La Carrera Caledonia 2004

[Matra et Alpine]

As a trbute to that 'other "La Carrera" for the last few years a similar cross-Scotland 2-day event has been run.

We competed in the MGB this year and had a great laugh and fun.

Competition is only part of the event and this was confirmed when we spend 2 hours in he second stage trying to repeair and refit the radiator off a Clan Crusader who didn't quite have enough ground clearance :)

Got to do some of the "classic" stages of the great Scottish and RAC rallies of the past with the "rest and be thankful" a highlight and the "corkscrew" up near Inverness !!

It was an odd mix of cars, but a solid group of post-historics being chucked around.

It's Scotland so we can't match the 'other" La Carrerea - in fact we got nowhere close with it raining most of the time. This MIGHT have been OK, if the MGB wipers didnt' keep packing in. Spent an hour at one service break with my hands buried deep in the dash dismantliing it and getting it all back together working. Except - if you look at the later photos you might notice something 'odd' about the wipers :) I'd reassembled the box UPSIDE-DOWN and we had to position the wipers up the screen in 'park' - we decided this made it look a deliberate choice to reduce the air resistance :)

Ayway, pictures and a couple of video clips to enjoy for my friends at UCP.
Anyone up for being service crew next time, drop me a line. No pay, you buy the beers, YOU get wet and stiff :) ( fixing the car in he rain - what did YOU think ? )

[cuntukimushroom]

btw isnt carrera german for race??

[Matra et Alpine]

btw isnt carrera german for race??
No :)

La Carrera PanAmerica was one of THE races in the 50s.

Porsche were a regular entrant and winner and named a car AFTER the race !!
See http://www.356-911.com/modelinfo/porsche%20356carrera.htm

So Carrera is mexican(spanish) for race.

There was a world without Porsche :)

BTW, you should try to see some of the films of those races through the 50s and 60s. Cars strewn all over the road side. Some BIG accidents at VERY high speeds. There is a modern versions which is only slightly slower !!

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Hey, Matra, do you know where there are video clips of the La Carrera PanAmerica, Mille Miglia, and the Targa Floria, on the internet?

I wished I could been around when those great road races existed. :(

[cuntukimushroom]

spanish! ill correct that dictionary :p

[Matra et Alpine]

Hey, Matra, do you know where there are video clips of the La Carrera PanAmerica, Mille Miglia, and the Targa Floria, on the internet?

I wished I could been around when those great road races existed. :(
Me too :) And the Mille, Targa, etc etc :)

But nope, don't know of vid clips on the 'net.
Maybe spend a time searching and checking out links ??
THe Floyd released a video when Mason and Gilmour raced in 91 or 92.

Might have some clips in varioius videos and DVDs I've got, I'll have a wee browse when I get time - and a hauf :)

[Matra et Alpine]

a nice selection of cars ...

[Matra et Alpine]

more cars ...

[Matra et Alpine]

and more ..

[Matra et Alpine]

.. and more .....

[Matra et Alpine]

.. more .....

[DasModell]

very nice cars :)
i'll put them in my offline collection .. :D

[Matra et Alpine]

Stage 2 and we were already having to do repairs.

The Clan clipped a rock underneath and pushed the radiator onto the fan.
Roadside repairs got the fan rebuilt, the radiator sealed and back in the car.

We also took the time to repair the MGB wipers as it had started raining.
Subsequent photos will show my mistake - I re-assembled the wiper box the wrong way up. So wipers now sit UP the window and when turned on wipe downwards. We told everyoen we did it to reduce wind resistance and get higher top speed.

Pics of roadside repairs. Spot the team members :)

NSX passing the 'workshop' and back on the road .....

[Matra et Alpine]

Used to be one of the great road stages.

Sadly now not used, but permission was given for the event :)

Some pics from it ....

The long shot looking down, the 'easy' part is the winding road along the bottom of the valley.

