Tag Archives: historic

Saturday: Classic Car Appreciation Day

Official Declaration

Official Declaration

Summertime motoring is in full swing for Classic Car owners, but this year things are a just a wee bit more special in British Columbia. Earlier this year, the B.C. Government proclaimed July as “Collector Car Appreciation Month”, and July 12th as the designated “Collector Car Appreciation Day”. Here at the CCA offices, we felt it appropriate to commemorate the date with an informal gathering of Classic Car enthusiasts.

What: A casual meetup with fellow classic car owners and enthusiasts. Start your weekend off right, and join us this Saturday at the Park and Tilford mall in North Vancouver for a summertime ‘Cars and Coffee’ get together. Enjoy a coffee and the company of fellow car nuts and we celebrate a government declaration we can all appreciate! Open to all Classic,  Collector and Retro Cars*, we expect there will be a wide variety of cars to appreciate!

When: Saturday July 12th 2014, 8:00-10:00am.

Where: Meeting at 8:30am in the Park and Tilford parking lot, gather in the South-West corner of the parking lot, or wherever there is parking available. [MAP].

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* Now, you might wonder..what designates a “Classic, Collector or Retro-Car?”  For an event such as this one, we prefer to leave the interpretation fairly wide open, you never know what sort of vehicles might show up. Certainly if your vehicle is made before 1979 it qualifies as a Classic. If your car was made between 1980 and 1989, and is eligible for Collector plates in BC, it definitely qualifies as a Collector car. “Retro Cars” is our designation for vehicles of interest, which don’t fit in the first two categories. Perhaps you have a modified vehicle which can’t get collector plates? Or perhaps it’s an early 90’s classic, which hasn’t quite made the year range. Truthfully, we’re all car people at heart. If you’re a car-nut like us, we’re not going to turn you away. This is about Collector Car Appreciation, simple as that.

Totem Rally 2010

Eric Horst (WA) & Stephen Mats Mats (WA) carve through the snow on their way to 2nd place Historic, 5th Overall. Photo: Tony Latham

Snow is a four letter word. It was also the dominant factor that shaped the 2010 running of the Totem Rally. With 17 crews gathering from BC, Alberta, Oregon, Washington, The Yukon and Arizona, everyone involved knew the competition was going to be tough.  Organized by the West Coast Rally Association, the event started in Cache Creek, BC on Saturday morning with an overnight stop in 100 Mile House before returning to Cache Creek on Sunday. Up to 20 cm of fresh snow in the area added to the challenge.

While most crews arrived with modern all-wheel-drive Subarus or BMWs, a select group choose a different path, the Historic class. Open to cars 25 years old or older, the Historic class honours the 50-plus year history of the event by encouraging owners to actively use their cars over 800 kms of the best back roads BC has to offer.

Gary Webb (AZ) and John Kisela (WA) won Historic Class in their Toyota Celica GT. Photo: Tony Latham

Top placed historic for 2010 was the 1983 Toyota Celica GT of Gary Webb and John Kisela, only seven points clear of Eric Horst and Stephen Mats Mats in their 1983 Audi Quattro. Both teams finished top-5 overall. Full results can be found at www.rallybc.com.

Words & Photos by Tony Latham

Next up on the TSD rally schedule is the legendary Thunderbird Rally, February 12-13, 2011. Classic Car Adventures will be sponsoring the Historic Class which encompasses cars from 1985 and earlier and we’d like to encourage you to come and take part. Bolt up a set of snow tires to your classic Volvo, BMW, Saab, Mini, Beatle, or whatever you’ve got in the garage, and join us for a great adventure!

Cobras and E-types and Mustangs, Oh My!

Racing was an entirely different world back in the 60’s. This 8mm film, complete with its clacketing projector reel soundtrack, really has a neat feel to it. Just a bunch of people hanging out by the bay in NorCal, watching a stream of SCCA Production A/B/C warriors battle and bump it out on the streets of Candlestick Park in 1965. The 1.9 mile temporary road course was used from 1963 until 1965, using the parking lots and roads surrounding the relatively new San Francisco Giants stadium. Frantic flagmen, haybales for safety (kinda), and lots of excitement! Keep your eye out for the #7 Cobra driven by legendary Phil Hill, and the chequered flag taken by Don Wester in his yellow Porsche 904(?).  [Video link via The Chicane]

”]The track layout as it was in the 1960’s.

1965 Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport

Photo: Rob North via Canadian Motor Sport History Group

The Canadian Motor Sport History Group on Yahoo is a treasure trove of Canadian racing knowledge and nostalgia, and The Garage Blog recently posted a collection of Rob North’s contact sheet scans from the 1965 Grand Prix at Mosport, in Ontario. Names like Hobbs, Hall, and McLaren all pop up in these photos, and it is fascinating to compare the scenery and layout compared to today. Just the growth of trees in 40 years drastically changes the sight lines and look of the place!  Check out the full gallery, and more great history and stories at The Garage Blog.

Photo: Rob North via Canadian Motor Sport History Group

Stirling Moss at Westwood

With the Westwood 50th Reunion coming up, I recently stumbled across this great video on YouTube featuring a lap of Westwood with Sterling Moss. Westwood Racing Circuit was Canada’s first purpose-built road race track, and was located in Coquitlam. Sadly, the track is long gone, but you can still see vintage cars in action, and bench race with the Westwood veterans at the River’s Edge Road Course in Mission, BC on July 17-19, 2009. See you there!