Classics and Ari Vatanen and More...

The 2014 Australian Rally Championship is now underway down under with Brendan Reeves taking the National Capital Rally win this past weekend in his Mazda 2.  In a case of "this sounds like a bigger accomplishment than it is" there were only 17 national class entries in the event and 10 of them DNF'd.  Not that Reeves isn't a fantastic driver, he is, its just that national class entries seem to be as limited there as they are here in the States.

More interesting to me at least, is the always quality "classic" stage rally vehicles that come out to these ARC events.  For the Nat. Cap. Rally we have an old Mini, your typical gathering of Datsuns and Fords and, for one stage at least, Ari Vatanen behind the wheel of an epic looking Audi.  The classic class win was taken by the Toyota Celica #70 of Neal Bates.  Enjoy.

National Capital Rally...

Great Vintage Vehicle Rally In Australia...

Vintage offroad racing has been on the upswing here in North America with the popularity of the NORRA series of events in Baja Mexico but its popularity hasn't moved over into the world of stage rally.  While there are a handful of vintage racers still out there--Greg Healey's '78 280Z, the Huebbe's VW Bug and Jason Lightner's '76 Porsche to name a few, gathering enough of them in one particular place at one particular time to make a legit event would be unheard of.

A bit of that has to do just with the popularity of the sport here in the States...there just aren't enough fans to have built enough vehicles over the years to create a stable of raceable vintage vehicles.

Australia is different however.

Prime example?  The Alpine Rally 2013 that just took place.  The event saw 99 "classic" vehicle entries (when was the last time a stage rally drew 99 entries here in the States let alone 99 vintage vehicles?) to cover up to 256 competitive kilometers for a cost of $795.  For an additional point of interest the organizers estimated that to handle the road closures over this event they would need 150 road closure officials and an additional 50 control officials.  Compare that to the cost and number of workers we in the US would use for our events.

The collection of vehicles at this event was especially cool.  Far from a collection blue Subarus and red and white Evos we have tons of RWD action of all sorts and a couple drivers we even know over here in North America (Will Orders and Alister McRae).  Enjoy some of the better photos courtesy of Peter and Luke Whitten.

Oh and the results??  Jeffrey David took the win in a Porsche 911, Alister McRae finished 2nd in a Group 4 Ford Escort and third was Wayne Hoye in a Datsun 260Z.

Alpine Rally Website...

 

Classic Rally Cars Up For Auction...

This is over in the UK at the Silverstone Race Retro & Classic Car auction.  There are a bunch of interesting vehicles included in this lot, a number of which have stage Rally chops.  If you're reading this in the US, just get that boat transport lined up...some of these look worth it!

How about a 1970 Porsche 911 that has been kitted out Safari Rally style and has actually been run by Jimmy McRae in testing and finished 4th in class in the '05 East African Safari?

Or how about a road rally, factory Triumph TR7 with a V8 transplant?  This one has a great pedigree as well, having won and run in numerous rallies throughout the UK.

This next one has no REAL rally history but is in homage to the rallying history of Lancia.  This 1990 Lancia Delta Integrale is pristine and "only" 10-15K pounds.

Another road rally car here.  A limited edition Ford Escort "Mexico" with a strengthened shell, Rally Sport suspension and bolt in roll cage.

A police car converted into a Mini Rally car for this next one.  A 1967 Austin Mini Cooper S was originally built to police specifications but has since been converted into a classic Rally car and has competed across the UK before being stripped down and restored.

Now here's a classic worthy of a "Rally" in its title.  A 1985 Ford Sierra Cosworth.  This is an actual factory racer with the proper "works" registration number and extensive and extremely successful history.

A 1967 Lotus Elan that has been, like a number of these classics, converted to Rally duty.

And lastly, another Triumph TR7 that was originally put into privateer Rally use in the late 70's but has been since restored and comes with full FIA compliant papers for Classic Rally use.

The auction has many more vehicles up for sale, mostly UK/European brands and has a more extensive listing of the details of each of these beautiful vehicles.  The sale is later this month.

Silverstone Auction...