LEYLAND DAYS REMEMBERED

YOUR READERS may be interested to know that the last event entered by the BLMC (British Leyland Motor Corporation) Competition Department before it closed in August 1971 was the Marathon de la Route held at the Nurburgring in Germany. Entered in the event was the Rover company competition Rover P6B V8 (JXC 806D) and a Mini Clubman (SOH 878H), with the Rover leading the event for 16 hours before propshaft failure put them out.

Probably of more interest to Land Rover enthusiasts was the tow car that took the Rover on a trailer to Spa in Belgium, where the event really started (the cars were then driven by road to Nurburgring). It was a Series IIA four-cylinder petrol 88-inch (GXC 518G). The chassis number (241-36105G) and engine number (241-05441A) had a build date of 27/5/69. It was Bronze Green and allocated to Rover’s Press Office.

The Rover was exported to Sydney, Australia, in 1971 by Leyland Australia and was raced successfully by Jim Smith. I was working for Sales and Marketing Division at Leyland Australia when the car arrived and it was one of the few ex-works BLMC cars that eventually raced in this country and the car received a lot of publicity.

This event was significant – the last time BLMC entered the Rover in competition – so I’d be interested to know if any of your readers have a photograph of this Land Rover and know of its whereabouts? Robert Harrison Sydney, Australia