Bandama Mercedes

Minichamps 1/43 Mercedes Benz 450 SLC 5.0
Winner Rally Bandama 1979 Mikkola/Hertz

I remember seeing this Mercedes being sold as a 1/24 model kit made by Escii in one of the malls here. The quality of this model is astounding as the details are all there. The only thing missing in this model is the dirt from the rally.


Mikkola's rally career spanned 31 years, starting with a Volvo PV 544 in 1963, but his most successful period was during the 1970s and 1980s. The 1970s saw Mikkola a frontrunner in many international events, usually in a Ford Escort, and 1979 he made a serious challenge at the World Rally Championship title, ultimately finishing runner-up. He was a seven time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times.

Mikkola was joined by Swedish co-driver Arne Hertz in 1977 and the pair were very quickly a force to be reckoned with. The Mikkola/Hertz partnership lasted for thirteen years, through to the end of the 1990 season. He was partnered by Johnny Johansson for the 1991 season.

Mikkola was runner-up again in 1980 with Ford, but switched to the new Audi team for 1981, to drive the revolutionary four wheel drive Audi Quattro. The partnership was successful from the outset: Mikkola led the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally, the Audi's first event, until an accident put him out of the event. He won the next WRC event, the Swedish Rally, convincingly but the Quattro had problems with reliability and despite another win on the RAC Rally, Mikkola only managed third in the driver's championship. He won the 1000 Lakes and RAC rallies the following year, but did not improve on third position in the championship, ultimately finishing behind Opel's Walter Röhrl and team-mate Michèle Mouton. 1983 was to be Mikkola's year. Four wins and three second places saw him and co-driver Arne Hertz finally take the World Championship title. A second place in the championship followed in 1984, behind his team-mate Stig Blomqvist, but 1985 saw him slip to 22nd in the final standings after the Audi team was overwhelmed by new Group B competition from Peugeot and Lancia.

Mikkola remained with Audi until 1987, winning the Safari Rally in a Group A Audi 200 that year, before switching to Mazda.

He remained with Mazda until entering into semi-retirement in 1991 although he continued to make sporadic appearances on international rallies until retiring completely from motorsport in 1993. Mikkola has made brief appearances since then, including re-uniting with his co-driver Gunnar Palm for the 25th anniversary run of the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally (Mikkola won the original 1970 event and the 1995 re-run) and competing in the London-Sydney Marathon 2000 Rally, re-united with his 1968 1000 Lakes Rally winning Ford Escort RS1600 and co-driven by his oldest son, Juha.