European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                John Buff urn insert and the porsche 911 he drove to 12th place in the 1969 Monte Carlo. 20 years ago Buff urn set american Standard by Randy Barnett motor sports editor the 57th running of the Monte Carlo rally known As the grandmother of rallies gets under Way on saturday from five cities in Europe. The Monte Carlo is called the grandmother of rallies for Good reason As the first one dates Back to 1911. Along with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 hours of be mans the Monte Carlo rally is among the oldest and most prestigious of motor sport events. Over the years we covered Many Monte Carlo rallies for the stars and stripes and our favorite of All was the 1969 event 20 years ago this month. That rally was one of the toughest in the event s Long history with highly dangerous Snow and ice conditions in the Alps that made life Tough for every Driver and navigator and for the Many journalists who followed along the routes. A total of 225 teams started the race Only 39 were Able to Complete the eight Day High Speed run. The 1969 Monte Carlo marked the first International Victory for the great swedish Driver Bjorn Wal Degaard he won it in a porsche 911and it also marked the first International Success for the american Driver John Buffum who was then a 25-year-old first lieutenant with the 540th engr group near Stuttgart West Germany. Buffum of Stowe vt., finished 12th in that rally aboard his privately entered porsche 911 it was the highest placing for an american Driver at that time. Now 20 years later it still remains the Best Monte Carlo result for an american. As motor sports fans know Buffum went on to become America s top rally Driver winning the . Championship Many times during the 1970s and 80s, and scoring a sixth place in the world championship British Rac round in 1983. Buffum remains at the top of his profession in today s . Rally scene. But Back to 1969 and the Monte Carlo rally it was a 2,200-mile event then with cars leaving from eight cities. It had been Buffum s dream to compete in the famous Monte Carlo world championship event and he said before the Start that he would rate it a great accomplishment to finish among the top 25. But he was destined to do much better. His Monte Carlo entry was the culmination of five years of rallying in America during his pre army Days and weeks of extensive practice in the Alps when he could get leave. In that Era Drivers had to practice in the Alps Long before the Monte started if they hoped to do Well or even to finish. As a Privateer Buffum had to overcome a myriad of obstacles to enter the rally and one of his biggest problems was getting leave time from the military. But Buffum was Able to scrounge leave for practice and he said he lived on sandwiches that tasted mostly of Brake fluid As i had no time to Stop at restaurants. Practice meant  then he applied for 10 Days leave to drive in the rally. With Only four Days to go before the Start on Jan. 17, Buffum still had no decision on his request. After much haggling he finally got his leave papers of d on the afternoon of Jan. 14. I was prepared to go awol if things had turned out otherwise he said later. Getting leave was Only one of his Many problems. His original Choice of navigator had bowed out at the last minute so Buffum contacted Steve Behr an sex air Force Captain who was living in Europe and Selling cars for porsche. Behr was an experienced racing Driver but he had 4 stripes Magazine january 19, 1989