2020 Hagerty Fall Classic – Day 1

In a world where terms like “new normal” are becoming, well, the new normal…it’s so refreshing to return to what has been for years our normal. Yesterday 46 classic car enthusiasts gathered in a Vernon parking lot for the first driver’s meeting of the 2020 Hagerty Fall Classic. The majority of us are returning Hagerty Fall Classic entrants, veterans of this fall adventure that is normally held in Washington and Oregon. A handful, however, are experiencing a CCA event for the first time, or a fall event instead of the Hagerty Spring Thaw.

“I can’t believe how excellent the weather is,” one entrant told me as they reminisced about that time they had to drive their Mini Moke through a freak snow storm on our Spring event. “I had no idea this town was so incredible, I’ve never been here,” said another. “These roads are excellent,” I overheard, “why haven’t we done these on Spring Thaw?!”

While the 2020 Pandemic has certainly been challenging, if you look for it…it’s also brought opportunity. Smaller group sizes means we can travel to towns we normally can’t stay in. Hotel managers, excited to see their first ‘large’ group for the year, can’t wait to help. Parking lot party out back? “Nah, you need to park all the cars right up front and have your party with views of our historic main street.” Normally a town like Rossland would be our “eastern edge” for a Hagerty Spring Thaw, as we’d have to head back towards Vancouver for our finish. On a pandemic Hagery Fall Classic? Rossland is just our first night. We’re going east, and we’re going further east than any CCA B.C. event has gone before. And the weather? Well, it’s not pandemic related but we’ll happily take the excellent weather we’re forcasted!

It’s difficult to see the smiles, with all of us hidden behind a mask. But I’m learning to watch the eyes. You may be able to hide an ear-to-ear grin after a particularly great day of driving, but you can’t hide the eyes. The sparkle and excitement at the end of our first day was evident in each of our entrants. Twisty roads were fun, visiting some historic towns was interesting…but by far the thing we’re enjoying most is simply being back on the road, in our classic cars, doing what (for us) has been normal every September. The joy is palatable. We’ve still got two days to go.

Click the gallery below for some excellent preview photos by Andrew Holliday Photography.

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FCA2024 – Saturday Dinner

Save and Resume Later

Maple Mille Photo Gallery 2019

Photos by Elliot Alder. Full gallery now online.

The Ontario-based CCA Hagerty Maple Mille event takes participants through the gorgeous fall foliage, offering great driving and photo opportunities! Elliot Alder was there to capture the action and atmosphere, and has a great gallery online. Check them out, relive the fun, and please support the great photographers who come out. https://www.elliotalder.com/milleproofs?fbclid=IwAR17Yttknbj5BOMUGP15paDVDqTMKFkbnBtFwLjmz-dzerP0XgTgXo5sUfM

CCA Fall Classic Photo Gallery

Photos by Andrew Holliday Photography. Galleries now up!

Its been less than a month since the CCA Hagerty Fall Classic, but we’re already trying to re-live the adventure through the lens of Andrew Holliday Photography​ and his wonderful coverage of the Oregon event. He has a full event gallery online, and all photos are available for purchase online. If you missed photos from previous years, he also has images from previous Fall Classic and Spring Thaw events! Gallery password: ccaimages https://aholliday.shootproof.com/category/83687

Thanksgiving Sea to Sky Run

With winter approaching and a chill in the air, some people take that to mean the days of driving their classic car are numbered. But don’t pull the cover over your baby too soon, because the Annual Thanksgiving Day Sea to Sky Run takes place each year on Canadian Thanksgiving Monday!  This is a quick, local, (free) and fun meetup to “give thanks” for another fine season of motoring.

What: A casual cruise and meetup with fellow classic car owners of all pre-’79 classic cars and trucks, ’80s and ’90s RetroCars (soon to be classics), and vehicles of distinction.

Drive the best part of the Sea-to-Sky Highway on a quiet holiday morning, and enjoy the company of classic car nuts before you have to head off to the in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner! We plan it so that you can be back home by midday. Some of you might have done a Sea to Sky run recently with your various car clubs, but its always fun to mix all the marques together and meet new people. And really, who can say no to the beautiful views and winding turns past ocean and mountains – especially on a holiday!

When: Thanksgiving Monday, October 14th:  8:00-11:30am. We’ll begin meeting at 8:00am, and depart at 9:00am.

