I know John has been keeping the list up to date on rally results, but
I'll add a little local colour comentary.
Weather was gorgeous today. Mind you, one of the New Zealanders wore
shorts and commented that it was a little cool around the knees. When
kidded by a local "It's only 2:30, we don't expect snow till 3 pm", he
looked a bit worried.
The Hunt Healy team spent a very long, hard day with much help from
Calgary Vintage Sports Car Club members changing out both rear springs.
Loud grumblings about 'replacement parts not fitting'. There was much
hammering and trimming of bushings, compressing the spring curvature,
and general grunting to get it all together- but they did by 3:30.
Ready to roll by 8 am tomorrow.
The Lagonda crew were busy up to their elbows in oil while they
re-worked the tappet shaft on the replacement engine they got from the
Anchorage Lagonda enthusiast. Apparently it need more lubricating
capacity.
Most spent day was spent in the comfort of the underground parkade of
the Caribou Lodge, reserved especially for rally people, working on
various jobs. Some chose to do theirs as 'road-side repairs' in the
bright sunshine.
Others, confident in the shape of their steeds took the day off to go
white-water rafting or sight seeing up Sulphur Mountain Gondola lift.
By about 2 pm most of the cars had been driven to the railway station
parking lot for a bit of 'show & shine', and to receive a presentation.
Peter Sparkes, president of VSCCC gave each participant a grille badge
commemorating the stop in Banff. Its an enamaled solid brass piece
about 3" X 2", made right here in Alberta. The club presented about 100
to the rallyists. To help cover the costs, they had another 200 made.
For others who wanted to buy the badge they are available at $18
(Canadian). Email me if you are interested.
There were sparkling clean cars that looked like they had driven from
home around the corner; there were beatup and bent cars (a Chevy & a
Lancia); there were heavily armoured vehicles with roll bars, skid
plates and extra bumbers; and there were standard street-cars. Some
looked like they were taking part in "The Great Race" movie and Tony
Curtis should step out at any moment. There were behemoths, like the
Bentleys and dainty ones like the Citroen 2CV lined up side by side.
The 2CV caused a bit of concern as it parked in the middle of the lot
and the drivers locked it and went for a walk. A monster double trailer
tractor unit wanted to get in ...... , so about 8 of us picked up the
2CV and manhandled it to the side of the lot. (Good thing there were no
Anti-Theft Devices on that one!)
It was an interesting day chatting with the drivers from all over the
world - Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Ireland, UK, Canada, USA,
Portugal, Italy, and a lot more that I didn't meet.
Tomorrow I may trail them to a small town near my home and have lunch
with them.
Cheers, Fred
--
Fred & Wendy Griffiths,
Calgary, Canada
http://www.cadvision.com/griffco/index.htm
mailto: griffco@cadvision.com
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