General London to Cape Town Record Run....

[Philip Young]

Here's a "project car" with a difference!

....Just bought a brand-new Easy from Mellors of Wantage, had to wait six weeks as it was ordered in white, it missed the strike of lorry drivers. Not seen a new Panda on the road yet...

So far, 400 miles of careful running in now chalked up.

Only problem is that the hazard lights come on when the ABS clicks in, which it does at a moment's provacation. And on a bumpy road the hazard lights come on regardless (perhaps the ABS being shaken into operation at the same time).

Nice gearbox. Nice ride...(different from the "old" model, less roll, firmer all round, but not at all harsh, particularly good at sleeping-policemen).

Good performer from the Twin Air engine, lovely thrum, the noise is commented on favourably by all passengers so far. Mid-range overtaking is particularly impressive. It cruises well on the motorway but we kept the revs down to 2,5 up to the first 100 miles, and only now doing 4,000. Cruises at 80 with a sense of ease, no strain. Particularly good in the cut and thrust of heavy traffic. Drove Oxford to Dover at the weekend and it seems to be getting better with every mile. (changed the oil to running-in oil which is now about to be changed to fresh non-synthetic mineral).

The car is going to be uprated and tweaked here and there without going mad on major modifications for an attempt at the end of the year on the London to Cape Town World Record which is currently 11 days 14 hours held by three up in a Range Rover. As we get into it, we will start up a blog on a website in due course. Its touch and go of course whether a one litre car can hack it, but if any small car can, the new Panda can.

We intend to keep the 14 inch steel wheels, fitting 80 profile 8-ply van tyres (which will also lift it up a bit more apart from being stronger at tackling pot-holes and washaways). The car is going into the workshop of Tony Fowkes Autos at Park Royal, (near the Ace Cafe) in a week's time for appraisal. They prepared a Maestro 1.6 for the recent London to Cape Town World Cup Rally which was 2nd overall at Dover, 4th at Athens, 8th at the finish in Cape Town and a thorough check over in expert hands at the preparation game for what is a 16,000 kilometre non-stop run is the next stop, once run-in.

 

[gtidriver]

Good luck with your mammoth trip,cant wait to read you updates. Your journey is something that intend to do one day. what route are you taking.

 

[Philip Young]

Work has now started with the car being partially stripped down at the bodyshop of Tony Fowkes Automobiles, in Park Royal - if anyone wants a rear seat for the new-Panda, there is one going free! Front seats will be replaced, not sure with what as the passenger side needs to be as fully reclinable as possible (any suggestions?).

McPherson strut has a top panel available as a repair-kit so this is ordered up- and will be welded into place as a double-skinning job to strengthen up this area. Plastic nose cone has been removed to see what other areas in the front engine bay need reinforcement. Bumper reinforcement bar that runs across the front of the radiators will be further strengthened.

Suspension remains the biggest puzzle as to what to do. It needs to be uprated a touch.

The engine has done 1,000 miles now and gets better, feels more free, with every mile. It's been on old fashioned mineral-oil from the outset to help the running in process. Its going to need a supplementary fuel tank, perhaps something can be fitted behind the drivers seat - quite a major job. Fuel economy on long runs has been around 41-42 mpg, and on the record run its going to be similar, so to do an all-night non-stopper we need a slightly longer range.

To answer the question about the route - the plan is to run down the eastern side of Africa, (a new border crossing is opening up any day between southern Egypt and North Sudan), then into Ethiopia and into Kenya, similar to the route on the website of the recent London to Cape Town Rally, (www.londoncapetownrally.com ).

 

[R1NGA]

What a proper adventure - respect to you Sir! Looking forward to the Blog and please keep us up to date with the preparation progress?!

Top stuff!

 

[The Beard]

Good job. I don't want to sound predictable, but there's a whole load of respect for even getting beyond the making notes on the back of a beer mat/fag packet stage.

What you're planning is the stuff of dreams for most people. You, on the other hand, are living the dream. Not only that, but choosing a car like a Panda is not only unorthodox, but extremely brave. I can see potential competitors making a list of possible cars to take on this event and not even considering a Panda for a split second.

One thing that puzzles me about the route.....Sudan? Ethiopia? Kenya? There seems to be one word that links them all, well several actually but similar: War, Bandits, Murder, AK47s not to mention Kidnapping.

It's not usually in the nature of these events for the competitors to run together like a WWII convoy with Corvettes and Destroyers to protect them, so how does the security work? And how the hell do you get the insurance cover? Not only that, how much does it cost?

 

[Philip Young]

The image given out by TV and the Press is not what it's like on the ground. You are welcomed by locals with open arms, we stop when we like, shop in the local roadside shacks...(only on this trip we hope to keep pressing on, there wont be any overnight hotels or camping). Have done the route twice now in the last two years and got the feeling that things were getting better, not worse. Egypt has a long way to go, of course, but they were always welcoming to tourists. Ethiopia could not do enough to help the recent London-Cape Town rally. Kenya has seriously rough roads for two days, and is the worst going, conditions-wise. But if we were likely to be kidnapped, or shot up, well, we wouldnt be going.

Panda choice: The record was set last year by an elderly Discovery, with a three up crew. It used to be done in the "gung ho" years by Ford in a new Cortina, and before that, Hillman Minx, Humber Snipe, Austin A40 and things...to pull it off in a big 4x4 would be a yawn. We reckon the Panda is tough enough. It can be done in two wheel drive with reasonable ground clearance (we want to raise the front a tad and fit taller tyres than the 175-65 standard jobs), protect the underneath with bash plates, fit an extra fuel tank, different seats and things...will keep you posted. The work has started, too far into it now to go back on the idea.

