Truly, madly, Healey

Sir,

Your recent articles on Alpine rallying and the Austin-Healey brought back pleasant memories. So, too, has the well-deserved inclusion in 100 Greatest Drives of Pat Moss and Ann Wisdom’s epic performance in winning the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege Rally in Austin Healey 3000, URX 727.

When this car passed into private ownership, I was privileged to navigate David Friswell’s first outing with it on one of the plot-and-bash rallies then run in the UK. Unfortunately, we just missed giving URX another win. However, we were consoled as, on its first appearance in the 1960 Alpine, the car had also finished second, in the hands of Moss/Wisdom.

In 1958, Shell made a film of the Alpine Rally, considered by many to be a superb record of the event. A particular reason for this was the use of camera cars which ran with the competitors. Necessarily, competitive drivers were employed. I’d love to see that film again and would appeal to someone in the video business to put it in VHS format for enthusiasts to enjoy.

I am, Yours etc, Mervyn Pritchard, Nantwich, Cheshire