As I martyred my tyres, my co-Driver became increasingly agitated by the lack of amuse-bouche on board and could not be placated with the ‘mood lighting’ function on our modern MINI nor the shocking racket that passes for French radio. Hopkirk would not have approved, but he suffered from similar distractions. His car was stopped by the local Gendarmerie who breathalised his co-driver, Liddon, before realizing that the Mini Cooper was right hand drive.\r\nThey were also apprehended for driving the wrong way down a one-way street, fobbing-off the Officer with a tale about attending a funeral, yet their pace was relentless. Capable of braking later and harder than bigger cars they edged into a slender lead in the snow. Although the Scandinavians had tremendous experience in the snow, they too were being hounded by the Mercedes 300 of Eugen Böhringer, an ex-P.O.W. of the British, who had abandoned his Restaurant business in Stuttgart for rallying to settle a bet with a friend.\r\n\r\nThe Col de Turini’s highest point (5282 feet) is now marked by a rather agreeable Café, and whilst they didn’t serve tea as you and I would recognise it, their earthy coffee was a welcome pick-me-up for both me and my now incoherent co-driver. Refreshed, we pounded down the mountain to Monaco where the final stage took place.\r\n\r\nHopkirk was paid £40 a day in ’64, a wage he was happy with, but today that scarcely covers Petit Fours in Monaco. We stayed at the Columbus Hotel, once owned by Scottish Formula 1 driver David Coulthard, who presents the BBC’s F1 coverage wearing white jeans so tight you can see his sporran. The Columbus is decorated in a similarly ‘fashionable’ style. Bemoaning the lack of poached haddock at the breakfast table and satisfying ourselves with the only breakfast-stuff seemingly designed to look exactly like a pair of hastily removed ladies panties, namely the croissant, we settled the not inconsiderable bill and left. \r\n\r\nThe final stage of the ‘64 Monte Carlo Rally was a street stage, essentially the same circuit used by today’s Formula 1 races, but with a complex handicap system in place and in order to claw back the lead Bosse Ljungberg’s Falcon had to beat Hopkirk and Liddon’s Mini by more than half a minute. \r\nWe fought heavy heads and parked our MINI on the start-finish line on Le Boulevard Albert 1er - I am not going to confess to humming Fleetwood Mac’s ‘the Chain’ in writing - before stamping on the gas and scorching through the traffic up the Sainte Devoté corner.