>Typically the French objected to the Triumph victoryt
saying that the
>speeds the Glorias achieved on the tests could not be
achieved unless the
>Glorias had 'big' engines. The French insisted on engine
check and the
>Glorias were found to be 'standard.' The French objection
was considered
>'a foreign tribute' to the performance of the Triumph
Glorias as 'British
>light cars'
They did it again in 1966 with the works Mini Cooper 'S'
cars. This time around, it was because the cars had been
fitted with racing slicks owing to the lack of snow on one
of the last timed sections. Nothing in the rulebook to say
this couldn't be done. The cars were so much faster than
other 'S's with snow tyres that the Automobile Club de
Monaco thought there had been dirty work at the carrefour
(crossroads). Engines were stripped and measured and found
to be standard. A car, selected at random was then pitted
against a new Cooper S sitting in a dealer showroom and the
showroom car was found to be faster. By this time, much egg
was flying around looking for a face to land on and it was
then that ACDM started looking for other reasons. That was
the year the works Coopers were disqualified for having
lighting that contravened European traffic law - so they got
thrown out. It was a 1,2,3 win overall but they went back in
1967 to achieve a 1,2,3,4 win - and that put a full-stop to
the events of a year earlier.
The '67 winning car (LBL 6 D) is now at Gaydon as are the
Monte Carlo winners for '64 (33 EJB) and '65 (AJB 44 B).
They're affectionately known as 'the boxed set'
Jonmac
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