London to Cape Town in a Humber Super Snipe in 1952, F855

In 1952 George Hinchcliffe, Arthur Longman, and Robbie Walshaw set out from London to drive to Cape Town in a Humber Supersnipe in the record breaking time of 13 days 9 hours 6 minutes (a time which I understand has still not been bettered to this day). The Humber Supersnipe was of course a Rootes group model, and it is easy to forget just how good these cars were and how big this company was at the time.

(I know the heading title in the film says 1953...that was my mistake).

And when you see some of the countryside and poor roads of the time, you realise this was quite an achievement for the team and the car.

This 16mm film is missing its title shots and about the 15 seconds of the start. I have also trimmed out about 1 minute of sound to avoid a copyright claim (on 70 year old music!). A copy of this film already exists on YT, but not from a 16mm source, so I thought I would post this up. The image quality is a bit better, but the sound quality is poorer!

A Rootes Group Film.
Produced by: Stanley Schofield Productions
Photography: George Hinchcliffe
Narration: Raymond Baxtor