Rover Light Six
In January 1930, the Rover name hit the world press when a Rover tried to take on "Le train bleu" on its 750-mile (1,210 km) run between Calais and Cannes. The idea of racing the Blue Train was very popular with motor enthusiasts, and each new attempt was received with varying expectations of success. Many had already failed on this mammoth challenge. The act to promote the new Rover Light Six in a headline-grabbing campaign was the brainchild of former motorcycle tester and pioneer publicist Dudley Noble, in which a Light Six was to race the Blue Train across France from Calais to St Raphael on the Côte d'Azur. It was a moderately shameless stunt of him, being safe in the knowledge that the average speed of the famous express was no more than about 40 mph (64 km/h) once all its stops and detours were taken into account. To beat the train, Noble had to drive more or less non-stop from Calais to the French Riviera. The Rover Light Six averaged 38 mph (61 km/h) on its 750 miles (1,210 km) journey to beat the train's expected time of just over 20 hours, which gave the Rover team a 20 minute lead over the train. It had been beaten for the first time and the Rover team became celebrities through the "Daily Express''.
Read more about this topic: Blue Train Races
Famous quotes containing the words rover and/or light:
“One dreadful sound could the Rover hear,
A sound as if, with the Inchcape Bell,
The Devil below was ringing his knell.”
—Robert Southey (1774–1843)
“We must work earnestly in the best light He gives us.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)