Here we go again! In April the Club ran its first ever ‘virtual’ tour ‘La Carrera Lockdown’ due to the harsh Covid restrictions being applied at that time preventing us getting out and about in our classic cars. The event proved popular attracting 36 entries from as far afield as Italy and France.

The event was so popular with our Italian friends that they decided to run a similar event based in north east Italy called the ‘Trieste Opicina Historic Virtuale’  Little did we know that the restrictions, albeit slightly more relaxed, would still be in place in October, and our cars would remain, with few exceptions, firmly locked up in the garage!

Throughout the summer virtual events seemed to be the way forward for car clubs with several virtual navigational rallies taking place, so it was decided that CCHMSC should run a second tour, this time ‘La Carrera Pandemica’ to be held in late October.

It was to be on exactly the same lines as the April event with maps and questions on the route being sent out on 4 consecutive days and scoring based on the number of correct answers. Gold, silver and bronze award certificates would be given based on the number of points scored. The entrants would also choose their ideal ‘virtual’ classic car and would be eligible for the ‘Car of the Event’ award.

The overall winner would receive a ‘real’ prize for their efforts. Entries were invited and a total of 31 submitted an entry, not quite as many as in the springtime but still a healthy entry. As last time there were entries from far and wide including Italy, France, Ireland and England. The variety of virtual classics varied enormously too – from a 1948 aluminium bodied TELL special to a 1963 Thames Trader lorry.

So, the route and questions were compiled and the route and questions for Day 1 sent out on 26th October. The route was very loosely based on what was going to be the route of Highland Car Club’s La Crofterra Pandemonia this year (of course that never happened). So on to Day 1

Day 1

The start of the event was in Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland starting at the new roundabout at the Aldi store on the north side of the town. From here the route led north on the A95 then turning off by Boat of Garten passing the water tower at the railway station and ending up on the A939 east of Nethy Bridge.

From here the route led via Bridge of Brown (Norman Tooke reported that the hairpins were a bit tight for his Thames Trader lorry with no power steering) and Tomintoul to the Lecht and its ski area with its various ‘birds’. Descending the Lecht to Cock Bridge and Gairnshiel led the competitors to Crathie and Balmoral Castle.

From Balmoral they used the South Deeside Road, the B976 passing by Ballater on the opposite side of the River Dee. At Dinnet they turned north to Alford and the Grampian Transport Museum with its impressive Mortier dance organ then turned east through Kemnay and ended the day at Inverurie, with its largest livestock mart in Scotland at Thainstone.

So, the first day – relatively easy, most crews scoring well on this section.

Days 2

Day 2 took the crews east from Inverurie to the River Ythan estuary then north passing Slains Castle, with its Dracula associations. Then to Boddam and the Buchan Ness lighthouse. The organisers thought the question about the contractor that built the bridge would stump most people, but a surprising number got it right.

From Boddam it was north, by-passing Peterhead and on to the Moray Firth coast at Pennan with its famous red phone box. The route then led inland to Turriff (the Turra Coo incident) and Aberchirder (Foggieloan) then back north to Portsoy with its marble jewellery and ornaments. From Portsoy the route carried on along the coast via Buckie to end up at the overnight destination of Elgin. Again, most crews managed a high score on Day 2.

Day 3

Just to keep the crews on their toes, a wee navigational test was thrown in at the start of Day 3. Didn’t fool anyone – most got it 100% correct! From here the route meandered via Texas (sorry – Dallas) to reach the Spey valley.

There was a short diversion via the Haughs of Cromdale to catch the question about the battle, then back via Grantown and Dulnain Bridge with its Roches Moutonnees to the finish for the day at Aviemore. No problems here for most crews again.

Day 4

Today we went west. Leaving Aviemore to the south west led crews past the Highland Wildlife Park with its Amur Tigers, then down towards Laggan and Loch Laggan giving a view over the Loch to Ardverikie Castle, the film set of the Monarch of the Glen TV series. 

Carrying on through Spean Bridge towards Fort William crews then turned right on the A830 and right again at Banavie passing the spectacular canal locks of Neptune’s Staircase. Returning to the A82 via the Commando Memorial the route then led north east through the ancient Great Glen. It was surprising how many crews got the 3 ‘geological’ questions in the event correct (Portsoy Marble, the Roches Moutonees and the Great Glen Fault). 

After Fort Augustus the crews turned off on the Old Military Road, the B862, passing the viewpoint at Suidhe. The next part, the distance from Point C to the finish proved a bit tricky for some of the crews, but a few got it spot-on, going through Inverfarigaig to the finish at the 3 Witches Restaurant. Apart from the last bit this section proved reasonably easy for most.

There were 12 gold awards (36+ points), 11 silver (31 – 35 points) and 5 bronze (up to 30 points). In addition, the beautiful Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante, car 31, of Rosella Carrera won the Car of the Event award. Unfortunately, there were 2 non-finishers due to outside commitments.

Where does that leave us now – we were all desperate to get our cars our in the summer, but no organised events could take place, so are we stuck with virtual events for the foreseeable future? Who knows? If the situation continues the Club may run another winter themed virtual tour early in the New Year, but with a very different concept – watch this space…….

But we are ever hopeful that in 2021 we can run a full season of real touring events – so watch the web site for details http://www.caledonianmsc.freeuk.com/

Mags Campbell
Dave Spence
November 2020