Category Archives: Events

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!

CGS_4719We 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.

DH3_6478Leading 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!

DH3_6509We 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…

DH3_6713Suddenly 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.

CGS_4870We 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!

johnfix1The 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/

Hagerty Silver Summit – Day Three

Engine fires, leather drive-trains, road-side oil changes…today certainly turned out to be exciting!

After our final driver’s meeting for the event, we all eagerly headed off to our cars in anticipation of the roads to come. Engines were fired and warmed, people began departing…and my car just cranked and cranked. A few cars hung around, a weak spark was diagnosed a new coil tried. No luck, and we had flooded the engine making attempts. As a last-resort option, a tow rope was called in so we could clear the Weber-style throttle bodies quickly. Not more than 10ft later and we were in business! A group of about six of us departed almost an hour late, but we were rolling…

As we headed out of Grand Junction, we rolled through Fruita before turning left towards Rangley. The highway starts off straight, but soon you’re climbing up and over Douglas pass. It may not have the allure, or challenge, of some of Colorado’s big passes…but the turns are fantastic, and the views are unique to the area. One view we didn’t expect, however, was Sean and Andrew standing beside their Datsun with burnt components on the ground. A battery fire had taken out some ignition cables (and the battery), and the guys were very lucky to be saved by Tabetha and Lilly who arrived moments after the fire was discovered with charged extinguishers at the ready. While they would endure a wait at the side of the road for Ryan to arrive, there was no tow truck involved. They McGyver’d a repair, drove to a local auto parts store, and were able to make it to the finish under their own power!

While the guys were on the side of the road contemplating how to make Datsun parts from thin air, the rest of us were in Rangley touring the new Rangley Auto Museum. Opened in 2016 by long-time resident Bud Striegel, the museum features roughly 35 vehicles from Bud’s collection. They are regularly rotated to keep the display fresh, and our group was given a personal tour by Bud himself…sharing stories on what makes each vehicle unique, or why he’s chosen it for the collection. The leather ‘chain’ on one motorcycle was a particular crowd favourite! With our museum stop complete, and our potential “hard luck” award winners becoming obvious, it was time to head to our final destination, and the lunch hosted by Hagerty. Fate, it would seem, did not want us to end the event early.

The Hard Luck Award, traditionally given to the entrants who experience a catastrophic failure, is not an award you would think anyone sets out to win. The McGyver, award, given to the entrants with the “best fix” throughout the weekend, is held in high-honour. The difference between a brilliant fix, and a disastrous day is sometimes found in the narrowest of margins.

Leaving the museum the Rally Bug fired up via a bump start, and was heard to be running on just three cylinders. “No worries,” I thought, “it will clear up in a moment. Sure enough, by the time we were getting gas two blocks away it was sounding a touch smoother. At the end of town, it smoothed out, we made some fuel-injection adjustments on the laptop and began sailing towards the finish. What we didn’t know, however, is that cylinder miss was actually a misdiagnosed failing exhaust gasket. Hot gases were being thrown direction onto the rear apron, and by the time we turned past Zac and Mason who had stopped to check the route book…our rear end was in flames! While Michael and I unstrapped and jumped out of the car, Mason and Zac grabbed water and helped douse the flames. Fortunetly it was just paintwork, some wiring and some rubber bits…the flames hadn’t reached anything fuel related. Our McGyver fix was to simply “remove damaged components” and drive without! We zip-tied the engine lid open, and continued to dinner. A few miles away a Triangle placed on the side of the road suggested we weren’t the only ones having trouble. The dark line that began on the pavement a hundred feet later confirmed it.

As we rounded the corner, and dropped down a slight rise the dark line turned to a wet dark line, ending in a large pool of oil. An Italian was parked nearby, with a crowd of entrants gathered. The Malibu, oval beetle, a Porsche 911 Targa, and 914 were all assisting in surgery, which was occurring on the Italian motor. It would seem that as they began descending down the hill, the smell of oil began to hit the two pilots. Just as one was about to ask the other “do you smell oil?”, the driver wisely shut off the engine so a proper diagnosis could be done. As the two coasted to a safe spot down the hill, the drain plug decided it was done with rallying, and left to go and find new friends in the desert scrub.

