A Brief History of the World’s Toughest Rally

A conversation between motorsports enthusiasts Eric Cecil and his cousin Neil Vincent led to the creation of a motorsports event that would earn the brutal reputation of being the 'World’s Toughest Rally'.

Vincent, not wanting to compete at the newly-built Langa Langa circuit, which was in Malewa in the Rift Valley of Kenya, said: “I can imagine nothing more boring than driving round and round the same piece of track. But if you will organise an event where we get into our cars, slam the door, go halfway across Africa and back and the first car home is a winner, I’ll be in it.” 

The rally route would vary from year to year and averaged 3,000 to 4,000 kilometres in distance. It initially started in Kenya, passed through Tanzania and Uganda, and came back into Kenya to finish in Nairobi. It also became a testing ground for reliability in production cars, as most times 90% of the entrants would not make it to the finish ramp.

Around the same time as the passing of King George VI and the coronation of the new Queen, Elizabeth II, a proposal was put forth to organise a rally through East Africa. The rally would pay tribute to the new Queen and be called the 'Coronation Safari'. 

The race would start in Nairobi, go around Lake Victoria through Uganda and Tanganyika, eventually finishing back in Kenya. This rally became an annual event, gaining recognition from the international rally federations.

In 1957, the FIA marked the rally on its international motorsport calendar. The event was moved forward from the end of May to Easter weekend so it would not interfere with other European events. In 1960 it was rebranded as the East African Safari Rally.

From this challenging rally, icons would emerge, drivers who would be talked about through the ages. The drivers from 1963 became known as “The Magnificent Seven”, or "The Unsinkable Seven". Only 7 cars out of 84 starters made it to the finish line of this 3,088-mile race. The route was one of the toughest, with torrential downpours and flooded sections.

The 1963 rally was won by Nick Nowicki in his Peugeot 404. However, every driver that made it to the finish line was considered a winner and a hero due to the difficulty of the track.

Joginder Singh and his brother built the winning car of 1963. Against all odds, they would complete the world's toughest rally. Singh would, from then on, be known as "The Flying Sikh.”

In 1973, the rally was run as a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) event for the first time. After 1974, the rally ran within the borders of Kenya and would eventually be known as the Safari Rally.

In the 1980s, having realised its marketing potential, Marlboro came on board as the major sponsor and rebranded the event as the Marlboro Safari Rally. 2002 was the final year in which the rally ran on the WRC calendar, after being on the calendar for 29 years.

A local giant, popularly known as “The Safari Sheikh”, later started making the rally his “personal” event. Shekar Mehta won the event five times, making him the most decorated driver in the history of the Safari Rally.

His record still stands. Mehta won this event in various cars, most notably the Datsun 240Z. Mehta died in 2006, leaving behind fond memories of a giant who once ruled over the “World’s Toughest Rally.”

“During the late 1970s, there was great local interest in the Safari Rally because some of the best drivers were Kenyan. On the first morning of the rally, Mo appeared in my office about 10 minutes after they had flagged off the cars from Nairobi’s city centre.  He presented me with a stunning picture of Kenyan driver Shekar Mehta in a remote part of the country, sluicing through a stream against a wonderful backdrop of wildlife and Mount Kilimanjaro. I said ‘That’s an amazing pic, Mo, especially as he only drove off 10  minutes ago!’ For a second Mo looked nonplussed, then he shrugged and said, ‘But he’ll be there tomorrow.’ And he was. Mo had driven out into the bush on the drivers’ practice day, and shot his picture. I think he knew I would spot it, but he also knew it was better than anything his rivals were offering. I used it on page one.”
John McHaffie, then chief sub-editor at the Nation Newspaper