialized from a heads-down huddle last year between Crown and Bryson as they contemplated what for them will be a US$120,000 last hurrah of more than 30 years of what some less adventuresome types would describe as motoring madness.

EH Holdens over the years have been called on to tackle some appalling conditions. They've been seen in some odd places -- although the Himalayas surely will be a first -- and they did figure prominently in taking family travel to the Australian outback.

"It's strong, solid and easy to fix if something goes wrong," says Crown, who is about to take up rallying again. He left the sport in 1986 after an eventful 20-year involvement via the likes of Mini-Coopers, Cortina GTs and Renault Gordinis.

An EH gave Bryson his introduction to navigating in the mid- 1960s, when he called the way ahead to Bruce Collier, who in subsequent years achieved a measure of rallying fame for his exploits in Renault Gordinis.

Bryson has had his fair share of international endurance events, including the 1968-1977 London-Sydney Marathons and the 1974 London to Munich Rally via the Sahara Desert.

He also teamed with Scotsman Andrew Cowan -- who won both Marathons, the first in a Hillman Hunter and the second in a Mercedes-Benz 280SE -- to win three straight Southern Cross rallies in a Mitsubishi Lancer in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

Availability was one of the EH's advantages when it came to locating a car that was within the Beijing to Paris regulations. There's never been any shortage of what was far and away Australia's top-selling car in its era.

Crown bought two, one to try and the other to be transformed into a long-distance runner with additions including a roll cage, two petrol tanks with a combined capacity of 200 liters for a 500km-plus refueling range, wrap-around rally seats and harnesses.

He spotted the first one when it pulled up alongside his car at a set of traffic lights in Sydney's "auto alley", Parramatta Road.

Crown wound down his window and made an on-the-spot offer, which was duly accepted. That EH was still running on its original tires, with its log book in the glovebox.

The second was a bits-and-pieces car, a snap at $1,600, which now boasts a rebuilt, warmed-up 179-cubic-inch capacity 'Red' engine by courtesy of Repco and various bits and pieces to enhance its durability in a Beijing to Paris package built by Sydney-based rally preparation specialist Trevor Hodge.

Non-standard components include four-wheel disc brakes supplied by DBA, heavy-duty suspension springs and dampers specified by Lovells and a four-speed gearbox.

A minimum of spare parts will be carried, along with two oxygen tanks to offset the risk of altitude sickness in the gravel-track passes carved into the roof of the world between China and Tibet.

This is Crown and Bryson's main concern, with Crown admitting he also suffers from a fear of heights that will deter him from looking down and admiring the scenery below as they negotiate the mountains.

"Adrenalin and frequent whiffs of oxygen will get us through," Crown said wryly at a farewell party attended by past rallying greats Greg and Ross Garrard, Doug Stewart, Barry Ferguson, Brian Hilton and Bruce Collier.

The duo have no fears about the rest of the route, embracing India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany and France.

They will not be leaving the much-traveled EH in Europe after the finish.

Crown intends to use it as his everyday car in future.

Other entrants flying the Australian flag in what is being hailed as the last great motoring adventure are neurosurgeon John Matheson and his wife Jeanne-Eve, in the aforementioned Rolls- Royce and Richard Sackelariou, in a 1960s Wolseley 24/80.

Only one car, a 40hp chain-driven Itala driven by Italian nobleman Prince Scipione Borghese, finished the first Peking to Paris (via Moscow) rally in 1907, among the five cars that started the Great Wall of China to River Seine epic.

The wooden-wheeled Itala, which took two months to conquer the route, is preserved for posterity in Turin's Carlo Biscaretti automotive museum.