Chasing the Monte

Your article on the Mercedes-benz 450SLC 5.0 (March) took me back to 2013, when my friend Iain and I took part in the Ecosse-monaco tour following the Rallye MonteCarlo Historique in Ian’s 380SLC. He was the main driver, I was the navigator/co-driver, and the car was standard, the only tweaks being winter tyres on Minilite wheels, lots of lights and stickers, and of course a set of snow chains.

We started from Glasgow, stopping at Blythswood Square for a photoshoot, then set off to Dover via the Borders. The following morning we were on an early ferry to Calais. Day one was Calais to Troyes via Reims, where we all met up at the old Grand Prix circuit pitlane buildings, and from there to Valence. At that stage we were about 10 hours behind the rally, but we got to Valence in time to see some of the cars arriving at the Champ de Mars. This was without a doubt the best part of the trip, being able to walk around the cars and talk to the crews.

From Valence to Gap things got serious. We were going up into the Alps in the snow, driving on some of the rally stages, but it was well worth doing. From there it was on to Monaco, where we had to call it a day due to work commitments.

The hundreds of miles that I drove the SLC were memorable. It was a wonderful car, never missed a beat, was comfortable and handled well in all conditions – we never had to use the snow chains. John Roden

Lymington, Hampshire