Category Archives: News

Goodwood announces 2011 Dates

The Earl of March, patron of the UK’s most celebrated motor sport meetings – the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival – has today announced the provisional 2011 dates for these hugely popular annual events.

Photo: Goodwood/Marcus Dodridge

The Festival of Speed
The 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed is provisionally scheduled to take place over the weekend of 1-3 July, the same weekend that the world’s largest celebration of motoring culture has been held over the last two years. The 2011 Festival promises to be packed with action and excitement as the planet’s most glamorous racing machinery and famous drivers gather together in the beautiful surroundings of Goodwood Park. The 2011 theme for this leading motor sport event is currently being finalised and will be announced in the coming weeks.

Photo: Goodwood

Goodwood’s Moving Motor Show
The day before the 2011 Festival of Speed gets underway, on Thursday 30 June Goodwood’s second Moving Motor Show will provisionally be held, giving new car buyers and motoring enthusiasts the opportunity to see the very latest models up close, and in many cases drive them on a dedicated vehicle evaluation route within the grounds of the Goodwood Estate, which includes the famous Festival hillclimb.

Photo: Goodwood

The Goodwood Revival
The unique Goodwood Revival is provisionally scheduled for the weekend of 16-18 September next year. The Revival is truly a magical step back in time and celebrates the halcyon days of motor racing as it used to be with all of the accompanying spectacle and glamour of the era. Competitors and spectators alike dress in period fashions with the finest sights and entertainment of the pre-1966 era for all to enjoy.

Photo: Goodwood

Goodwood motor sport events
All of the 2011 Goodwood motor sport events promise a spectacular array of cars and motorcycles, plus star drivers, riders and plenty of other fabulous attractions to thrill the crowds. Goodwood will provide all the latest news and updates on these ‘must attend’ sporting and social events in the coming weeks and months, when the finalised dates will also be confirmed.

As in previous years, admission to both Goodwood motor sport events will be strictly by advance ticket only, with 2011 ticket sales commencing from Monday 1 November 2010. All orders placed before January 2011 will benefit from a VAT saving of 2.5 per cent.

New for 2011, young adults aged between 13 and 18 can now purchase Festival of Speed and/or Revival tickets for half the full adult price. Previously all visitors aged 13 or over would have been charged at full price. Children of 12 years or under remain free of charge, as does all car parking.

Find out more at http://www.goodwood.co.uk/motorsport/motorsport.aspx

Victoria Craigslist ad sums it up best

We don’t normally post for sale ads in the regular flow of this site, but we caught this craigslist ad for a 1967 Mercedes 250S in Victoria and we instantly want to meet the owners and invite them on our events! The description is great, and sums up why most of us are into enjoying classic cars. Someone should grab this and run it at Thunderbird Rally in February!

1967 Mercedes 250S – $900 (craigslist link)
Four speed manual transmission, engine was swapped for a 2.8L. Comes with several boxes of extra parts, and a spare set of wheels with studded snow tires. This car is driveable but the alternator output is weak. Requires a couple minutes to warm up in the morning. Shifter is loose and the gears are a little tricky to find. You have to stand on the clutch to shift gears. This is really a parts car – unless you truely want a project.

This Mercedes has no seatbelts in the back, and the ones in the front are of the airliner lap-best variety. There are safer cars out there for sale. Cars with thick slab like steel pillars cocooning you from the outside world. Cars with 7 airbags. Cars with airbags for your knees. They have fancy GPSs that will tell you where you should go; they have systems that will brake for you, before you even notice that the car in front of you is slowing down.

This Mercedes has none of those things. This Mercedes barely even has brakes. This Mercedes doesn’t even have a conventionally operational heating system, or a radio. There are no power windows, locks, or mirrors. This car does not have seven airbags.

And those other cars, Their horns make cute little beeping noises, so considerate to not be rude. They don’t have horns that sound with the arrogance and fury of some long dead Mongol warlord. They don’t come with apocalyptic snow tires, all spikes and brutal tread. You cannot fix those cars on the side of the road, using a wrench as a hammer. Those cars will never force you to think, never allow you to exercise your own ingenuity. In those cars you can’t stand up illegally through the sunroof from the back seat, and watch the moon with the cool night air blowing through you air.

Richard Nixon once said “Human existence is in the struggle.” You could buy a car that will try and hide you from all the dangers of the world, but it won’t save you; all the alarms, all the air bags, and the low sodium lattes in the world won’t save you. Some day you will die. But at least you can die with the wind in your hair.

