Rallies and Stuff

Classic & Scottish Malts

6 so far.  The first 4 events were under the name Classic Malts due to the sponsorship of United Distillers who marketed the brands Glenkinchie,  Dalwhinnie, Craggannmore, Talisker, Oban, and Lagavulin. The rally wound its way around Scotland visiting these and other venues for special tests and time controls, while competitors also collected a miniature of the distilleries whiskey to be consumed later.

 

Memories include the fun Paul Minassian and I had in his Mini Cooper. He had borrowed this car from a friend but the car was set up as a race rather than a rally car. Its limited slip diff caused us no end of problems on special tests as powering around sharp gravel bends was next to impossible. As soon as the throttle was applied the diff ripped the wheel out of Paul's hands and we headed off in a straight line. This resulted in us disappearing under some very large rhododendron bushes a one point much to the amusement of spectators.

 

My drive in the Volvo PV544, a car borrowed from Paul this time, was great fun as I had Colin Francis as navigator. The only problem was he would start singing on long road link sections. I well remember his rendering  of “oh, we’re eating up the Ks, eating up the K’s etc etc” in his welsh accent and melodic voice.

 

After the first 4 events the name was changed to Scottish Malts and the rally visited a wider variety of distilleries. I then had 2 very enjoyable trips with friends in pre war cars. First with Ian Williamson in his “Black Car”, a very famous 1937 Aston Martin previously owned and raced by Jock Horsfall, and finally with James Mann in his 1934 Lagonda M45, a very original car owned by his grandfather and father from new. Our best finish was on the 2003 event where Ian and I got a Gold Medal.

 

Click on the underlined links below for photos, reports, entry lists etc. Also click the small thumbnails to see a larger image of the Car.