The Famous Marathon MGB

[@stusoldcars4248]

Great story and found down my neck of the woods too. So lucky it wasn't scrapped by someone who didn't realise it's history. 👍👍

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! Yes - very lucky that John, Roger and many others decided it was worth saving!

[@carfarmsocial]

Special mgb / mgc features really work well Graham 👍 keep up the good work

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated!

[@tompugh6917]

Another great video Graham. I did not know about this car so nice to learn some MG history. Very informative.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment Tom - much appreciated as always!

[@davidsmith6212]

Great video and fascinating story Graham

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated. There's a book on the full story of the event - amzn.to/4e3WAG3

[@brendanoneill4069]

Great video, well worth all your effort, thanks very enjoyable

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated. It was great to be involved with such an iconic MGB :-)

[@brendanoneill4069]

All you need to do is add a radiator to your list of spares for the next trip 😱

[@ErikB750]

Great episode. Couldn’t be an coincidence that this one carries the 47 number …. There was already an MGB racing the Marathon de la Route with number 47: great stuff those heroic rally’s.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! To be honest, I don't know whether the number is significant...

[@bazthejazz]

Fascinating! Couldn't get over Jean Denton dressed during the rally as though she was preparing for a C&A model shoot! As a child in 1968, I had a Corgi Toys version of the Hillman Hunter winner, so I do remember the excitement at the time.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! I guess the whole safety things wasn't an issue then :-)

[@marknelson5929]

Goodole MGB, tough as old boots hey! What an amazing rescue via the MG enthusiasts in Oz! It's amazing it survived to be rescued even with its original engine albeit with the cracked block.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! Alec is a real character and tells a good story. His book is well worth a read - "A life by the Poole" available from the MG Car Club shop - shop.mgcc.co.uk/product/a-life-by-the-poole/

[@grahamsamways84]

Brilliant. Good enough documentary to be broadcast.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment Graham - much appreciated from a confirmed petrolhead like you :-)

[@123rtheo]

Wow really interesting,thanks.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated!

[@MaggiesMakeover72]

What a wonderful story. You did such a great job of creating, collecting and editing the content that brought it to life after all these years. The interviews were very professional and I LOVED the car ride at the end. I felt like I was in the car with the both of you. Well Done!

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks so much for your comment - much appreciated. TBH, it was a pleasure doing it and a lot of fun meeting the people involved!

[@MGB-learning]

Great video. My red MGB is also a 1968. Thank you for another Outstanding video.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated as always :-)

[@JoeReed-j1z]

Best episode yet!

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated. It's such an iconic car - I do hope someone buys it and gifts it to a museum so it can be enjoyed by visitors...

[@lesklower7281]

I can remember the London to Sydney marathon as l am am Australian and a Hillman Hunter comming first and my father owned a Hillman Hunter and l drove it but it was a controversial win were the leading Citroen DS got taken out were the Hillman Hunter which up until the collision was in third place and Paddy who was in second stopped to assist Bianchi in the DS and Andrew Cowan drove into first place and Andrew only won the rally by six minutes after all that driving for 10000 miles the time difference between first and second was six minutes but it is good to see the restored MGB that took part in the Marathon restored and to actually drive and to actually finish the London to Sydney marathon was an achievement in itself and any car that finished tbe Marathon should be held in high regard as it was the toughest rally for the day

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - absolutely agreed. If you're interested, I found a book on the event - Its an Amazon link so hopefully it will work in Oz... amzn.to/4e3WAG3

[@lesklower7281]

@@ClassicMGB There was a book written about the London to Sydney marathon by a motoring journalist John Smiles and there was a Video about the marathon l did watch it narrated by John Laws l haven't been able to find it again but an interesting fact most teams entered two cars so if the main car had a problem they could farm parts from the other car and actually there were two Hillman Hunters entered and both finished obviously one finished first

[@RobRush-h1v]

Great job!!

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated!

[@colinranson1617]

Amazingly, thanks. Ohhh and nice tan 😊

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! Ha - you spotted that the last part was shot after the original film - we wanted to include the bit about the auction which hadn't been finalised when we shot the first part :-)

[@adamsfamilydottwo]

Thank you for the reply. You say that Alec wasn't overly impressed with the LandCrab as a car wheel I agree but it looked good in Marathon trim .You could say the same about a 1256cc Chevette ,but I managed to win the ASEMC Rally championship with one which revved to 8000rpm and mated to a Quaife straight cut gearbox did about 70mph in second gear .Luck springs to mind, but it did frustrate a few with much more expensive and powerful cars.As for the Landcrab ,for 20 years I was chief Marshall on the Hughes Historic Rally and many of the Marshalls came out just to see the car.When I opened the Merriworth off road section with the car it created more interest than the winning car s for Jean,s MGB ,if I had enough money I would buy stand build a showroom in Abingdon to keep it .Tim

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comments Tim - all very interesting! I guess 10,000 miles with 3 up in a Land crab might have coloured his view of the car a bit! I'm with you on the Marathon car, I'd love to buy it but would probably offer it to Gaydon or similar.

[@adamsfamilydottwo]

Fantastic great car and Jean certainly new how to get to the finish of Marathon events,I think she did quite well on the World Cup to Mexico in the Beauty Box LandCrab I have polished the perspex side windows on a LandCrab that was used on both events ,the owner said he didn't like cars standing around and make sure Use it, I took my son to schooling in it ,something he didn't enthuse about ,when we got there near the Dartford Tunnel the car caused such a stir Evan the headmaster came out Into the car park to look and sit in it and when I drove off I felt I was staring a marathon, and when I went through Crayford to a job a chap was looking at the car so intently that he walked into a lamp post , apparently you do not see many Marathon LandCrabs in the Crayford rush hour!

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - excellent story! When we were talking to Alec Poole off-camera he mentioned that the LandCrab wasn't the greatest car in the world though :-)

[@wayneblake1161]

It needs to stay in the UK!!

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! I agree if it is possible, but with an auction it could go anywhere. Hopefully a UK buyer will win the bid and donate to a museum...

[@engineer6250]

Those pistols are definitely not revolvers….. apart from that, a really interesting video. I vaguely remember reading a book by Paddy Hopkirk detailing his participation in this marathon sometime back in the 70s.

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! Fair enough... I have a feeling they also had a revolver under the seat but I could be wrong :-)

[@adamsfamilydottwo]

Hi This is the second or third time I have watched this video and I am still very impressed with the car . I see the car has now been sold and I don't think it made as much money as it was worth What do you think ,and do you know who bought it and did it stay in this country .Tim

[@ClassicMGB]

Really glad yopu like the video so much and many thanks for your comment. It's a shame it didn't make a bit more. We've been in touch with Bonhams and asked if we could be put in touch with the buyer and so has the MGB Register. No luck yet, but watch this space!

[@austinblanch1715]

Why wouldn't it have been kept in the UK?

[@ClassicMGB]

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated! I think the costs of maintaining and storing it mean that it needs to be sold. I only hope a UK museum buys it so people can still see it...