The collected group was rooting through tool bags and spare parts to try and find anything that would fit. Doug, fearing the worst, was whittling a new artisanal plug from a locally sourced wood-grained product. In the end, neither stick nor JB-Weld would be required. The pair were carrying a spare rad fan sensor, that just happened to fit the hole perfectly! The engine was refilled with oil, and started as though it was fresh from the factory. Later, contemplating the event over lunch, one of the entrants was heard explaining that they were quite happy with the whole experience, as far as they were concerned they had just finished the post-event oil change!

And so, the McGyver award was presented to our first entrants to vie for the title, Aaron and Marie Axelrod. Their Pantera rattled some shift linkage bits loose, and they were lost to wilderness…no doubt to start a school for oil pan plugs. Regardless, without the ability to shift, a Pantera isn’t much fun…and their tool bag didn’t have a cotter pin inside it. Instead, they found some twist-ties, like you would normally use on garbage bags, or to hold a spool of wire together. The ties were put into action, and worked so well they didn’t even bother to change them out for the rest of the event. A DeTomaso part number would be pending, if the company were still active.

At the end of the day, every one of our cars which began the event had made it to the finish…under it’s own power. We figured the Datsun guys probably had it the worst, and awarded them the Hard Luck Award. To help ease the pain of the restoration work and repairs ahead, we also awarded them each a Roue Watch, helping to ensure their bad day was going to get better!

The Spirit of the Summit award was given to Jeff and Robin Sykes for 2018. They’ve piloted their yellow Pantera in each of the four Silver Summits, and regale the Pantera club each year with photographs and stories of their adventures. This year, they managed to finally convince the club that trying the event out was a great idea, and we had four more club members join the Silver Summit in 2018. Jeff and Robin convinced their friends that driving classic cars is simply the best activity ever, and that fits the Spirit of our events in the best way possible.

Once again, the stunning photography has been provided by Andrew Snucins and Dan Evans.

 

SS2018 – Day One

How do you put the perfect day into words?

I’m honestly not sure it’s possible to share the beauty of today with those who didn’t get to experience it. Last year, as I led the driver’s meeting inside at the beginning of the Silver Summit, I was looking out to a foot and half of snow in Golden Colorado. This year, outside in a t-shirt and shorts, we basked in the sun of Clifton as I went over the usual driving expectations. First year guests were asked to raise their hands, but already they were becoming close friends. Our unofficial Thursday night welcoming party was possibly trumped by the “pre-party” parking lot gathering that occurred while waiting for cabs to dinner. By the time we started Friday morning, everyone was at least somewhat acquainted. “What car did you bring?”, “Oh, how did you hear about the event.” Friendships, which prove to be long term, were being formed.

We began the day by climbing up the Grand Mesa, a risky choice for anyone in a classic car. If you can make it to the top without overheating or a mechanical failure, you’re probably going to survive the whole weekend without problem. It’s steep, and long, and sure to test your car to the max. Once on top, however, the altitude and melting snow help to cool cars as they head south towards Delta. We looped slightly north and then dropped down into Gateway, where a number of guests stopped at the Gateway Canyons Resort for lunch and a tour of the auto museum on site.

Following lunch, we pointed our cars south on highway 141 and perhaps my favourite road in all of North America. Certainly one my top three. The Gateway Canyon highway follows the Dolores River has it snakes its way left and right. The highway is a combination of 180 degree bends, tight 90’s and fast flowing sweepers. Remote and desolate, one carves along the canyons enjoying beautiful red rock cliffs and views of the flowing river. For our journey, we shared the road with 914’s, a 911, the Fiat Spider, a Datsun 240z and a Healey Sprite. Corners were carved, suspensions were loaded, steering wheels gripped, as we wound our way through twenty-nine miles of incredible twisties.

