Copyright by: http://www.lecap-paris2000.com

Translation French-English by Roland KIRPACH, webmaster of www.203world.net

At the age of 50 years, André Mercier, an adventurer deep inside, enters the second half of the 20^th century in the relaxed state of mind resulting from the financial security given by running a big automobile dealership and other growing businesses.

André Mercier has two passions: automobiles and big game hunting. Actually, back in the thirties, he was one of the first stuntmen on four wheels, competing against a horse in an obstacle course…

He is strongly attracted by the African Continent. It’s the high time of great dreams where humanistic and business thoughts are interwoven. 

A big raid is about to be planned: Connect Alger to Cape town !

In a few week’s time the coarse project planning is sketched. The raid will depart Cape town on Christmas Day of 1950 and will last 17 days during which to cross South Africa, Rhodesia, Belgian Congo, Tchad, Nigeria, the Niger river as well as the Sahara desert; this itinerary will sum up to 15 000 km between Cape town and Alger.

On 29^th of November Charles de Cortanze arrives in Cape town. The very following morning he begins to perform on a thorough maintenance of the Peugeot 203 which survived very well the 13 000 km break-in on the African Continent. Most difficult problem to solve seems to make the choice on which spare parts to take along for the voyage.

Finally all luggage, tools, spare parts, fuel and water cans add up to 700 kg, and all these items are stored in "prioritized" locations in or on the vehicle according to the probability of their being needed. Shovels and picks are kept at arm’s reach, while the roof of the vehicle accommodates ladders that would be used in case of the vehicle being stuck in mud or sand.

These ladders and a manual winch make up the only special equipment on the journey, since the tires are strictly stock and only two spares are taken along; this was deemed enough, since the ferry trip didn’t yield any flat tire. On the other hand, André Mercier has taken care to provide a place for the copilot that can be totally isolated from the driver’s side. The seat may be inclined such that the passenger may rest at an angle of 75 degrees, with footrests provided. (laying down in a horizontal position is not practicable, as it would most certainly provoke sea-sickness)

Sixteen borders will have to be crossed, of which most usually close down at 6 p.m. for the night. More letters and telegrams will be required in order to try to convince certain responsible persons to leave some custom’s officers work on night shift. About a dozen car ferries, which normally halt operations at sunset have been located along the itinerary and care needs to be taken that these ferries are synchronized such that they are available on the proper shore when needed…..

And what about the fuel supply? The Peugeot 203, with an additional 60-liter-reservoir and an extra fuel can, has an estimated range of 900 km. An international company believes they can guarantee the fuel supply up to the Sahara, but it has to be realized that only one non-operational relay station will jeopardize the success of this minutely timed enterprise.

Canned foods, dried meat, thermos bottles with hot and cold beverages round up the servicing at the relay stations in the bigger cities.

Before departure for their first leg of the journey, the team receives two wires that add to their anxiety:

Bangui communicates that the high Cameroon trail is still flooded, but expected to be practicable by the end of December, while at the same time people in Fort Lamy are more pessimistic: traveling north is not possible before February.

CHARLES DE CORTANZE (1900 - 1983) -Concessionaire Peugeot à Paris. -Un palmarès de 25 ans de compétitions à bord d’une Peugeot : 1932 : * Rallye de Monte-Carlo en 201Confort 1er : de CORTANZE - de LAVALLETTE. * Coupe Internationale des Alpes en 301 1er : de CORTANZE. 1934 : *Circuit de Savoie en 301 1er : de CORTANZE - CANON - de ROUZIER. 1937 : *24 Heures du Mans en 302 Darl’mat 7ème place : de CORTANZE - SERRE. 1938: *24 Heures du Mans en 402 Darl’mat 5ème place :de CORTANZE - CONFET. 1939 : * Montlhéry en 202 Darl’mat II remporta la course : 24 heures à plus de 139 kmlh dont 1 heure à 144,278 km/h et le tour le plus rapide à 147,500 km/h. 1950 : * Rallye Liège - Rome - Liège en 203 1er : de CORTANZE - DUBOIS. 1951 *Raid Le Cap - Alger - Paris en 203 Commerciale premier record : de CORTANZE - MERCIER. 1952 : * Rallye de Monté-Carlo en 203 7ème place : de CORTANZE - CRAPEZ. 1955 : * Tour de Sicile en 203 1er : de CORTANZE.	ANDRE MERCIER (1899-1979) André Mercier était un homme d'affaires. Concessionnaire Peugeot à Paris et diverses autres sociétés en expansion, c'était un aventurier; un passionné de chasse aux grands fauves en Afrique. Il met sur le pied le raid " e Cap - Alger - Paris ", il aura parcouru l'Afrique sur 13 000km en 203 pour obtenir les différentes autorisations administratives trois mois avant le départ. Au retour du raid , il écrira le livre de l'aventure: " La route sauvage " publié en 3000 exemplaires