Alternatively it would make a good parts car.

Read the ad and get in touch with them here: http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/cto/2027409438.html
Leave us a note in the comments if you buy it!

1903 Peerless Driven Back to its Roots

When Malcolm Barber, CEO of Bonhams, first caught sight of what was to be his 1903 Peerless Model F (16HP, Twin Cylinder, Rear Entrance Tonneau) just over twenty years ago, he thought he had found something unusual. He found the car in a Hawaiian collection, and discovered it had previously been part of the Denver Colorado Transport Museum collection, but as to who had originally owned the car and the story of its past remained a mystery.

Nearly twenty years later Malcolm received a call out of the blue from the Silver Times newspaper in Lake City, Colorado in collaboration with the Horseless Carriage Club of America who told him that his 1903 Peerless had been the Hinsdale County’s first motorcar and invited him to attend a summer tour organised by the Club. The aim being to reunite the Peerless with the family who bought it originally.

The car was shipped from London to New Jersey by container, couriered from New Jersey to Denver and then driven by Malcolm from Gunnison (west of Denver) to Lake City, a mining town 9,000ft high in the Rockies. So, 108 years after its first drive, the car still made it up the steep, precarious roads to the town. Waiting for the car to arrive was the 102yr old granddaughter of the original owner, the mining engineer at the Lucky Strike mine, who had not seen the car since 1952, when the family sold it. She said she always remembered the car and was astonished to see it again.

As the Peerless was a local celebrity at the time, numerous postcards taken in 1903 were sold in the local shop. Thomas Beam bought the Peerless for a pricey $2,300. They were considered one the three ‘P’s of American manufacturing: the Peerless, Packard and Pierce Arrow, the US’s best early motorcar manufacturers.

Still going strong, the Peerless, now back in the UK, will be making its 20th run from London to Brighton on November 7th. Malcolm comments: “When you have had a lifelong love affairs with cars, to own one of the great originals like this is an enormous privilege. You realise you are driving automotive history and that the car is never going to be yours, you are merely its keeper for a time. Taking it back to the scenes in which it first saw the road in the breathtaking settings of Colorado, that has to be one of the highlights of my life.”

365 Days with a Model A

Hagerty Canada has been a great supporter of our Classic Car Adventures events this year, and their company is full of real classic car enthusiasts. We just received this PR from Hagerty Media and thought it was worth sharing. Here at CCA we believe that classics are for driving, and Jonathan Klinger is going to prove it in the extreme with his “365 Days of A”. Go Jonathan!

Ever wonder how our great grandparents got by without GPS, iPod hookups and cruise control? Well, Hagerty Media does and so do many of our readers. Jonathan Klinger has agreed to act as the closest thing we’ve got to our great grandparents and has volunteered to chronicle what it’s like to drive an 80+ year-old car every day, rain, shine, snow or tropical storm for the next year.

Why are we doing this? Hagerty Media thinks there’s a great story in this and Jonathan is going to record the good, the bad and the hilarious in print, on the Web and in video for our magazine readers, Facebook fans and Website visitors. Although the car’s daily use for the project precludes its insurance with Hagerty (therefore it is not insured by Hagerty), the point of it is, we want people to know just how usable and easy to own great Pre-War vintage cars like the Model A really are. In other words, if Klinger can drive one every day through every season, you can darn sure enjoy one every possible weekend while looking after a great piece of our motoring heritage.

The 1930 Model A being used for this project is not the same Model A that the employees restored (the employee-restored Model A is far too nice to drive through the winter and it doesn’t have roll-up windows). If Jonathan has to travel to an event by plane and the rental car company can not offer him a Model A Ford, he can take a newer vehicle. (We’d like to know what rental companies offer Model A’s…they’ll get our business! – Ed)

So follow his exploits, laugh with him, grit your teeth with him and give him an occasional push as we officially kick off “365 Days of A” today and will end with the car being driven to the annual Hershey swap meet in October of 2011.

Follow this journey through Hagerty’s magazine and website, and a regular blog with photos and video at www.365DaysOfA.com.

Sea to Sky Thanksgiving Run 2010

Defying all weather forecasts, a surprise clear and sunny morning greeted 50 cars at Park Royal Monday morning for the second annual Sea to Sky Thanksgiving Run. As the sun crested the horizon to provide a bit of warmth, an eclectic mix of British, German, American and French machinery rumbled down the on-ramp to Taylor Way towards Britannia Beach. It is a heart-warming sight to see a huge gaggle of vintage metal keeling over through turns in unison!

