1992. Alastair decides he needs a car with real character to compete in a rally in Central America.

I was going to do a rally in ’92 that started in El Salvador and went to Honduras, Guatemala and around Central America; a circle that took us through most countries twice. It was just after the civil war had finished in Panama and this was the first international event that had taken place. I was invited to go and friends of mine were taking their flash Porsches, Jaguars, and another friend of mine was taking their Aston Martin. I thought: 'Well I don’t want to take a flash car because the guy organising can't possibly have insurance in these countries at this time.' The country had just come out of a civil war and it was still total chaos. I thought I best take a disposable car so if I have a big accident I can just climb out and join the crowd.

I wanted to take a red-hot Morris Minor and I searched around for one because this rally had no rules. Rallies vary a lot in their rules: in some rallies the car has to be identical in every way to the way it was made when it came off the production line and in others you can come with a V-12 engine in your Morris Minor and they don’t care as long as you pay the money: they don't mind what you’re driving as long as it looks old. 

During my search for the Morris Minor I stumbled across an Austin A35, which had already got the roll-cage and brake conversion and a bigger engine. It was already rally prepared and I thought: ‘Oh fantastic,’ and fell in love with it immediately. I drove it round the block for quarter of a mile and said: ‘Yeah that will do nicely,’ and gave the man the money.

• 1943 Alastair's early years
• 1955 Licence to drive
• 1957 Alastair's High School years
• 1959 Evading the police
• 1960 Becoming a mechanic
• 1966 The Tasman series
• 1966 Leaving New Zealand
• 1967 Joining McLaren
• 1967 CanAm Door Catches
• 1967 Monza
• 1968 South Africa
• 1968 CanAm
• 1969 Driving the Formula 1 Cars
• 1973 Fittipaldi joins McLaren
• 1973 McLaren Team manager
• 1974 Montezemolo
• 1975 Hunt replaces Fittipaldi
• 1975 Hunt gets paid little
• 1976 Inventing the Air-Starter
• 1976 Six-speed Gear Boxes
• 1976 Misbehaving in Canada
• 1976 Japan
• 1977 Adidas Uniforms
• 1977 Changing Tyres
• 1977 Leaving McLaren
• 1979 Nelson Piquet
• 1980 Skirts on Formula 1 Cars
• 1981 Leaving Formula 1
• 1982 Making Lists
• 1982 Signing on
• 1982 Creating Space Station
• 1991 Highland Fling
• 1991 Classic Marathon
• 1992 Getting the Austin A35
• 1992 El Salvador
• 1993 Carerra Panamerica
• 1993 Centre of attention
• 1993 Nicest car in rally
• 1993 LeJog
• 2000 London to Sydney
• 2000 Porsche Racing
• 2000 Porsche Crashing
• 2001 Ferrari
• 2001 Inca Trail
• 2004 Berlin - Moscow - Berlin
• 2005 World Cup Rally
• 2007 Norway
• 2008 Liège-Brescia-Liège
• 2008 An Icelandic Odyssey
• 2008 North & West Africa
• 2009 West Coast America
• 2009 London to Casablanca
• 2010 New Zealand Festival of motor racing
• 2010 New Zealand Big Sky Adventure