1977 London–Sydney Marathon

1977 London-Sydney Marathon Singapore Airlines London-Sydney Rally
Host country	United Kingdom Australia
Rally base	London Sydney
Dates run	14 August – 27 September 1977
Stages	30
Stage surface	Tarmac and Gravel
Overall distance	30,000 km (19,000 miles)
Statistics
Crews	69 at start, 47 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Andrew Cowan Colin Malkin Mike Broad The Rank Organisation-Daimler-Benz AG

The 1977 London–Sydney Marathon, officially Singapore Airlines Rally London-Sydney 1977, was the second running of the London-Sydney Marathon. The rally took place between 14 August and 27 September 1977. The event covered 19,000 miles (30,000 km) through Europe, Asia and Australia. It was won by Andrew Cowan, Colin Malkin and Mike Broad, driving a Mercedes-Benz 280E.

Background

The winning Mercedes-Benz 280E, on display in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, in 2013

The success of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon would inspire Australian advertising publicist Wylton Dickson, who had no previous links to rallying to organised the World Cup Rally, which took place in 1970 and again in 1974. But following the controversy over the running of the 1974 event, the World Cup Rally was cancelled and Dickson decided to organise another London to Sydney Marathon in 1977, with sponsorship from Singapore Airlines, who were celebrating their 30th Anniversary, by running the longest car rally in history. The route would see competitors cross Europe and Asia in the first twelve days of the event before the cars would be shipped from India to Malaysia with competitors driving through the country and into Singapore for the next eleven days before being shipped to Australia for the last seven days of the rally.

