The Classic Motor Rally - 1st Annual Race Salem to Mt. Hood!
Pretty cool right here in our town of Salem, Oregon, the Capitol of our great state, the event planners picked the right spot to start the 2017 Classic Motor Rally. We were not able to attend the Rally, that is on the drive, but I went down to see the cars, and meet up with some good friends that were participating in the 1st Annual Event this last weekend. They plan on doing different locations every year, that way many people from all over the Northwest can participate. Here is their website, www.classicmotorrally.org, next year 2018 it is going to be from Wilsonville, Oregon to Madras, Oregon, June 29th-July 1st, limited to 60 cars, so I know it is a year away, but it gets filled up fast.
Back to 2017, it all started on Friday Night, at Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo, yeah the Ferrari Dealer in Portland and long time Sports Car Enthusiast here in the Northwest. They had a meet and greet, registration, announcements, refreshments, just a good time to get to know each other. Saturday morning, every one headed to Deepwood Estates Historic House and Gardens as you can see above and below.
They all park and get ready to take off at 9am sharp. There are 2 groups that are in the event those that are timed, and the other group follows a long as a caravan. See below how a Rally works.
Hey here is my little 1964 Jeep CJ5, it fit right in with all the Porches, Jags, Bmw's etc, It was bagging me to take it on the trip, it would have done it well, with that Jeep Dauntless V6 under the Bonnet too!!!!
Basically a Motor Rally, is not just a get out and follow the leader fun cruise, it is fun, but there are rules and there is a winner. In a nut shell, here is how it works. You don't have a map first of all, you have some directions for every turn, but it is is not spelled out totally, you have to use your wit and read between the lines, its not to hard but you got to have a co-pilot before you get yourself lost. And you would think it sounds easy if you get lost just follow the car ahead of you, and Mr. Trump would say, "Wrong", lol,
As you see the Alfa Romeo above, is waiting at the Start, it is the 2nd one out of the gate, as you see "2" on the door. This is very organized. Each Participate takes off 1 minute apart, when the official says go, you go. This doesn't mean you speed to try and catch the next guy, this is a time event, so you got to get as close as you can to the time that is allowed at each check point. Each step of the way, the directions tell you the speed you should be going, and hopefully if you follow all the rules, when you to your destination, you come in very close to official time, the one who comes in closest at the end is the big winner. Obviously, traffic, trains, delays out on everyday roads, play a big part in your finish time. The directions don't tell you how long each stretch will take, just the mph you should be going to finish correctly. That is a basic overview, I never knew how this worked until I showed up.
Here is a link to official rules for more details.
Below are a few of the cars I took notice of, though there were a lot of great cars, please read on as well, to hear how it works.
Neat little Datsun 280Z owned by Wayne Ackermann, of Ackmann Garage here in Salem, Oregon. His next plans are to have 4 large road lights in the grill, he is working on making this car into a Rally Car. You can see his progress on his facebook page,
Also Wayne is responsible for Cars and Coffee Society here in Salem, 3rd Sunday of every month, 8am-10am. Here is a link to details, would love you have you.
Here is Michael Emery from Bring A Trailer, yeah that Michael Emery, glad he came up for the ride. Here he is taking a picture of me, while taking a picture of him, lol. He was also a guest speaker. If you have not seen this website before, Bring A Trailer, is the best Car Enthusiast Site I believe on the internet, and their ONLINE AUCTIONS are The Best, check it out if you have not already. WWW.BRINGATRAILER.COM.
I just fell in love with this Alpine A110, I am not sure what year it is, they built them for 1960's to early 70's, I am sure there were difference variants and such, but this is one cool car, I believe they used a lot of Renault parts, when it came to mechanicals.
I have always loved these Mercedes, love the Euro Lights, and Hardtop look, just a stunning looking car, for sure on my bucket list, I believe this is a 1966 220SE.
Oh yeah, BMW M6, car is awesome love the BBS wheels to boot.
Who doesn't like the looks of the Detomaso Pantera, we actually have one of these coming for sale very soon. This is probably a 1973-1975, I didn't get a chance to talk to the owners. Interesting to note, these factory wheels were built by Campagnolo, yes the Famous Italian bike components builder. They also built Magnesium wheels for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati back in the day.
There were a lot of cars for sure, just figured I would show you a few, sounds like it was a lot of fun for everyone, heck I had a great time, and I was only there for a couple hours!!!!
Til next time, thanks for visiting. SHARE OUR BLOG WITH YOUR FRIENDS!!!!!