Soon we were leaving the desert and climbing towards the town of Telluride. The heat of the desert made way for the cooling breeze of mountain evergreens, appreciated by both car and crews alike. We arrived at the Mountain Lodge Telluride, where the group enjoyed a cocktail party in the log-home-style lodge, followed by the traditional group dinner. As I travelled from table to table to see how the day went, two themes became apparent. Our group loved the roads and fun driving, but appreciated the chance to spend time with fellow car enthusiasts the most. Epic mountain views, a fantastic parking lot party, and incredible machinery was all just icing on the cake…

A huge thank you to Andrew Snucins and Dan Evans for their stunning photography.

2018 Hagerty Spring Thaw – Day Two and Three

Saturday morning arrived early, very early, for everyone involved. Entrants were offered two options for the morning; attend the 8:15am driver’s meeting, or check-in with the organizers at the 11am ferry crossing. And so, as I headed towards the lobby for coffee at 8am, I wasn’t expecting to meet with more than a handful of guests. I was shocked to discover, the lobby couldn’t hold the crowd.

Spring Thaw entrants sure are a hearty bunch! If a six hour highway closure couldn’t break their spirits, an early morning and little sleep was nothing more than an opportunity for more jokes and laughter. The sun was shining, the mountains views were incredible, and we had twisty roads ahead of us.

Departing Revelstoke, we headed south on highway 23 towards the Shelter-Bay / Galena Bay ferry. The road is sparsely populated, curves wonderfully above the banks of Upper Arrow Lake, and offers mountain views worthy of the trip alone. Ferry trips, with classic car friends, are a special experience. Rarely do we get the opportunity to hang out as a large group mid-day, and a short wait for the ferry and a cruise across the lake is the perfect opportunity. A little further south, and the town of Nakusp hosted us for lunch in multiple local eateries.

Following lunch, it was my favourite highway in all of British Columbia. The number 6 between Needles and Lumby may not have the elevation changes of the Duffy Lake Road, but it delivers a unique blend of lake side curves, canyon carving, and mountain switchbacks. From Lumby, it’s was onto Vernon, and then a CCA favourite of Barnhartvale Road into Kamloops.

Arriving at the Hotel 540, we were greeted by the doorman and whisked below to the Underground Parking, completely reserved for our entire group. A brief parking lot party was enjoyed before dinner, where we packed two nights of presentations into a single dinner. Our guests joining us for their fifth Spring Thaw were welcomed into “The Five Year Patch” club, and following that we honoured those who were earning their “Ten Year Patch”.  Exclusive Ten-Year T-shirts were gifted to the group by Calye Lacefield and her company JBM Press, and then we moved onto the give-aways. Each year the guests on the Hagerty Spring Thaw are treated to a prize table of gifts donated by Dave Koszegi and the Dave Team Realty group, RWM & Co. and Eautomobilia.ca (Ted Wilkinson’s shop). Their table-spilling donations were added to by Brightsource.ca and P&R Trucking to make a truly memorable collection of goodies. We had Monaco F1 memorabilia, exclusive wine selections, a Jim Clark print, tools galore and a collection of collectable models worthy of the finest living room display.

As the party upstairs was winding down, the party in the parking garage was just getting started. In some corners, the focus was on repairs needed for the next day. A Jaguar was receiving new gaskets to stem an oil leak. Volunteers were sourced to de-bead a tire for a tube swap. In other corners, it was simply a time to share stories and admire the cars in attendance. Hotel staff joined the fun, asking questions and taking photos of the cars to send to friends. “You won’t believe what we have staying here tonight…a Delorean!”

We may have started the day on little sleep, but knowing we had just three days to spend together meant we’d be taking all the time we could to enjoy the time with our fellow car-nut friends.

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The final day of the Hagerty Spring Thaw would bring a favourite route for all involved. Kamloops to Pemberton and only mean one thing, we’d get to drive Marble Canyon and onto the Duffy Lake Road. The run began dry, and halfway through the Duffy Lake road became damp with a slight bit of rain…or almost snow-flakes…depending on the elevation.  We travelled in packs, enjoying the final curves and twists in mixed groups of cars. Where else can you find a VW beetle mixing it up with a Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF, a Datsun 240, a Mini and a Ferrari Dino? Only on a Classic Car Adventure’s event, and the mixes were truly eclectic!