Once again, we were amazed at all the new cars we had never seen before – Vancouver is proving itself to be a hotbed of low-key classic car enthusiasts. The BMW, Datsun, and VW crews were out in force, plus a few minis, a Renault R8 holding down the French side, and a great group of American landyachts and hotrods. Heads turned to watch a Rolls Royce and pre-war Talbot roll into the parking lot at Galileo Coffee too. The spotless Talbot was fresh off a 10-year restoration and Pebble Beach Concours appearance this summer. Personally, I’m impatient after 1-year of restoration on my Mini – I can’t imagine ten years!

Thanks again to everyone who came out and made it another special day behind the wheel. We are excited about the great community of enthusiasts that is getting to know each other! Thanks also to Lance and the staff at Galileo Coffee who we tend to overwhelm every year! We’ll leave you with images from the day. If you have photos you would like to share, please post a link in the discussion forum (you may need to host them on flickr or photobucket first if you don’t have hosting).

[Thanks to your generosity, we will be delivering a full car-load of food and cash for Squamish Helping Hands and Food Bank – thank you!]

[album id=1 template=compact]

Rally du Chilliwack Recap

Here at CCA, we’re always delighted to see other groups organizing classic car events, especially when they are Spring Thaw Alumni! Bruce and Chris from CECC hosted a one-day rally near Vancouver last month. Lee, take it away…

Event Story & Photos by Lee McKinnon Pederson, Additional photo by Bruce Larson.

Organized by the Classic European Car Club, the Rallye Du Chilliwack was held on Saturday, September 18th. Although the drive into the Fraser Valley was a soggy one- a deterrent for at least a few potential participants- by the time the teams completed their odometer calibration, the skies cleared and the sun came out.

Each team was given identical maps with eight photo check points. The goal was to locate each checkpoint based on the map and photos, and take a verification photo in the approximate location. Starting in Chilliwack, and passing though Kent, Harrison Hot Springs, Mission, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, before ending in Langley, the team covering all the checkpoints in the shortest distance was the winner.

Each team spent a few minutes plotting what they hoped was an optimal route before hitting the road. By the time the teams reached Killby Historic Farms, a kind of mid-way point on the rally, the sun was out in full force reminding everyone that summer still had a few more days to go.

Homemade egg salad sandwiches and lemonade fortified the teams for an afternoon of driving that took the group through the backroads of Maple Ridge and then on to Abbotsford. The twisty roads around the Clayburn village were an unexpected pleasure. A Lancia Beta Scorpion in front of the old Clayburn store offered an bit of surprise automotive colour!

All cars were running well until a few meters past the final checkpoint, when Julius and Ben pulled over to the side of the road with an ailing Fiat. Four other teams pulled over to try to figure out the source of the problem. The fuel system was quickly identified as the offending party. Fuel lines were tested, fuel senders were examined and fuel filters were flushed without results. The culprit turned out to be an ancient (possibly original?) “second” fuel filter lurking near the driver’s side fender. Once resolved,the Fiat took the time penalty and went on its way. Everyone agreed that car repair on the side of a country road on a warm September afternoon was about as good as it get’s breakdown-wise.

A road-weary but happy crowd gathered at the Langley Brown’s for a bite to eat before heading home. Many thanks to Bruce and Chris for putting on this enjoyable and well organized event.

Jellybean Autocrafters Fall Colors Tour

Another new must-try event has been announced for the 2010 season. Inspired by the Spring Thaw, Jellybean Autocrafters will be hosting their Fall Colors tour October 1st-3rd. The event is 3 days and will take you on an 1100 kilometer journey, highlighting some of British Columbia’s nicest roads. Your hosts are Ewald and Kurt Penner, owners of Jellybean. The entry fee includes two nights hotel, gala dinner and a lunch…but the best part of this event doesn’t end with planning. The real gem is going to be the participants.

If you’re a regular here at Classic Car Adventures, you’re probably someone who appreciates more then just one marque or era. Jellybean shares that attitude, and are open to a wide variety of entrants. If you’ve got a classic, vintage, hot rod or car of interest, you’re in! Vehicles earlier then 1979 are the primary interest, but they’re also accepting limited entries from 1980 to 1986. If you’re into driving, this Fall event is definitely one to check out! See the Jellybean website for more details.