Apart from that, the trip over the Atlas mountains was uneventful, if not for the heavy traffic that had churned up the road while carrying equipment to the French atomic research base (a year prior, scientists had tested a nuclear bomb at a still-classified location, releasing four times the energy of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima).
Once into the Sahara, another mistake became clear: “The provision of lightweight sand mats, instead of more normal plates or ladders. In practice they proved completely useless.” At one point, “after half an hour’s work digging we had not moved the car a single inch forward but about two inches downward”.
On multiple occasions, the duo had to be helped by “incredibly friendly Saharan lorry drivers”, who not only pulled cars free but also “stayed with us until repairs had been completed and did much of the work themselves”.
It wasn’t all hard graft, mind you: dinners included freshly caught gazelle roasted in desert moonlight in Niger.
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Rivière found that “depending on the consistency of the surface, one’s speed varies between 75mph on soft ground to 100mph on firmer”. But he was “very glad to get to the finish”, as problems persisted all the while.
The radiator hose splitting, the spark plugs needing replacing, the differential leaking, a cylinder filling with water and a “plague of punctures” had all caused “May to say a prayer or a swear word in his mother tongue”.
The hole in the floor letting dust in and the need to have the heater on full blast to keep the engine temperature down also made the trial more gruelling.
The #8 entry was overtaken by a Citroën and an Auto Union in the latter stages of the rally, but two other 220 SE crews held on to make it a one-two for Mercedes.
And despite everything, it was an experience that Rivière would look back on fondly. He concluded: “People often say to me how dull it must be, driving across these vast, flat expanses. I do not find it so. There is something wonderful about the scenery on that scale.”
