From the Mitcham and Tooting Advertiser, 3rd February 1955

Three local men who took part in the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally stand beside their car after completing the journey. On the right is Mr. Colin Sproxton, on the left Mr. A. G. Gray and Mr. Derek Roberts.

Adventures in the Monte Carlo Rally

Local team back after lively experiences

THREE local men—two of them members of Mitcham Rotary Club, the third a son of a member — arrived home on Saturday after taking part in the Monte Carlo Rally with a three-litre Alvis.

The crew were Mr. A. G. Gray, formerly a director of Messrs. Stewart and Gray Ltd., of Tooting Junction, whose home is at Tadworth; Mr. Colin Sproxton, of Nightingale Road, Carshalton, the proprietor of Home Radio, in London Road, Mitcham; and Mr. Derek Roberts, whose home is at Denmark Hill and whose father, Mr. H. D. Roberts, was the owner of the car they used.

They set off from Glasgow at 4 p.m., being late starters because of their number—120—and, as a result, most of the journey to Dover, over ice-covered roads, was made in darkness. They crossed the Channel on the Lord Warden and, just 24 hours after they left Glasgow, they drive out of Boulogne.

Describing the journey, Mr. Sproxton told “The Advertiser ” this week that the run to Lille was uneventful. From there they went over the frontier into Belgium.

All along the route the police helped rally drivers and escorted them through the main cities. At Liège, the local motor club provided food, and members escorted rally cars to the outskirts of the town.
After crossing into Holland, an Amsterdam motoring organisation provided a ham-and-egg breakfast at 6 a.m.

Hair-raising

It was in Rotterdam that the crew had their most hair-raising experience, said Mr. Sproxton. They were met by a police motor cyclist who led them through the city. “I do not think his speed dropped below 70 m.p.h. It was the most terrifying part of the journey.

“He had a whistle in his mouth, which he blew continually while waving everyone out of his way. He was looking over his shoulder most of the time to make sure we were following. I have never seen anything like it before, and I don’t know that I want to see anything like it again.”

Roads had been icy most of the way, but on the road to Paris they tried to make up as much time as possible because they had arranged to have the engine of the car checked there.

It was on this part of the trip that they had the first signs of engine overheating. Nothing could be done about this in Paris, and it later turned out to be due to a faulty water pump.

By the time they reached the French capital, they had lost no marks—but trouble lay ahead.

Flood detour

They were told that the section of the road which they were to take next was completely flooded and that the only alternative was to take a 60-mile detour in order to reach the next check point. No extra time was allowed for this detour.

“We would have made it in the required time but for the trouble we were experiencing with the engine,” said Mr. Sproxton.

As it was, they arrived at Versoul 58 minutes late and lost 58 marks.
They discovered afterwards that the road they should have used had not been badly flooded. In fact, many competitors did use it quite safely.

At Gap they entered the “secret section.” In this case they had to follow a prescribed route. They were told the time averages they had to observe.

“By this time we had been on the road for two days without rest. Working out simple sums connected with the time averages became almost mentally impossible.”

For the last 220 miles to Monte Carlo the time penalty was increased to one mark for every second early or late.

Sheer drop

There were hairpin bends all the way, with rock walls on one side and a sheer drop on the other. The roads were icy, but to keep to schedule the contestants had to drive at 60 m.p.h. all the time.

On this stretch the Mitcham party were lucky. Because of their fairly high number they did not start until it was light, which made the journey easier.

“On one section of 200 yards we counted six cars which had crashed in the darkness, when the roads were like glass,” said Mr. Sproxton.

The Mitcham team arrived in Monte Carlo on time. They were 212th out of the 350 cars which entered and the 320 which actually started in the rally.