With the final descent into Pemberton complete, we headed to a local golf course for the final lunch and awards ceremony. Adam Trinder, and his rear-engined motorcycle-powered Mini were the unfortunate recipient of the “Hard-Luck Award”. A fun run over the Duffy was cancelled by a loss of drive, and Adam rode home to Vancouver on the back of a tow-truck. Scott Stanuil and Sterling Sobczak earned the McGyver award for their ingenious radiator fix on day-one. A rock pierced a serious hole in the radiator of their Datsun, but JB-Weld, aluminum tape, solder and vice-grips were all used in the repair that got them into town and a local radiator shop.

The Hagerty Spirit of the Thaw award was renamed for 2018, honouring the memory of David Ellis, a five-time Spring Thaw entrant. The Spirit Award is saved for the entrant(s) who best demonstrate both the enthusiasm for classic car ownership, and a desire to share that enthusiasm with other people. This year, the list of people worthy of our finest award was long, but in the end there could be only one winner. Arriving upon the stricken motorcycle-powered mini, our honoured entrant could have simply waved and offered to call Hagerty Roadside Assistance. Instead, not one to leave a man behind, Morgan Hay opened his trunk and offered assistance in the best way he could. You might say say Morgan and Adam were tied together by a love of curves and mountain passes. You could say Morgan reached out, and pulled Adam from the brink of disaster…and a long wait for a tow truck. You should definitely wonder why they remained linked for the downhill section, vs simply coasting it out at a slightly different spacing! Regardless, Morgan would not leave Adam and Bob Trinder stranded behind!

And so, for his willingness to put his own Duffy drive aside and render the best assistance possible to a fellow entrant, Morgan Hay is the first recipient of the David Ellis Spirit of the Thaw Award.

With the event closed for another year, we begin to dream of the 2019 Hagerty Spring Thaw…but in the meantime, Andrew Snucins and Samantha Snucins have a wonderful preview of images below. We’ll post up a link to the full photo gallery as soon as they’ve had some sleep, and the editing is completed!

Spring Thaw Convoy!

STHR2015--88If you’re heading to the 2018 Hagerty Spring Thaw this year, perhaps you’d enjoy the drive with other entrants? We’ll update this post with further details as we have them, but for the moment we’re aware of two convoy groups that are heading from the Vancouver area to Kamloops on Thursday April 26th. The details are below:

Langley to Kamloops
Note: Meeting time & departure times updated April 2nd.
Meeting Location: Chevron Fuel station at Highway 1 and 232 st.
Meeting Time: 9:30am
Departure Time: 10:00am, sharp!
Look for: John and Marcie Hinde, driving a Porsche 944 or their Blue Intermeccanica Roadster
Driving Route: will be updated as soon as we have details.

Mission to Kamloops
Meeting Location: Cedar Valley Alignment
Meeting Time: 9:30am, gassed up and ready to go.
Departure Time: 10:00am, sharp!
Look for: Nolan and Deanna Kitchener…and a handful of Mini Coopers!
Driving Route: This group will be heading to Hope, and then up the Canyon via Hwy 1, with a stop at Hell’s Gate for a ride on the Tram. They’ll then continue North through the Canyon to Kamloops.

Delta to Kamloops
Meeting Location: RWM & Co.
Meeting Time: 10:30am, gassed up and ready to go.
Departure Time: 11:00am
Look for: Robert Maynard and Jaclyn Carmichael…inside the shop!
Driving Route: The usual route to Hope, and then route to be determined morning of.

Squamish to Kamloops
Meeting Location: Squamish Chevron
Meeting Time: 10:00am
Departure Time: 10:30am
Look for: Sue & Charlie in the Red Alfa Romeo Duetto, Dave & Greg in the Rally Bug, Warwick in the Escort Mk1
Driving Route: North on the Duffy, and then to Kamloops.

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 21st to 23rd 2018!

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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