THE EAST AFRICAN SAFARI

[Music] here's why no cars have arrived at Mesi control yes here they are we found them all the cars are stopped dead up here in the pugu Hills heavy flooding everywhere a bridge is out one of them is waving a distress signal at us this could be the end of the entire East African safari [Music] well Billy let's keep our fingers crossed that we get over that damned ULU section without falling into those five washway I hope so and I hope it's don't have to do much pushing there because I lost nearly 14b last time oh I'll make you push all right all East African safari drivers used to talk like that British but this year Americans appeared in Africa bearing Cokes and elephant jokes a change in Footwear was seen on the mechanics among the East African gym shoes appeared Texas boots dwa Transworld Airlines Flight 840 now departing for Rome and Athens connecting with Ethiopian Airlines the Americans came with their cars upwards of 10,000 M by jet from California in Michigan Americans who knew cars oval tracks and rally courses went almost halfway around the world to put the first American cars to the awesome test of the East African safari in Nairobi they stepped off into a land only 4 months out of its Colonial cocoon the minds of the Americans were on the cars six red white and blue Lincoln Mercury Comets to compete in the Safari four more were here to test roads and back up the others the Americans and their cars came early to work drive to test to try in four months to narrow the 11-year lead the East Africans already had there was another American entry a Volvo sponsored by a Californian recently settled in Kenya Bill Parkinson a Nairobi police officer would drive he decided to use revolutionary new American Commando tires to get through the Safari terrain see that thing there yes that's completely open two days before the rally officials told the Americans the roll bars in their comets would disqualify them the crisis through the night until scrutin nearing their word for inspection Comet technical Chief Fran Hernandez sweated it out a compromise was reached row Bars were modified and met the meticulous requirements of safari inspectors Key Parts were coated with light sensitive paint the Comets got a clean bill of heal now Raleigh fans flew to Kenya for the wild Easter weekend Englishmen Italians French Scandinavians and Americans took Jets to Kenya just to witness the bizarre high-speed rally it's late afternoon now March 26th 1964 the notorious East African safari is about to begin 12 drivers of the six American comets talk quietly make little jokes and eye the threatening Sky Safari officials purposely schedule this rally at the start of the rainy season torrential rigns are already reported in Uganda and tanganika the sing Brothers say this is going to be a mean one but vow to finish the rally the first leg will take them all Northwest across the equator and the Mau escarment at night along Lake Victoria into Uganda back east then around Mount Elon to remote amod do down the wild tombach escarpment around Mount Kenya the second night and back to Nairobi the second leg will send the car South to tanganika into the treacherous mbulu section at night through Koka pass and East toward the Indian Ocean into the pugu hills then North through the shimba hills to Mombasa at night and the long drag back through kibisi to Nairobi total mileage 3,200 car number one mounts the ramp and gets the signal Cars 2 three and four lead the British Cortina team each class of stock car gets its position by drawing Lots two drivers enjoy a final Feast at the starting line eight women are trying this time three of them wives of drivers one native driven car takes off the Comets are positioned near the end Americans Ray Brock Don Bailey and Leroy new get a big sendoff and abundant advice at three minute intervals they zoom into the Kenya KN well this is it worst in the world they call it by count Kim mandaville and Peter Walker in car 81 last come it out they chew up the dirt eating each other's dust n [Music] but that dust turns into slime as the parade of 94 cars gets into the Lani tinderet region the first night takes its toll of cars and scores only five red white and blue comets emerge in the dawn's early light 80 81 74 73 79 where 76 the Roy newer and Don Bailey bought trouble in tinderet rear ends all but torn out miraculous LLY the comet backup team locates welding equipment in a fertilizer plant in Toro new meire races there for emergency repairs hoping to get back on course before running out of time but no soap the clock Cuts two Americans out of the Safari five comets are left they're now highballing at West into Ginga the crowd has waited at this point since three this morning to see the big American cars [Music] all cars look small as they Edge along the Hydro Dam on the Nile [Music] River the Yanks have special horns behind their grills to scare off wild animals giraffe Chasers they call them the sound of the comet is heard in Uganda but the animals don't always [Music] budge cars now switch direction from west to east and roll through Toro they have to reach each control at precisely the right moment sometimes they just can't 94 cars are in this Rally from Japan Sweden England France Germany America coras Saabs canessas renaults pujos Volvos Mercedes Datsuns vws drivers knife northw with optimism only five points now separate the first 10 cars five cortinos two