Francis Tuthill will compete in the Rift Valley 1000 rally across Kenya this December with his newly-prepared VW Beetle. The car is built with a relatively low budget, as so to not only be reliable and enjoyable, but very capable as well. It is built to FIA Group 2 spec., using a 1600cc 60bhp air-cooled engine - the same engine used, by Francis, on the London to Sydney Rally some forty years ago.
"The concept here is to offer a turn-key endurance rally car for roughly the same price as the donor Porsche 911 required to build a top-flight Tuthill endurance rally car. The Beetle may not be as quick as the Porsche, but these are tough little rally cars. Beetles have featured strongly in the Safari Rally down through the years, and remain highly regarded in African rallying. They are reliable cars and good fun to drive.” - Francis Tuthill
We are happy to provide the necessary suspension upgrades needed to take on such a challenge.
The rally will run from the 9th to the 12th of December and we wish Francis and the rest of his crew the best of luck. In the meantime, take a look at these amazing pictures of the car being loaded up in a container to be sent to Kenya....