British Pathe

Opening titles: "The Rover Company presents - XXXV Monte Carlo Rally"

01:1924 Flag waved by A.K. Stevenson signals the start of the 35th Monte Carlo Rally at London Airport (Heathrow). Camera follows a Rover 2000 driven by Costello and Cooper as it starts the long journey. A Mini Cooper sets...

Opening titles: "The Rover Company presents - XXXV Monte Carlo Rally"

01:1924 Flag waved by A.K. Stevenson signals the start of the 35th Monte Carlo Rally at London Airport (Heathrow). Camera follows a Rover 2000 driven by Costello and Cooper as it starts the long journey. A Mini Cooper sets off. At Rheims Anne Hall and Pat Spencer check their route, looking at a road map. M/S of Rover 2000 with its bonnet up. Toney Cox (yes - it is spelt Toney!) and Geoff Mabbs check the engine.

01:20:11 Night shots of cars leaving the starting point. Logan Morrison and Johnstone Syer get a taste of the publicity spotlight - C/U of various cameramen filming them as they drive off. They are followed by Mabbs and Porter. C/U of Pat Spencer in her Rover. Tony Fall in an MGB pulls away.

01:21:07 C/U of a road sign which reads: "A20 Folkestone Dover." Point of view shot from driver's seat showing snowy road. Various cars in the race are seen. Dover - cars line up for boarding the ferry. Repair kit seen on the parcel shelf of a Rover. Motoring writer Michael Frostick and BBC Motoring Correspondent Maxwell Boyd perform some last minute checks. M/S of some of the drivers chatting. High angle shots of the cars being driven onto the ferry. C/Us of drivers relaxing on the ferry.

01:21:53 A map shows the route from London and other destinations to Monte Carlo.

01:22:01 M/S of a Mini speeding around a corner on a French road. Various shots of other cars negotiating snowy roads. C/U of two gendarmes watching the race. Various shots of the cars. Mabbs and Porter fit snow tires (groovy music kicks in here).

01:22:07 Various shots of the rally cars in the snow. Morrison works to repair the accident damage to his rear wing. Anne Hall and her co-driver have a nice cup of tea from a thermos. They wear hooded anoraks. It is now snowing quite hard.

01:23:15 Night shots of cars approaching and passing the camera. Various cars including a Porshe cross a bridge watched by a Gendarme. They travel through France. Various shots from on board cars. Point of view shots from front of cars through windscreen, high angle shots, low shots etc. All showing the excitement of the rally.

Narrator describes how car manufacturers can test their cars through this kind of rally. These conditions push cars to their limits under the relentless pressure of twin demands of time and competition.

01:24:13 Rover cars are seen speeding through the countryside. Checkpoint at Avignon. Various shots of drivers and mechanics tending to their cars. C/Us of some of the drivers. High angle shot of car crossing checkpoint at Monaco. Cars - including Citroen - negotiate treacherous snowy roads - various shots.

01:27:08 Spectators line the route at a French town, watching as the cars skid past.

01:27:33 Heavy snow. Italian team miss a time control and are disqualified. Various shots of cars driving along slippery snow bound roads. Raymond Baxter and Jack Scott are mentioned. "Skill, luck, stamina and a length of elastic kept [Tony] Cooper and [Gerald] Costello in the race." states the narrator.

01:28:10 Continued. Journalists Frostick and Boyd are disqualified. The snow begins to melt and disappear but there is black ice making the road treacherous.

01:28:35 Gabrielle Renault and her co-driver Colette Gassier qualify. Various shots of cars driving through a French town. Spectators watch the progress of the race. C/U of a sign which reads: "Cap D'Ail - Monaco".

01:28:51 Only the well-known rally drivers remain at this stage. Battered cars pass the camera. The Mini of Timo Makinen and Paul Easter are first across the line. Ford Cortina of Sweden's Bo Ljungfeldt is third. A privately entered Volvo of Jens Nielsen continues the rally despite very obvious damage to the bodywork. More of the cars pass the camera, most are showing lots of bodywork damage. Spectators observe. The motoring journalists are out. Various shots of cars and drivers.

01:30:34 Night shots of the cars being started up. Signpost "Col de Brouis, Frontiere, Col de Tende". Night shots of the cars speeding along. C/U of Pat Spencer (?) in her car and various other drivers and cars. "Pushed almost beyond endurance men and machines struggle to meet punishing deadlines." Mechanics at work.

01:32:01 Next morning 3 Minis and a Lotus Cortina are first to arrive. Unfortunately they are all disqualified on a (much disputed) technicality. Geoff Mabbs and Jim Porter won 10th place for Rover and the distinction of being the first car home. "a further credit to Rover's long list of achievement in the toughest motor car rally in the world." High angle shot of Monte Carlo.

End credits: Produced by Associated British Pathé Ltd.

Also appearing: Henri Greder in a Ford Mustang; Gordon King and Graham Marlowe in a Ford Cortina; Gunter Klass and Rolf Wutherich in the red Porsche 911, No 131; Hans Walter and Werner Lier, in red Porsche 911 No. 139; Gunther Selbach and Werner Seelinger in Ford Taunus, No. 129; No. 46 is the Datsun of Ewold Van Bergen and Sydney Wakely Smith; No. 97 is the Ford Cortina of Alan Allard; the Lancia of Carlo Fagioli and Roberto Volpi; No. 24 is the Renault of Jean Vinatier.

Technicolor.