Tag Archives: classic car

2018 Rush to Gold Bridge – Day Two

On each of our classic car adventures, it’s not uncommon to see cars being worked on in the parking lot. Most cars get a quick check over at the end of the day to confirm things are alright, and others get a little deeper into their tool box. Our Spring events seem to have more parking lot fettling than our fall events, but the Rush to Gold Bridge sure tries to upset the scales!

When John & Marci’s Intermeccania arrived to our Friday night hotel, I was expecting that they would need a quick inspection of our roadside oil pan repair. Instead, they required a full front end inspection to see how much damage hitting a deer at 70kph had done! I guess bad luck comes in multiples, and John might be looking over his shoulder the rest of the weekend. Fortunately, with the exception of some scratches and new fur accents, the car was relatively unscathed.

Paul and Tony were burning the midnight oil adjusting the valves on the Saab 96, it seems that while most were within .005” from the factory specs, one valve was almost 0.25” out of spec. Hmmm…that is going to need some careful attention this weekend! Helen and Chase discovered their front wheel bearing was a little loose…about 8 full turns of the adjusting nut loose, but fortunately that was caught right before leaving on Saturday Morning.

Perhaps the most fun, however, was the Lancia Beta. After filling up with fuel Robert returned to the hotel to discover it didn’t want to run, and certainly wanted to backfire out the exhaust sounding like a 30-6 hunting rifle! Usually a CCA event books out the entire hotel, and morning tuning sessions aren’t a problem…but this time we were all rather apologetic while the Lancia (and a failed condensor) were sorted out.

With everyone finally running, it was off to the town of Hedley via a favourite of ours, Old Hedley Road. Despite the 60 km/h speed limit, the fresh pavement and twisting curves make for a wonderful driving experience, and the perfect start to a day of motoring.

In the town of Hedley, the gravel route turned off onto Hedley-Nickel Plate road, and immediately started a steep switch back climb up the mountain. Given the challenges of yesterday’s gravel road, I was surprised to find out that, once again, every car on the event had chosen to do the gravel route. We were rewarded with a freshly graded climb, and stunning views of the switch back route once you arrive at the top.

Originally a pack-mule route, the road has seen little changes on the climb over the decades, but remains surprisingly smooth given the grade. The road eventually pops out a the Nickel Plate Gold mine, before becoming a gravel highway to the top of Apex Mountain. Along the way you pass historic cemeteries and the foundations from ghost towns, if you know where to look.

Apex Mountain is one of B.C.’s hidden skiing gems, and the route book suggested exploring the site to check out the ski hills. In the summer you can drive all the way to the top, where some guests found historic fire equipment. With exploration and views complete, we began the paved ascent down into the Valley, where we hit another CCA favourite paved road. Green Mountain road has all the twists and turns to entertain, and is sufficiently off the beaten path to give you the impression you’re the only one who’s driven it this week. As we got closer to B.C.’s wine country, the group split. Half of us took the gravel to Keremeos, while the other half went to explore some winery’s in Oliver. Eventually, after an afternoon of travels, we met up at our overnight location of Hope B.C.

293 Wallace was our dinner host for the evening, intending to be a culinary surprise for our guests from the Organizer. The tables were turned, however, as the guests conspired to host an impromptu birthday celebration for the organizer! The Rush to Gold Bridge, you see, was originally “Dave’s Birthday Touring Adventure”. Long before it became an official CCA event, the idea was to simply get out on my birthday weekend and enjoy a car challenge with friends. Over the course of a few years, the idea for the event morphed into what has become the Rush to Gold Bridge. With the addition of “Happy Birthday”, and two birthday cakes, our planned four course meal became a five course meal featuring an extra dessert course for the entire group!

Eventually we retired to bed, stomachs full and minds full of anticipation for our final day of driving, and more favourite roads to end the event.

The morning climb out of Hedley was fantastic.

Dave's Birthday Party was a hit!

"I dunno, can you get a signal?"

Group wheel bearing session...

Helen providing the lighting for Paul's wrenching session. The favour would be repayed in the morning!

Roue Watch supports the Rush to Gold Bridge, and two lucky entrants will go home with a new watch each.

2018 Rush to Gold Bridge – Day One

“Uh oh,” I said to Mark as he was driving, “this road is getting thinner, not bigger.” As the organizer of an ambitious gravel-road adventure for classic cars, the last thing you want to be is lost. But lost I was…

The Rush to Gold Bridge (R2GB) is our annual event that mixes a love of classic cars with gravel roads, and tends to bring out the most adventurous of our classic car friends. Despite the name, we weren’t actually going to Gold Bridge BC. The event enjoyed an overnight stay in Gold Bridge on the first year, and the name sort of stuck. This year’s event is sponsored by Roue Watch, and I contemplated how many jokes there would be about checking the time, had I given away the two prize watches at the start! I had planned on the group exiting the first gravel section at about noon, more than enough time to get to Merritt for lunch time. As I checked my watch, again, and noticed the time was 1pm and we were certainly lost I feared this year’s event was quickly becoming a possible Rush to No Where!

We started out on Friday morning in Hope BC, from one of our favourite coffee shops, The Blue Moose. After a brief driver’s meeting, ten classic cars headed north on Highway one, bound for a gravel road just a touch past Boston Bar. Knowing that not every classic car owner is as excited for a gravel adventure as we are, the route book also offers a tarmac-only option which allows the group meet-up at various towns throughout the day. So it was with a fair bit of surprise to find that the whole group had turned off to venture up our first gravel option.

Leading the pack was an Austin Mini, with rally lights and roof rack it certainly looked the part. The dry-weather track tires, in soft compound no less, was an interesting choice. Our group included an Alfa Romeo Graduate, a Rover 3500s, a Saab 96 Rally Car, Mercedes 250, an Intermeccanica 356 replica, an MGB, TWO Lotus Elans, a Lancia Beta Montecarlo, and a Lotus Seven that looked strangely like a Land Rover (which had to be substituted due to some engine issues). Should a logging or hunting vehicle happen upon this group, they were sure to be very confused!

We began to climb almost immediately, finding the road to be a little rough in sections, but not too bad. Ten kilometres later, the assessment of just how rough seemed to depend on which car you rode up in. The Saab rally car, and the Rover, found the road to be like freshly laid pavement. The Elans and Intermeccanica had an opposite assessment! We drove past mountain creeks, through a massive washout (thankfully repaired) and regrouped at an unexpected junction. “The route book says we should go straight ahead”, commented a faithful entrant. “True,” replied another, “but the road name we’re supposed to follow is a left?” “Hey Dave,” they asked, “which way are we going?”

Uh, well, according to the map…this junction isn’t supposed to be here. We weren’t “lost”, in the respects that I had no idea where we were. We simply didn’t know which way to go to get where we wanted to be. That’s different, right?

We tried straight ahead, and quickly came upon a rough water crossing that the Elans definitely wouldn’t be able to cross. Tire marks, however, suggested that the Saab and Alfa Graduate (which had gone ahead) did make it across. After back tracking, we tried the left and soon Mark and I were leading along a road which was getting thinner, and less used, with each passing kilometre. My stress level, and fear of leading a group of classic car owners three-hours into a dead-end, were increasing with each passing corner…

Suddenly the road opened up, another junction (which shouldn’t be there) appeared, and the route was obviously correct. A right turn, and twenty-plus glorious switchbacks dropped us over 2,000 feet down to the highway. As we rolled out onto tarmac, the feeling of accomplishment and joy was shared by everyone in the group. We had done what shouldn’t be done, what some would say couldn’t be done (especially in an an Elan!), but we had made it…and all before lunch!

Well, if you’re in the habit of having lunch at 3pm that is. I suppose you could say our gravel pass took a little longer than planned! Pizza at the Spences Bridge Log Cabin Pub was just what the doctor ordered, however, and we ate as though we’d been lost in the forest for weeks.

We returned to the parking lot, discussed the afternoon route, and were about to fire up our cars when we noticed a slight problem with the Intermeccanica. Engine oil, generally speaking, does it’s best job when located inside the engine. In this particular case, however, the oil was making a fast escape to ensure no dust would ever rise from the parking lot. We were going to need some axle stands, and a clean-up crew on parking stall sixteen. With no axle stands to be found, we improvised and dragged over a pair of railway ties. The improvisation was just beginning!

The air-cooled beetle motor only has 2.5 litres of oil from the factory. Many enthusiasts bolt on an additional oil sump to increase the capacity, in this case an extra 3 litre sump on the bottom of the Intermeccania. 3 extra litres of oil, bouncing around for four hours on gravel, can be quite the force pulling down…and the cast aluminum pan simply couldn’t take the abuse. 4 mounting holes had cracked or failed. While I removed the broken pan, Mark and Robert got to work fabricating a new engine sump plate. Roofing flashing, emergency fiberglass, a series of washers, judicious use of engine goo, and about two hours later, the car was fixed with a clean bill of health! Not only would it not leak, but we increased the ground clearance by 3 inches!

While we fabricated and repaired, other cars enjoyed a billiard-table-smooth run on gravel from Coldwater through to Tulameen, followed by a twisty paved mountain drop into the town of Princeton. Our whole group reunited in Princeton, just in time for dinner, and the sharing of heroic stories that comes with each classic car adventure day. Our rally had been chock full of adventure so far, and it was only the end of day one!

https://rouewatch.com/

2017 Sea to Sky Thanksgiving Run

This morning Vancouver classic car enthusiasts woke up to blue skies and sunshine, and thus a huge crowd of classic cars met up in North Vancouver for the annual Sea to Sky Thanksgiving Run. After a short parking-lot show and shine, while we waited for everyone to arrive, there was a quick driver’s meeting and we were off!

The group enjoys a drive North on the famous Sea to Sky highway, where twists and turns swap between hugging cliff edges on one side, and ocean views on the other. Along the way you may find yourself driving with a group of pre-war cars, early volkswagens, European sports cars, Italians, American Hot-Rods or an example from pretty much any enthusiast area of interest.

Our destination was the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, where the group enjoys coffee, morning pastries and a chance to really check out each other’s vehicles. As per our tradition, donations for the Squamish food bank were collected. This year we raised just over $450 in cash donations, and enough food to take up the parking space of an entire Volkswagen in the garage!

We’ll post more photos as we have them, but here’s a selection from Dave and Warwick

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2017 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day Three

“How did you find these roads?”, I was asked at our finish. “We’ve lived here all our lives, and travel up here almost every weekend in the summer and we’ve never driven those roads…”

With the sun rising on Lake Simcoe, and the morning mist slowly burning off, a number of cars made use of the lakeside lawn for early morning photos. Not having the keys for the Mustang, I made my way to the breakfast room. Inside, groups of friends new and old were already seated and eating, and the effects of our late night gathering were clearly non-existent. You could feel the anticipation for another great day of motoring.

Departing Jackson’s Point, we headed counter-clockwise around the lake, on a route not usually used by most people. Typically when travelling the east side of Lake Simcoe, one endures the straights of highway 48, 12 and then 169 on the north side. A closer look at the map, however, and you’ll notice a shoreline ribbon of tarmac that follows almost the whole lake, with wonderful views to compliment your morning drive.

On the north end, we explored Cooper’s Falls, Housey Rapids, and then almost into Gravenhurst before turning south for a portion of CCA’s favourite Ontario road. With the afternoon beginning it was time to head towards our finish, at the Erindale Aerodrome.

The Aerodrome was packed with classic cars, all attending the Hagerty Family Funfest weekend. As our group of cars rolled into the show grounds, it was clear we were a little more dusty than the show cars already on the field! Having just finished roughly 1100km of driving over the past three days, however, we were welcomed with great interest from a number of the other attendees.

The Hagerty Maple Mille group retired to the Hanger for Lunch, a much needed cold beverage and a chance to share our final stories and goodbyes. Mike Kieley was awarded the Hagerty Spirit of the Maple Mille Award, for his efforts in ensuring Scott Gray would still make the event. When Scott’s 356 motor gave up the ghost in final testing, Mike wouldn’t accept Scott’s cancellation. “Take my ’74 Targa,” he insisted, “it would be a shame if you missed the event.”

And that, really, is the type of people we get to share our weekend with. Wonderful Car guys and gals who love classic cars, driving great roads, and getting to meet new and wonderful friends. We’re already planning the 2018 route for the Hagerty Maple Mille, mark your Calendars for September 21^st to 23^rd2018!

Photos of the day were provided by our talented photographer Ralph Saulnier

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Additional photos of the Maple Mille, by CCA’s Dave Hord

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2017 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day Two

A tradition at Classic Car Adventures is the parking lot party. At every event we do, it becomes a natural thing to enjoy stories with fellow enthusiasts at the end of a day of driving. Standing in the parking lot at 1am, with the party still in full swing, it was perhaps a little out of character…but with the day we had, and the location we were in, it seemed absolutely perfect.

Saturday morning in Gananoque began as any driving adventure does. There were classic cars being warmed up, trunks being packed, coffee and breakfast being searched out. Where yesterday’s roads were flowing and meandering, today’s would serve up the twisties. Our route began by heading north, towards cottage and lake country.

Within minutes of leaving our hotel, the pink and grey rocks of the Canadian Shield began to show itself in the rock cuts, river banks, and surrounding hills. Ancient glaciation stripped the shield of it’s soil, and cut its many lakes into the surface. In more recent times, the Canadian shield has proven challenging for road builders, who often choose to go around rather than through it’s many outcroppings. For drivers, this means many twists and turns, ups and downs, and wonderful motoring!

Following Phil’s Jaguar XK120 through the turns, with the red paint playing beautifully against the early changing leaves, you could see how suited the car was for today. We enjoyed an hour of touring with Phil and Linda, enjoying the curves and the lakeside scenery, before they pulled over and we reluctantly agreed to pass. I was a little sad to see such a wonderful car disappear in my rear view mirror, but then quickly realized who was now filling it!

The corner of my eye would catch the light blue or red in my rear view mirror, and I soon realized I was the 5.0L Mustang leading a gang of Porsche 356’s and 911’s! With cottaging season over, and our selected route through more remote locations, we could open up the throttle a little more than yesterday. Lakeside views were replaced by apexes and concentration, as the speed limits rarely dip for the twisty sections. The 5.0L barked at each use of the throttle, and I did my best to keep from slowing the Germans down.

We travelled north, and then south, and then north, and then south, and then…You get the picture. We zig-zagged on multiple highways and country roads as the route book took participants over the best the region had to offer.Gas stops and coffee stops were in tiny towns, with wonderful history. You would be filling up at a modern gas station, while gazing across the street at a general store or post office originally built in 1904.

Around mid day we pointed our cars west, and began to head through the Kawartha Highlands. With potential lunch spots sparce, the recommendation to pickup a picnic lunch was utilized by many. We saw folks stopped at lake side and river side parks, enjoying a period-correct lunch style not often used in today’s road trips.

The remainder of our route today took us through Bancroft, Kinmount and south-west to Beaverton. From there it was a quick dip to the southern shore of Lake Simcoe, where our group arrived at Jackson’s Point. Here we parked our cars lakeside, and began the post-drive parking lot party.

Perhaps it was our late arrival, or the beauty of our lakeside setting, but it seemed dinner time was suddenly upon us, before we could fully enjoy the socializing and winding down. Could it be that’s why the party continued after dinner?

Each of our rooms in the resort had a door that opened into our reserved parking area. As I made my way towards one of the many rooms I had been invited to for a “post dinner party”, I was expecting a small in-room gathering, and figured I’d make my way from one party to the next. Instead, I discovered the entire event was outside mingling in a big parking-lot social. Where we may have spent the day driving primarily in groups of Porsches, Mustangs or British cars…at night, the group becomes one of a single designation; great friends, new and old…

Today’s photos are once again provided by Ralph Saulnier

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2017 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day One

The classic car world is full of stereotypes; British cars have terrible electrical systems…Porsche enthusiasts won’t drive in the rain…Italian cars only come in red…Japanese cars aren’t really classics…the list is long, and usually ridiculous. The one stereotype that has held up over the years, however, is that American brand car owners “don’t drive their cars”.

The Hagerty Maple Mille began today, as with all our events, at the morning driver’s meeting. Route book instructions, driving styles, cautions and Hagerty road-side-assistance were highlighted, before the entire group set out to explore Northumberland and Prince Edward Counties.

We began in Bowmanville, and quickly zipped down to the shores of Lake Ontario where we wound our way through the twisties and trees, crossing historic bridges and towns you’d never realize were just a stones-throw from Highway 401. We explored north to Warkworth, and down through the lakes of Glen Ross before stopping for lunch in Wellington (or Picton). From there it was the twisty and flowing roads of Prince Edward County, winding our way through the vineyards and farms before arriving at the Glenora Ferry. A quick ferry trip, which helped to gather the group and give a break for stories, before we were off to visit historic Kingston. Finally, a short 20km later, we were pulling into Gananoque for our overnight stay. The temperatures were quite warm all day, and it was either into the pool, dipping our feet, or parking lot beers that helped to cool us off.

Here in year three, you’d be hard pressed to figure out whether American Muscle, or European Sports Car is the predominate enthusiast. We’re almost split 50/50, with the American’s taking a sizeable (yuk yuk) portion of the parking lot. What is going on? I decided I must infiltrate the ranks to find out.

I started this morning as co-driver in Paul Hord’s 1966 Mustang Coupe. I can remember being 5 years old going for Ice-Cream in this particular Mustang, back when it was a 289 Automatic. So it was pretty exciting to ride with Paul in what has become a restored 302 5spd car with wonderfully throaty noise and a fantastic amounts of horsepower. In our driving group today were three other Mustangs, and a Ford Fairline 500. We toured flowing driving roads and wonderful small towns. We stopped for butter tarts, lunch in stone-mason building and even stopped to check out a church…turned brewery. Along the way we gathered a Datsun 1600, the Plymouth Fury and even an original Audi Quattro for part of the journey.

I set out today to discover what makes these particular Ford enthusiasts different, why they love driving their cars so much, and how I might encourage more American brand enthusiasts to try out the Classic Car Adventures brand of excitement…

What I discovered, however, is a group of die-hard driving enthusiasts, friends who are exactly like my driving friends back home. Their love of exploring, driving and road trips is what fuels their passion. The brand of car never came into question, just as my Mini and Italian friends back home don’t look down on me in my lowly Volkswagen. We’re car people, we’re driving people, we love the open road. My new group of Ford Mustang friends are exactly the same. Come to think of it, these Ford folks have done more miles today than 90% of my VW buddies back home have done all summer. Hmmmmmmmm….

Nine years ago, as Warwick and I set out to create the concept for Classic Car Adventures, one of our primary rules was “the type of car doesn’t matter”. Today I re-discovered how true that is. It’s about the people, the love of driving and a chance to get out and enjoy the roads together.

Our wonderful Hagerty Maple Mille Photographer Ralph Saulnier, was out chasing us down on his Motorcycle all day. A selection of his photographs are below.

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The 2017 Hagerty Fall Classic “Alternate”

Turning the corner at Spences Bridge towards Merritt, it dawned on me…this is the first time in about 8 years that Warwick and I have driven the back roads of BC together, each in our own cars, just the two of us. It was just another reminder of how incredible this weekend had turned out to be.

(Gallery of Photos at the Bottom of the page!)

Our original plan for the weekend was the Hagerty Fall Classic, departing from Troutdale Oregon. With just 8 days to go before the event, forest fires raging in the area of our route forced us to cancel the event. Suddenly we all found ourselves with a weekend free, and nothing to do. Well, shouldn’t we go driving?!

And with that, the “Hagerty Fall Classic Alternate” was created! An idea of what could be done for the weekend was emailed out to our original entrants. Despite having almost no specifics on timing, route, or even if hotels and meals would be available, the positive replies kept coming in. “Car #3 is in for the Alternate!”, “Michael and Don are in”, “are you kidding, we wouldn’t miss it!

And so there we were, Friday night, hanging out in Squamish nearly six hundred miles North of where we thought we’d be. But for this group, it simply didn’t matter. It was old-friends getting to see each other once again. It was new, never-before-entrants, becoming instant friends over dinner. It was excitement, friendship and anticipation…exactly the way the night before an event should be.

We started the next day heading North through Whistler and Pemberton, and then up the Duffy Lake road to Lillooet. Initially the Duffy Lake road was pretty frustrating, as we cruised behind an RV for nearly 25kilometers. I had been following the RV with Michael and Don in the Alfa Romeo, and John and Marci in the BMW. Once we passed him, however, we discovered something wonderful. He’d been holding up traffic for so long, the road was empty all the way to Lillooet!

Our entire group filled up together in Lillooet, before heading off for Lunch in Cache Creek. I joined in with the Mini pack, as they made their way Horsting’s Farmers Market, a personal favourite of theirs. Soon other entrants who had heard Deanna and Nolan’s praise of the place started filtering in. Anyone who hadn’t made it to Horsting’s was dining just up the road at Hungry Herbies Drive-In, a personal road-trip favourite of mine. I must say, after our lunch in Horsting’s, you simply must meet the Mini crew. It would appear Nolan, Deanna, Larry, Anne, Martin and Cori have a knack for finding the best treats and eats in all of BC. With the afternoon in full swing, and a cinnamon bun coma on it’s way, we really needed to hit the road!

As we turned the corner at Spences Bridge, I began to think back to 2008, when we were still forming the idea of what would become Classic Car Adventures. Warwick and I were discussing the way a good event “should be”, and Warwick brought up Highway 8 to Merritt. At that time, Warwick was “the road guy”, and I can still remember the way he described the corners, the elevation changes, the scenery…as though he had just driven it. In many ways, “Highway 8”, was one of the roads which helped us to figure out what we should do.

Driving with a good friend is something we both enjoy. When Warwick is driving, and I’m co-piloting, I never have to worry. I don’t hit the imaginary brake pedal, or find myself grabbing hold of anything in the car (unless it’s out of excitement!). Similarly, when I’m driving, Warwick has never told me to slow down, or tensed up as though I should be. Driving with Warwick is fun…but driving with Warwick, when we’re each in our own car, is even more fun. The beetle and the mini are equally matched in many ways, and yet so very different. We setup for corners in a totally different style. I typically brake, moving weight to the front and power though. Where I’m heavy handed, Warwick, is smooth. Rarely do you see the brake lights come on, he sets the line and drives through in a way that doesn’t seem possible. And here I was, following him through on one of his favourite roads, studying his line and trying to ‘smooth out’ the Rally Beetle to match.

As we filled up in Merritt, a whole crew of other cars met us. The Staffords, the Shepards, the McLagans, the Hollidays and Robert & Jaclyn from RWM had all followed a short bit behind us. “Did you see the herd of Mountain Goats!?!”, they asked us. “How about the momma bear and cubs?!” Warwick and I sheepishly admitted we hadn’t…the only thing I saw was the pavement and Warwick’s Mini!

A short trip up to Kamloops via the 5A, and we met the rest of the group who had already checked into the Hotel 540. A wonderful dinner, drinks and fantastic stories rounded out the rest of our evening before bed. Only one yellow-card was handed out on day one, it would seem the Rally Beetle has a burnt out tail-light!

Sunday morning started bright and early (who plans these driver’s meetings at 8:45am?!), and with the sun shining. Our weather forecast was suggesting rain, but we’d enjoy as much as we could before it started. My goal for today was to try and drive a section of road with each of our participants.

I missed Michael and Don in the Alfa, and John and Marci in the BMW…but I figured that was okay, as we had enjoyed much of the Duffy Lake road together the day previous. Similarly the Mini’s passed me as I was at the gas station with Robert and his Aston, and Ron & Lars in the 2002. The three of us headed down highway 5A together, but not before a very brief uphill run with Malcolm and Geraldine in their MG TC. As the 2002, Aston DB4 and I enjoyed the lakeside curves of highway 5A, I began to think about how perfect the weekend was turning out. I could have stayed all day with those two, but I had other cars to try and experience! Onwards to Merritt!

In Merritt I caught up with Sue and Charlie (Alfa Duetto), Curt and Helaine (Caterham), Robert and Jacyln (BMW Z4), Jim and Sue (E-Type) and then suddenly Warwick pulled in with his Mini. Together we formed a pack, and headed our way down to Princeton. Warwick led, with the rest of us in tow, as we slalomed our way through one of the best driving roads of the province. Upon reaching Princeton, we turned West towards Tulameen, and it was my turn to lead.

The road to Tulameen is the closest thing BC has to Colorado driving. It’s an almost un-ending collection of curves, dips, climbs and descents that roller coaster you from Princeton all the way to Tulameen. It rewards precision driving, and the drop-offs ensure that you remember to keep it responsible! Coming into a corner close to Tulameen we finally caught the Porsche 911’s! Funny enough, Klaus, Joe and Wendy were all parked at the side of the road ready to take pictures of us. (You know, it seems you never see a 911 moving…only “arrived at destination” or waiting for you at the side of the road! I really must get one; they must be a phenomenal car to drive…)

In Tulameen we stopped for coffee, enjoying a quick break with the Mini’s, and the Porsches, before turning around for the drive to Princeton. From there it was onto Manning Park where we finished once again at the Manning Park Lodge. As I stood up to thank everyone, and take care of my usual end-of-event announcements I realized I hadn’t prepared anything at all.

Before the Hagerty Fall Alternate began, I would have said most (if not all) our entrants were friends of mine. But it wasn’t until about halfway through the event that I realized just how good these friends really are. We’re all wired for a love of driving, for a love of getting out there with others. I didn’t set out to create the “Fall Alternate” because I felt I had to offer a replacement for the Fall Classic, I simply still wanted to drive great roads with great people. Similarly, everyone on the event was emailing or calling to join the replacement event even before there were any plans in place. It wasn’t about the destination, or the particular roads. They simply wanted to have a fun weekend with other classic car nuts.

We hadn’t explored new roads in Oregon, but we had run great roads in BC, with great friends. We hadn’t just made the best of a cancelled weekend, we made the weekend into one of best I’ve had all year. The “Hagerty Fall Classic Alternate” sticker will be one of my favourites on the Rally Bug’s side window for many years to come.

A very special thank you to Andrew and Kristen Holliday for all the wonderful photos featured here. We’ll post a full gallery of the Fall Classic Photos as soon as they’re available. http://aholliday.com/

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