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Where: The Thanksgiving run will meet in North Vancouver at Capilano University, parking lot 4. Capilano University can be found using our Google Maps Link. The Run will then travel North on Hwy 99, to the Sea to Sky Gondola, south of Squamish. Here we have a large parking lot reserved for the group.

What to Bring: Please bring a non-perishable food donation for the Squamish Food Bank. We’ll collect those goods up in Squamish at the finish.

Additional Information: Many of you are aware of the vandalism in early August which resulted in the loss of the Gondola cable and cabins. In an effort to ensure continued support to the Gondola, we’re still heading north for coffee at the base.

Winter Tire Law: The winter tire law for the Sea to Sky highway will be in effect as of October 1st. Tires that are legal for driving to squamish will be full winter tires (designated with the three point mountain snow-flake symbol) OR all-season tires that are marked with an M+S on the sidewall. Please check your tires carefully, so you are aware of what you’re driving on. Dave’s 1958 Beetle and 1963 Midget, for instance, both have M+S tires which are legal to drive. The 1971 Rally Bug, however, runs an 3-season tire which doesn’t have the M+S markings.

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2019 Hagerty Fall Classic – Day Three

The archway in front of the hotel was packed with cars, drying out and applying Rain-X for the beginning of day three. The weather appears a little damp, but even Bill and Wendy in the Caterham 7 (no top) couldn’t be deterred by the rain. We were here for driving, and there was still day three to complete! 

Our route today explored the 229 and 101 North, but dropped off the main tourist routes for some unknown side roads to spice up the day. We wound through farmlands and foothills, past rivers, over historic bridges, and chased forgotten railway lines as we worked our way north. Despite one quick deluge of heavy water, it was mostly the light misty rain typical of the Pacific Northwest in fall. We had started the event in t-shirts and shorts, but the reminder that fall was upon us had arrived!

Eventually we turned east, heading towards our finish in Forest Grove. Typically a CCA event will end at a golf course, or local restaurant, for a finish lunch. This time, however, we arrived at the McMenamins Grand Lodge which was built in the 1920’s. Originally a Masons lodge, the Lodge now operates as a hotel, and is full of history on each floor. 

As our final lunch wound down, it was time for the awards. The Hard Luck award was originally planned for Pat and Pat Brothers, who’s Ford Thunderbird was replaced by a BMW when it couldn’t make the start…but the Camaro driven by Eric Bergman and Mike Ferguson wasn’t going to allow that to happen! With a delayed flight, the guys arrived late to a borrowed car with insurances that it had been “looked over”, and the inspection sheet filled out on their behalf. A weekend spent driving with friends, was also a weekend spent diagnosing, and repairing, a number of items which clearly should have been addressed! So we sent them back to return the car with the best shame we could provide, the Hard Luck Award!

Two of our entrants were prepared to arrive in their 1951 Studebaker Commander, when they heard a neighbour was getting rid of a car parked in their backyard. A poor 1966 Pontiac Executive Star Chief was heading to the crusher before our duo intervened. Rescued from being recycled, they merely replaced the fuel system (adding an ingenious in-trunk fuel tank), swapped out the tires, and arrived in style! The smiles didn’t leave their faces all weekend, they saved the Camaro’s bacon with parts and tools on multiple occasions, and they had most of us searching Craigslist for our next inexpensive ‘barn find’. Paul Johnson and John Ens were definitely worth of the Hagerty Spirit of the Fall Classic Award for 2019!

And with that, the 2019 Hagerty Fall Classic by CCA was over. We bid our farewells, packed up our gear…and sat down with maps?! CCA guests are not the interstate home types. Before the group could depart, maps were scoured, routes run past Portland locals, and a fun route home was selected by groups traveling in similar directions. We can’t wait too compare notes, because the group heading towards the ferries may have found part of day two for the 2020 Hagerty Fall Classic!

A preview of photos by the talented Andrew Holliday is below:

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2019 Hagerty Fall Classic – Day Two Preview

Our day two route took us through the Willamette and Umpqua National Forests, before heading west to the coast. Once the Pacific Ocean was in view, we travelled north on a section of 101 which copies the famous Pacific Coast Highway in California almost exactly. Soon we were exchanging stories on the beach, before a much needed sleep!

A preview of day two’s photos, once again by the very talented Andrew Holliday:

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