comets two Mercedes and a saw several cars are dead with burned out clutches have rolled out but most are doing well after a rough [Music] night the seek Brothers pilot the lead Comet now number 80 drive with them at 100 m an hour on twisting dirt roads and you can see why they lead [Music] into the controls of Umali mua and kangalai rolls the front runner Cortina number two driven by Mike Armstrong and Chris Bates who in past safaris have won everything but the one top spot only one point behind are Peter Hughes and Billy Young in CA number three this rally is stopped and restarted this way 77 [Music] times now past Mount elgon North into remote Mountain Country natives of many tribes and languages watch the Safari Faithfully all along its vast course but here they wear less and care [Music] less roads turn Rocky tires and suspension take the [Music] punishment Parkinson takes Volvo 56 into the koku Mongol area [Music] Kenan dun and Greenley snake their Cedric got the amod do escarment while these cars have been shipped and flown in from other lands most drivers are East Africans the strange truth is that no non-african driver has ever won the East African safari [Music] zodiac number 69 skids to a stop and backtracks this is no place to get lost this is amod do primitive people tricky roads every minute lost is a point lost the penalty points stack up one by one 240 and you're out Volvo 53 is out gunar Anderson flew here from Sweden only to be pulled back to Nairobi at the end of a [Music] rope vast escarpments Clips around the East African Plateau now we switch to our flying camera to track progress of the Safari as it approaches a dramatic point we're flying 200 fet over the Safari course as it approaches the spectacular tombach escarment we spotted car number 28 below that's Eric Carlson and his s going flat out on a straight dry stretch but he's going to have trouble right ahead there's the incredible drop he has to manage in the next hour now we're halfway down the esaret and there's a cartina winding its way down the cars are doing the African twist along these Cliff walls some of these drivers have been entering the East African safari for years others are out on their maiden voyage they all face their second rally night arcing around Mount Kenya where much of the freedom fighting went on a few years ago Sunrise finds the Comets arriving alarmingly late at runes control car 74 has a chewed up Fender they all accept their penalty points knowing they cannot make up what they've lost Cloud burst face them all the way to [Music] [Applause] kande Anton Allen and William young Crist their number 52 Citron into a bridge AB butman a total wreck hangs on the bank precariously this car was all they had what will be will be [Music] this stretch takes a stunning toll in damage and setbacks mg number 92 manages the mud it is within Safari rules to accept pushing or Towing help for short distances without natives pitching in no one would finish the contest the Comets have been here a Mercedes goes out with a broken axle Stones puncture the G's radiator they're down to patching with chewing G now no good two more Kenyans are out of the rally not all hazards are natural here is a welcome mat in the form of large stones to tear the guts out of a racing car Stones were thrown yesterday near kakamega there are better roads in East Africa Safari officials purposely root the 94 cars onto tricky back roads in poor condition bad enough to C good drivers in cars from bad but good enough to let somebody [Music] win now the northern leg ends as cars enter Nairobi for an 8 hour rest Car 2 is in front three is next four out of five of the best ranking cars are caras Carson Saab is in third place 1,400 miles are behind them 1,800 to go the death toll in the northern leg has been very high 32 Vehicles lost 62 go back for more cars couldn't be touched during the enforced rest so the Comets get emergency attention at a plan stop in Nairobi the Americans have a fight on their hands and they know it now leading the five comets are vicount mandal with Pete Walker and car 81 and the sing Brothers in car 80 they tackle tanganika throughout the third night they pass Mount kilamanjaro the miserable ULU section slows all the cars they taste dust mud and sand rains are wild but concentrated in small [Music] storms by Dawn Easter Sunday they are driving on two stripes in the wet grass and heading East toward Dar Salam and this is how driver and co-driver switch some cars have two strong drivers more often the Navigator takes the Easy Transport sections Eric Carlson and co-driver gunar pal from Sweden are doing well but they were doing well last year until they rolled and crashed it happens again this year but they're lucky they hand roll the car back on the road check it for wear and tear and quietly drive on [Music] Parkinson is doing the best of the BOS while drivers race East to seuta the mud becomes very slick they wag their steering wheels violently to keep Traction in the tricky [Music] terrain hundreds of miles of this is tough on men and cars control volunteers wash away mud to see which car is which after 3 days of this the wear begins to show on the faces of the drivers now comes vicious Koka pass this is the top of the pass itself no trouble yet the Cortina team still leads [Music] heavy rains a few hours ago have left a formidable mud trap drivers forget about staying on schedule and I'll try only to get [Music] through they start to stack up and that makes it all the worse new rains fall to swell the streams and deepen the mud smaller cars up front slush it up for the big heavy comets that follow all cars are the same color now mud Brown and they are all in the same [Music] [Applause] trouble watch Fox allall number five spin off the road into a mud pit out of nowhere appears an army of help some are happy to help for nothing others demand 100 [Music] shillings co-driver Bard rides the bumper and boot handles for many miles to keep the Box all on [Music] course a zodiac goes off the road right into the camera it may take 5 to 10 minutes of pushing to clear a car like this and then the Cod driver mustn't be left [Music] behind here come the Comets riding like Bronco Busters [Music] the American sponsored Volvo goes through the mud without difficulty on its rugged Gates Commando XT tires now the cars that remain fly flat out to the Indian Ocean they are welcomed in Dar es Salam Stadium by Lively Reigns and excited Spectators waiting faithfully all day among timely arrivals of the of rally drivers Cardwell and lead the husbands went out earlier with a broken axle and here are last year's outright winners this year seems tougher Carlson in his number 28 s continues to stay close to schedule he leaves the capital of tanganika and heads for the dreaded pugu Hills A New Nightmare very slippery clay roads draw cars into the pugu forest days of heavy rains are causing flood [Music] condition zodiac number 69 driven by goian Treadway loses Traction in the clay and dives into a swamp neither driver is hurt here comes the lead American car it's mandl and Walker in 81 staying on the road something strange is happening at Mandi control an hour and a half go by and not one car emerges from the fugu Hills this could be the end of the entire Safari let's go up to our flying camera we can't find anything yet we've spotted three cars headed West toward Landy control but nothing yes yes here it is floodwaters have the car stop coold they're waving handkerchiefs at us they're waiting for the flood to recede now now they got one through he's Racing Form Landy and here he comes it's Cortina 3 Peter Hughes and Billy Young now three points ahead of Car 2 in 12 years no Safari car ever went through anything like this another car gets through here are arm strong and baits in Car 2 Safe and Sound they'll be telling stories for years to come about how these cars got through those wash outs this silent control post has become a small carnival the leading pujo has broken through and is coming into the control it's car 50 driven by Robert shankland and Kam Ruden cassen of tanganika now the Comets make it and charge northward toward the shimba [Music] hills the fourth night is the toughest the Moon is sometimes visible through the rain Northern tanganika is like one giant wet sponge Eric Carlson's famous wife Moss Sterling sister is still running strong the trick now is to hold onto the steering wheel without falling off when you go so long without sweep you can drive into Oblivion and never feel a thing all five comets have come out of the final night but plagued with penalty points for lateness [Music] [Applause] [Music] Parkinson and Volvo 56 has the same problem doing fine but they won't let you make up what you've lost normally the Safari drivers race past wild animals without batting an eye when they approach a rhino or an elephant they do it very carefully [Music] tragedy strikes the Americans word is received that three of the five remaining comets and Parkinson's Volvo are among the crowd of cars time barred at muesa control the news goes out on the shortwave radio that connects 900 volunteers Manning the TRS but two comets are still very much in can the cortinas hold together on this hom stretched Dash from Mombasa to Nairobi that's the big question now being asked all over East Africa in the early hours of the final day instead of playing at safe Cars 2 and three tear across dry roads for home their Cortina scratch a trail of choking dust across Eastern Kenya [Music] Nairobi Waits Anton Allen reads about the rally while his car lies wrecked up north crowds await the first car in later inspection doesn't alter the standings of the winners Peter Hughes and Billy Young in CA number three come in as outright winners of the 1964 East African safari the cortinos win the manufacturers team prizes well in second place come Eric Carlson and gunar pal a victory for the Scandinavians here comes a comet by count Mandeville and Peter Walker bring in Comet number 81 to lead in their [Music] class next come the sing brothers who swore they'd finish this Safari Hughes and young receive a little cash and a lot of Glory yes I like this car a lot um it suits my style of driving and we hope that if we compete in it next year it'll have a bit more power I also hope Billy don't you that the American cars come back because I think there's another car with a great deal of potential the Americans allow as how they might just do [Music] that brave Brock symbolizes that determination as he receives the American Trophy as the front running American driver the crowd makes it plain that the new new American cars are the most popular of them [Music] all as the 1964 East African safari ended the public learned that out of 94 cars that started only 21 came back two of them were American comments three cars were never heard of again for