Vintage Roadcar’s James Beckett will be competing in the Flying Scotsman Rally April 4-6, organized by the Endurance Rally Association. James will bring readers a “from the cockpit” report on the event, and will be co-driving alongside Andy Bell of Ecurie Bertelli in a 2-liter, 4-seater Lagonda. The car, which ran in the 1930 London to Edinburgh trial, is essentially a “barn find,” being locked away in a garage for well over 20 years and only seeing the light of day again just a few weeks ago. It is being prepared for the rally at Ecurie Bertelli’s workshops in Olney, Buckinghamshire, and should be ready for the road well before the event.
The 6th Flying Scotsman is to break with past tradition and see the entire event move for a “Great Northern” edition, starting out from the Forest of Arden. On Day One competitors will drive north and west to an overnight hotel near Blackburn, so crews can enjoy driving the remote roads of Lancashire and Yorkshire from the start. This gets the event into the Scottish Borders on Day Two, they then drive much more of Scotland than has previously been possible, in a giant loop that takes them to the finish at one of Scotland’s finest hotels at Gleneagles, north of Edinburgh.
Eligible cars are anything pre-war, with a pre-war chassis, and a pre-war engine design, with possible exceptions such as HRG (which is essentially a pre-war car) and the MG T-Type. While the right cars are important, so too are the crews, those with the right attitude and, most essentially, a good sense of humor. They are expected to wear period dress, or something at least synonymous with the era of car they are driving.
The event is a Regularity Road Rally with off-the-public-road Time Trials, and each day runs to a time-schedule. It is a “press-on-regardless” style of motoring made up of three long days of essentially daylight driving, down remote country roads, with frequent timed sections, tests on private land and checkpoints, all manned by experienced local motor-club marshals. The Flying Scotsman is the only long-distance rally purely for “Vintageants,” and is aimed primarily at those with some experience who enjoy an element of competition. For more information visit www.endurorally.com