Results

Pos	No	Entrant	Drivers	Car	Penalties (Time)
1	33	The Rank Organisation-Daimler-Benz AG	Andrew Cowan Colin Malkin Mike Broad	Mercedes-Benz 280E	2hr 42min 18sec
2	48	Johnson Rally Wax-Daimler-Benz AG	Tony Fowkes Peter O'Gorman	Mercedes-Benz 280E	3hr 37min 22sec
3	45	Total Citroën Australia	Paddy Hopkirk Michael Taylor Bob Riley	Citroën CX2400	3hr 49min 46sec
4	15	Total Citroën Australia	Claude Laurent Jean-Claude Ogier	Citroën CX2400	4hr 55min 57sec
5	54	Channel TVW7 Perth-Australian Peugeot Team	Ross Dunkerton Bob Watson Roger Bonhomme	Peugeot 504 TI	4hr 58min 0sec
6	59	Hildebrand Holztechnik-Daimler-Benz AG	Alfred Kling Klaus Kaiser Jorg Leininger	Mercedes-Benz 280E	5hr 21min 49sec
7	25	Total Citroën Australia	Jean Paul Luc Patrick Vanson	Citroën CX2400	6hr 25min 21sec
8	27	Warsteiner Marathon Team-Daimler-Benz AG	Herbert Kleint Günther Klapproth Herbert Vormbruck	Mercedes-Benz 280E	6hr 26min 31sec
9	1	Frank Johnston	Frank Johnston Ben Williams Dick Matson	Mazda RX-4	7hr 11min 52sec
10	69	Total Citroën Australia	Jim Reddiex Barry Ferguson Doug Stewart	Citroën CX2400	7hr 16min 55sec
10	39	Endrust Australia	Evan Green John Bryson Tom Leake	Range Rover	7hr 46min 6sec
12	52	John Taylor	John Taylor Jeremy Browne Robert Hunt	Range Rover	8hr 21min 48sec
13	72	Sobiesław Zasada	Sobiesław Zasada Wojciecj Schramm	Porsche 911 Carrera	9hr 59min 4sec
14	35	Ingleby/Smith	James Ingleby Bob Smith	Jeep Cherokee	11hr 44min 27sec
15	6	Team Esso Aseptogyl	Robert Neyret Marianne Hoepfner	Fiat 131 Abarth Diesel	13hr 49min 49sec
16	16	Turkish National Team	Aytaç Kot Kayhan Kantarci	Renault 12 TS	14hr 11min 57sec
17	22	Jacques Jeandot	Jacques Jeandot Werner Koch	Volkswagen 1600	44hr 8min 27sec
18	53	Arthur Davies	Arthur Davies John Latham Rod James	Datsun 180B SSS	89hr 29min 21sec
19	48	Noriyuki Koseki	Noriyuki Koseki Yoshio Takaoka Hiroshi Okazaki	Subaru Leone 4WD	93hr 34min 10sec
20	60	Victoria Toyota Dealers	Wes Nalder Noel Richards	Toyota Corolla	95hr 29min 33sec
21	58	Freeway Exhaust & Tyre Service	Chris Bruce Peter Carracher Dave Turtle	Ford Escort RS2000 Mark II	101hr 20min 12 sec
22	41	Brian Chuchua	Brian Chuchua David Howes Kenneth Adams	Jeep CJ-6	102hr 52min 38sec
23	24	Team Esso Aseptogyl	Giancarlo Baghetti Tommaso Carletti	Fiat 131 Abarth Diesel	105hr 15min 40sec
24	42	Turkish National Team	İskender Arouba Demir Bükey	Renault 12 TS	115hr 26min 53sec
25	40	Basil Wadman	Basil Wadman Mark Shand Robert Arthur	Peugeot 504 TI	143hr 34min 41sec
26	76	Wally Glass	Wally Glass Peter Flanagan Paul Caddey	Holden Torana LH	151hr 54min 20sec
27	5	John Stathatos	John Stathatos Erling Jensen	Peugeot 504 TI	217hr 43min 39sec
28	71	Michael O’Connell	Michael O’Connell Anne O’Connell John Keating	Citroën CX2400	254hr 1min 54sec
29	67	Brian Chuchua	Dennis Lundstedt Erick Hauge Richard Dahn	Jeep CJ-6	264hr 27min 58sec
30	74	Australian Peugeot Team	Bob Holden Ian Monk	Peugeot 504 TI	266hr 15min 58sec
31	20	Richard Beldam	Richard Beldam Steve Kimbrell Gary Whitcombe	Range Rover	280hr 39min 25sec
32	13	Hank Kabel	Hank Kabel Simon Kabel	Mazda 929	305hr 31min 14sec
33	73	Coca-Cola Australia	Allen Hausler Barry Allen Doug Francis	Leyland Terrier	377hr 56min 4sec
34	14	Greg Nicholson	Greg Nicholson Norman Sherlock	Chrysler Lancer	450hr 27min 4sec
35	7	Coca-Cola Australia	Hans Tholstrup John Crawford	Mini Moke	471hr 14min 10sec
36	10	Francis Tuthill	Francis Tuthill Tony Sowell	Volkswagen Beetle	498hr 48min 34sec
37	56	Apex Leisure	Tom Currah Steve Tucker	Bedford Autosleeper	509hr 26min 42sec
38	50	Hutt River Province	Charles Roberts Len Webb Ray Brooks	Renault 30 TS	623hr 16min 17sec
39	31	Kassim Mohamed	Kassim Mohamed Kay Fook Syed Adlan Wong Sau Man	Fiat 132 GNS	656hr 55min 5sec
40	17	Light Car Club of Australia	Ian Baxter Mick Ellis	Datsun P510	702hr 4min 43sec
41	61	Mitsuru Eguchi	Mitsuru Eguchi Tuto Eguchi	Volvo 164	772hr 3min 37sec
42	9	Australian Peugeot Team	Brian Hilton Barry Lake	Peugeot 504 TI	994hr 59min 32sec
43	23	Pickup Van & 4WD Magazine	Don Brown Cam Warren	Jeep Cherokee	1099hr 10min 39sec
44	57	G.W. Bartlett-T.W. Hollidge Limited	Gerald Bartlett Geoff Eldridge George Harris	Citroën CX2400 Estate	1168hr 33min 14sec
45	21	Tom Delashmutt	Tom Delashmutt Carlos Neiderhauser	Chevrolet Vega Cosworth	1198hr 18min 40sec
46	3	Vincent Wong	Vincent Wong Ah Seng Hoe Tee Hoo Tedh	Mini Clubman	1343hr 31min 53sec
47	19	Post Office Telecoms	Mike Dickin Simon Park	Mini 1275 GT	1423hr 23min 27sec
Source:

Further reading

• Park, Simon (2009). A Little Goes a Long Way: Two men in a Mini on the Singapore Airlines London to Sydney Rally, August 14th - September 28th, 1977. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing. ISBN 9781425185084.
• Stathatos, John (1978). The Long Drive: The Story of the Singapore Airlines London-Sydney Rally. London: Pelham Books. ISBN 0720710855.

External links

• The 1977 Singapore Airlines London to Sydney Rally – website commemorating the event