BMC's flying squad

Timo Mäkinen vs Rauno Aaltonen, 1965. A Finnish battle played out in snowy and icy conditions through the forests of Great Britain, 57 years ago.

After Quick Vic Elford’s near miss in 1964, the patriotic-as-ever Motor Sport lamented the Scandinavian imports having it all their own way. But it made no bones about the British Motor Corporation provenance of the cars beneath them: an Austin-Healey 3000 and Mini Cooper ‘S’.

Both Finns had Brits to guide them, too, because beside eventual winner Aaltonen was Tony Ambrose and reading the pacenotes for 1964 runner-up Mäkinen was Paul Easter.

Mäkinen had won the season-starting Rallye Monte-Carlo and the fabled 1000 Lakes in a Cooper, in fact, but for the RAC he was back once more in a Austin-Healey. For 1965 it was to be EJB 806C, brand new for the event, hoping to take him one better than the year before.

It seemed that the new car was having the desired effect, and Mäkinen assumed an early lead. Graham Hill, sometime rally driver and RAC entrant the following year, flagged them away and the cars cruised ceremonially out of London Heathrow at the start towards the west.

Comfortable – if it could ever be comfortable on the RAC – in the lead by a few minutes, as the rally ventured north the heavy Big Healey fell foul of the weather in a way the lighter and nimbler Mini of fellow Flying Finn Aaltonen didn’t – Motor Sport laid the blame solely on one hill in Wales during a Special Stage, which Mäkinen laboured up and Aaltonen scaled with ease.

The Healey also fell off the road in Wales, causing it to reach the finish looking rather worse for wear. Despite that, dragging the big unsuitable car so close to victory is deemed one of the Finn's finest performances. 

Motor Sport again: ‘Makinen’s Austin Healey 3000 looked as if the trolls had been taking swipes at it with large hammers. This is not really surprising when you consider how basically unsuitable a sports car developing 210 b.h.p. must be for driving fast over snow-covered forest tracks. It does, however, show that there are distinct differences in temperament and approach between the top rally drivers, and I suppose the dents in the Healey’s bodywork could just be said to be extensions of Makinen’s extrovert personality!’

It looks much better today, and is among one of the most original works cars in existence, as it showed at the Brekkie Recce Assembly outside Scramblers HQ courtesy of preparer Woolmer Classic Engineering Ltd.