1969 Austin Maxi Rally Car

At the dying stages of the 1966 World Cup Finals at Wembley Stadium, BBC soccer commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme uttered words that would become a phrase forever synonymous with him. As striker Geoff Hurst walloped the ball goalward, Wolstenholme’s dulcet tones rang out those memorable words, “Some people are on the pitch—they think it’s all over,” as the ball hit the back of the net he continued: “It is now!” England had scored a fourth goal against a now well-beaten German team and took the Cup with a final score of 4 goals to 2. It may have been all over in footballing terms that day, but this football match went on to inspire one of the most remarkable long-distance car rallies of all time. Four years after that outstanding England victory, the 1970 World Cup Football finals were to take place in Mexico. So, a route of some 16,000-plus miles would take competitors from the iconic Wembley Stadium in London, through Europe, across the Atlantic, through South America and onto the Estadio Azteca (Aztec Stadium), in Mexico City. Yes, there had been the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon, organized by the UK’s Daily Express and Daily Telegraph newspapers, under the guidance of former British Touring Car Champion Jack Sears, but this was a mere 9,600 miles, some 6,500 miles shorter than the 1970 event.

1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally