Shortly after getting my driver’s license I learned how to speed. Going fast was fun and going faster was more fun. The reality of it was, I grew up in rural Michigan and my first car was a Spitfire with a blown head gasket and rust everywhere. Old license plates were used to reinforce the…
By Dave Northrup This Triumph is a pretty special car in a lot of ways. It hasn’t been stock since shortly after it was purchased by Charles Neild back on March 27, 1963 in Greenville, South Carolina. He had paid $2,137.25 including $62.50 tax after receiving $1,216.50 for his trade-ins: a 1956 VW and a…
By Dave Hauman Since 2000, when I watched The Great Race pass through in Bloomington, Illinois, it had been an aspiration of mine to participate. In 2016, when my 1970 Jaguar E-Type qualified, I, along with Kool Kat’s Krewe members Dave Fitch and Craig College, signed up to race. The course that year ran from…
Rallye Glenwood Springs, Colorado from June 7-9, 2019 For car lovers in Colorado, summer can be a long time coming. Spring in Colorado is known as the “mud season,” when skiers and snowboarders reluctantly hang up their gear while the summer sports people count the days until June. In April, 1952, sports car enthusiast Hazel…
Modern driving events run the gamut from luxury tours like the California Mille to budget affairs like the Targa California, with more traditional rallies like the Targa Newfoundland available for dedicated time-speed-distance aficionados. The Classic Motor Rally falls somewhere in between, combining a traditional TSD format with an optional driving tour for those entrants that…
Last spring I cried from sheer terror on this pass. I just wanted to get down off Red Mountain before a great chunk of the melting snow that was dropping on the road in near-MG-sized snowballs decided it wanted a ride down with us. I’d wanted to take more pictures, I wanted to put the…
On the road with the 2005 California Melee Rally By Jeff Guzaitis Things just didn’t seem to go my way on the 2005 California Melee. After months of reviving a homebuilt special that hadn’t moved under its own power in 40 years, I was rolling onto a narrow shoulder amidst a cloud of steam and…
By Paul Richardson The international rallies in Europe in the ’50s were run over some of the most testing routes imaginable, especially the Criterium Des Alpes, commonly known as The Alpine. As its name implies, the rally was essentially contested over the high Alpine passes of central Europe and was generally regarded as the toughest…
Things get hot at an MG rally By John Lane It was a heated anniversary at the MG Car Club’s 50th annual Rally Glenwood Springs. This year’s event was cut short by a freak wildfire that consumed more than 11,500 acres and caused $4.5 million in damages. The event began on Friday with a guided…
The men who helped build a legend By Leonard Emanuelson Your mother was right—hanging out with the right people will breed success. That sage advice holds true for automobiles too. Number 106 rolled off the Austin-Healey assembly line in 1957 as a standard 100-6 production car. Except for numerous chance encounters with passionate Austin-Healey racers,…
