After the first ever intercontinental rally - the London-Sydney in
1968 - there was widespread enthusiasm for an even more difficult test.
With the Football World Cup being held in Mexico in 1970, it was the
perfect opportunity to hold a parallel, much tougher challenge - the
World Cup Rally.
Organizers John Sprinzel and John Brown secured sponsorship from the
Daily Mirror and planned a unique high-speed event, lasting six weeks
and covering 16,000 miles from London to Mexico City via some of the
most varying, tortuous and difficult terrain on three continents.
Serious works teams such as Ford and British Leyland spent tremendous
amounts choosing and developing new cars, completing months-long route
surveys, and analyzing every detail of diets, oxygen provision, and the
number of crew members. Despite all this planning, out of an entry of
more than 100, only 23 cars made it to the finish. It was then, and
remains now, the toughest rally of all time. The Daily Mirror 1970
World Cup Rally 40, now reprinted in paperback, tells the complete
story.