 

[jimbo118]

Interesting project this - best of luck with it all.

Considering the terrain you'll be going through though, I would have thought you'd need some form of limited slip differential to ensure you'll always have traction to both of the front wheels - any plans on this front?

 

[Philip Young]

The plan is to make this an ultimate "test of a reasonably priced car" as Top Gear call theirs...we want to make sure its a Panda identifiable clearly as a showroom-based car, not a specially over-modified one...we could do a lot of things but the plan is to keep the budget within bounds. The terrain has got some dirt-road days, but nothing that is beyond a two-wheel-drive car (the weather window helps), obviously if it gets sticky then we have been wildly optimistic. We think we can get there - but its a touch and go thing as to snatching the World Record, after all, a three up crew in a Disco with a lot of off-road prep behind it is a pretty sound proposition for driving non-stop half way round the world.

Most of the route is crappy (broken up, potholes, bumpy) tarmac. We will uprate the suspension a tad, (will let you know in due course), but when we set off, it ought to be nothing more modified than a Panda that anyone else could build, given a garden shed. We will get a website up and running in due course.

 

[mtc1tony]

The Panda now has a Tony Fowkes radiator-protecting nudge-bar; will it withstand nudging elephants?

Tony Fowkes at his bodyshop in Park Royal, north London. (2nd on the ’77 London to Sydney as a works Mercedes driver behind Andrew Cowan, beating Hopkirk’s Citroen, and 4th on the 74 Lombard RAC Rally in a home-built Escort are two of his rally achievements).

He and his sons have prepped the Panda, some 500 hours have gone into ensuring it won't easily fall apart...

More on http://www.africarecordrun.com

 

[mtc1tony]

There are some car-preparation pictures posted in this thread, and further updates will be posted there:

https://www.fiatforum.com/lets-talk...wn-london-record-attempt-february-2013-a.html

 

[catnash]

I am really looking forward to this, seems an immense challenge so many miles a day.

 

[Philip Young]

Not long to go now - we are off to South Africa next week to get the car out of the docks, and the start date is Feb 1st. You can follow it daily on the website as there is a tracker bleeping every 30 minutes with our position, and average speed to that point.

We looked at the rival cars in the Autocar test when Autocar voted the Panda the top city-car...and came to the conclusion none of the rivals could be prepared as easily, or, have much hope of crossing two Continents in ten days. The Panda now has to live up to the promise, but we have great faith in it....

There will be regular reports on facebook, also up on www.africarecordrun.com

Good to see donations to our official charity are now arriving - most encouraging. Its been on TV, half a page in the Sunday Telegraph, some motoring magazines and websites, so....no pressure then.

 

[firecolour]

Well done on your new world record! I got the following email from my local (Triumph TR) car club that others may be interested in:

Subject: Invitation: Philip Young, Guest Speaker @ WBCVC Club Night, Mon. 14th Oct.

Philip Young, Guest Speaker @ WBCVC Club Night, Monday 14th October 2013

The West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club is delighted to announce that double World Record Holder, Philip Young has agreed to be the guest speaker at our Club Night on Monday 14th October 2013. We would like to extend an invitation to friends, associates, neighbouring clubs and regional groups of national car clubs whose members may be interested in attending.

In February 2013 Philip Young and Paul Brace drove their Fiat Panda under Marble Arch at the end of their gruelling 10,000 mile drive from Cape Town to London shaving over a day off the previous best time ever achieved and breaking two earlier world records.

http://www.africarecordrun.com/index.html

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd will also display the record holding Fiat Panda for the evening.

Philip Young Bio:

Philip Young is the driving force behind the Endurance Rally Association. In the early 1980’s Philip was editing, writing for, and publishing his own motoring magazine, “Sporting Cars”, that twice won the premier award for journalism from the Guild of Motoring Writers. When the magazine was taken over by a large publishing group Philip was able to realise his ambition to organise an event in the style of the
period he admired so much by organising an International rally specifically designed for the ever growing numbers of classic car owners.

Philip would fulfil his ambition with the first Pirelli Classic Marathon held in 1988 before going on to create a remarkable catalogue of more than 60 major international events, including four Peking to Paris events and the Round the World in 80 Days Motor Challenge which is the longest motor rally ever run. Early in 2012 Philip realised another long held ambition with the running of his London to Cape Town event.

In addition to organising events Philip is a past-competitor on many long-distance events, including the 1977 London to Sydney Marathon, Paris Dakar in 1986, and five Himalayan Rallies during the early 1980's and has driven as a works-team driver for Skoda, and the Unipart Rally Team in various Leyland cars including Triumph TR8 and Rover SD1. The HeritageMotorMuseum at Gaydon exhibits two cars from his former escapades.

The formation of the Historic Rally Car Register was his inspiration and he is a co-founder of what is today the largest rally club in Britain with over 2,000 paid-up members. Philip was the creator and first editor of the club's acclaimed Oldstager magazine and is still a regular contributor.

Full event details and joining instructions will follow soon.

WBCVC is an active, multi-marque, classic vehicle club which meets once a month in Newbury on the second Monday evening of the month. We are also a member club of the FBHVC.

West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club

 

[varesecrazy]

MaxHeadroom

 

[murphyv310]

Ah I didn't realise this was an old thread.
Oops