| The Cars and crews
lined up at the front of Balloch Castle following a welcome
breakfast for the crews, especially those who had risen early to
reach Balloch for the 0830 signing on.
First car was flagged away at 10.00am by West
Dunbartonshire Provost, Denis Agnew. The clocks moving forward
the night before caught our number one crew, Branislav Sudjic
and Peter Wilke in the oldest vehicle, a 1936 Hotchkiss out, so
we started with the number 2 car, a 1953 Morris Oxford crewed by
Scott McAleese, Julie Boyd and children. This would be a good
omen for the family, who made it back to Balloch from Dalwhinnie
to collect the National Park Homecoming 2009 "Car of the Event"
prize, a once only prize for this the Homecoming Scotland year.
The Dalwhinnie crews, followed by the short
tour crews, left the Balloch start in order of the age of their
car, oldest first, heading for a circuit round Balloch for a
photo opportunity and to let the locals see the Classic Cars
before heading on their respective routes.
To add to the fun an option was added to form
teams, and challenge the team prize. Three teams were put
forward, the Morgan Car team, the Austin Healey team, and the
Aberdeen Racing team. The latter won the day based on the
reliability of their cars to not only make the round trip to
Dalwhinnie and back, but to have travelled from Aberdeen in the
first place before even starting. I believe they all got home
after the event without any mechanical mishaps.
 Most of the entrants successfully completed
their chosen route, but we lost Duncan Massie and Ron Adam in
Duncan's 1973 Triumph TR6, whose clutch slave cylinder expired
near Killin. Particularly
galling as the engine had just been rebuilt some 300 miles ago.
Duncan is somewhat exasperated with the
car, having broken down on the way home after the clubs Great
North Winter Challenge in January, and again on the Trans
Scottish Challenge last year.
Peter Young in his 1960 Daimler SP250 called
in to retire when co-driver Geoff Douglas felt unwell. They did
however manage to return to Balloch for the prizegiving, well
done to both.
 On the short route Malcolm Maclean and his
wife completed the trip in their 1949 Ford Prefect. With only
45000 miles from new and an annual mileage of around 25 miles,
to the MOT station and back, the event proved that the little
sidevalved engined car can perform if given the chance. It would
be great to see this car and crew out again in the near future.
Tim Barrett's 1994 Porsche 968 is one a very
select model, having been built between 1993 and 1995 only.
Unusual for Porsche the 968 is a front engined model and
performed immaculately on the Run.
The shortest route back prize went to Jock
Millar and Linda Telford who managed it in 89 miles, 1 mile
shorter than their nearest competitor. I think Jock knows a few
"white" roads which certainly rattled the car and gave the pair
a sore back! Well worth it as it turned out.
 When Liz Swan and Suzanne Mitchell hear that
there is a prize for the most appropriate dressed crew for the
age of the car, an outstanding 1964 Renault 8, then you know
they will be hard to beat. The Argyll was no exception and Denis
Agnew insisted on personally presenting the prize to the
Psychedelic dressed pair.
A couple of latecomers turned up after
everyone had set of for home. Christopher Broom-Smith and Andrew
Green rolled up in their E type Jaguar, having acted as good
Samaritan to Robert Daniel whose 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow
had stopped. (a Rolls Royce never breaks down!). After tucking
in to the last of the Fish and Chip suppers provided for the
returning crews, Robert and co-driver Helen Blyth appeared. They
were duly dispatched to the local "chippie" for their supper "on
the house".
As the doors were being locked, Robert Duncan
and Brenda Gray appeared in their 1958 Austin A35, having made
rather a meal of the shortest route at over 130 miles.... Last
seen following Robert Duncan to the "chippie"
 I think quote of the event has to go to
Strewan Robertson, co-driver to Ronald Sandeman in his 1991
Jaguar XJS, with a beaming smile on arrival back at Balloch he
said "I think this is the best day of my life". Possibly
due to Ronald selecting sport mode and letting the XJS do what
it does best, bring a smile to your face. At a price though, as
Ronald reckoned he had emptied the tank in the process. Well
worth every penny I bet.
Whilst the crews were on route, Denis Agnew,
Carron Tobin (Director LL&T National Park) and I
chatted over possibilities for next year. You won't believe what
Denis has in mind What I can tell you is that it will be
different but every bit as fun. The Argyll Classic Run, classic
motor sport better than this is hard to find at the price.
See you next year. |
The third
running of the Argyll Classic Car Run, sponsored by Loch Lomond and
Trossachs National Park and supported by West Dunbartonshire
Council attracted 58 starters. Two routes were offered this
year, a short tour round the perimeter of the Park for the more
fragile cars, or crews and a longer route to the second of
Scotland's National Parks, the Cairngorm National Park.
The route to the Cairngorms National
Park headed north east from the start at Balloch Castle, through
the Dukes Pass, turning right at Loch Tay toward Killin, just in
time for a coffee stop! Pressing on the route continued
alongside the beautiful Loch Tay to Kenmore where a turn north
up the Strath of Appin via Keltneyburn toward Tummel Bridge.
Navigators had to keep a keen eye
on the tulip diagrams as the cars headed west on the Kinloch
Rannoch road. A missed junction would see a 20 mile cul-de-sac
to Rannoch Station, from which there is no where to go but 20
miles back!
Fortunately I heard of no crews making this mistake,
but then again would you admit it to anyone! Having got on the
right route crews were taken over the high ground by Loch Errochty, which on the clear day of the Run offered outstanding
views across the Scottish Highlands. The main Perth to Inverness
A9 was picked up at Dalnadaroch for the final run in to
Dalwhinnie for lunch.
For the afternoon trip back to Balloch the crews were challenged
to find the shortest route back, as measured by reading the cars
odometer at start and finish. As the trip up was 97 miles any
increase on the way back was probably not a winner.
Meanwhile the short route followed the Dalwhinnie cars as far
as the Killin turn but then headed west down Glen Dochart to
Crianlarich. Form there the route headed to Ardlui at the top of
Loch Lomond. Armed with packed lunches allowed the crews to stop
at one of the many beauty spots on route. After lunch it was an
easy cruise down the side of Loch Lomond with the charming
villages, like Luss, offering the crews a welcome diversion on
there return to Balloch.
 |
Home
| About | Events
| News | For Sale | Links 