The shot looking UP with the MGB shows the hillclimb part of the stage

Typical Scottish weather :)

[Niko_Fx]

Check the pic :D:D:D:D

;)

EDIT: Wow, amazing pictures, I just saw the last bunch you posted!! That's probably where William Wallace ran through the mountains nice!

Oh and Mel Gibson too ;)

Seriously, beautiful pics :)

EDIT #2: best pic is the 2nd one of the 14th post.

[Matra et Alpine]

Check the pic :D:D:D:D
Yep, ME, at the point when it was pointed out I'd rebuilt the wiper box upside down :(

[Matra et Alpine]

MGC with Triumph 3l Straight 6 shoe-horned in coming up the 'rest' as well as the Mini.
Also couple of shots of the top car park at stage completion. As the last stage of the day, most of us hung around and took picstures, compared notes.
Some asked ( and were given ) permission to do the stage again.
It WAS a great stage with a nice tight hairpin at the top - the vid of that is coming :)

[Matra et Alpine]

Some more pics, plus video of the top 10 cars on the hillclimb - anyone wanting a higher res version of the video will have to drop me a line on messenger, it took HUGE compression to get it below the UCP 2Mb limit.

[Matra et Alpine]

hmm, that vid seems 'damaged'.
I've re-encoded a new one which has all 10 cars in the video.
Some were only seeing the Clan and then static pics of the rest.
Sorry 'bout that :)

[Coventrysucks]

Nice scenery up there.
Nice cars to travel through it in.

All the top sports cars have their wipers "up" when not in use e.g. Bentley Speed 8. Definately makes you go faster.

[Matra et Alpine]

Our expensive, luxurious overnight stay :)

At the mercy of Scottish midgies too ( and for those who've never experienced a midgie, they may be a fraction of the size of a mosquito but they bite hard and do it in the millions :( )

Then some shots in the parc before second day start at Inverary.

[Matra et Alpine]

More from the Inverary start ....

[Matra et Alpine]

last from the Inverary start ....

[UK CARS]

[QUOTE=Niko_Fx] Check the pic :D:D:D:D [QUOTE]

Hey, matra you never yold me you were pregnant!!!!! :D
And wheres that groovy music gone from the vid?
Exellent pics, glad to see you getting some fresh air and exercise! :D

[Matra et Alpine]

[QUOTE=Niko_Fx] Check the pic :D:D:D:D [QUOTE]

Hey, matra you never yold me you were pregnant!!!!! :D

OUCH :(

Actually it's the glass on the MGB.
Drivers eyesight was bad and he couldnt' wear galsses under helmet without them steaming up so he knew someone in the trade and they prepared prescription glass for all the windows. So if you look through them it does make things look a bit bigger - same as ordinary glasses.

[UK CARS]

OUCH :( - made me laugh! ( i thaught you were a tuff lad) :D
Actually it's the glass on the MGB.
Drivers eyesight was bad and he couldnt' wear galsses under helmet without them steaming up so he knew someone in the trade and they prepared prescription glass for all the windows. So if you look through them it does make things look a bit bigger - same as ordinary glasses.

You know i was J/k :) , Hell if you thought i was insulting you.... id be dead by now.

[Matra et Alpine]

You know i was J/k :) , Hell if you thought i was insulting you.... id be dead by now.

It was all part of a larger joke, but somehow I'm worried it got missed :)

[Matra et Alpine]

Some mid-stage shots of cars on the event .....

[Matra et Alpine]

Some picturesque shots between stages.
Just above Loch Ness on the 'corkscrew' stages and cross country to Aviemore

[Matra et Alpine]

Some action shots in the stages

[Matra et Alpine]

On eof the more unusual cars on the event - a HUGE kit car built using Ford Cortina donor parts. This guy drove round as if he was taking a tour of his stately manor :)

Meanwhile we had some MORE serious repairs to do after the corkscrew and took a quick service break to refit the exhaust :) No WRC-like team shelters and mechanics for us !!!

[Matra et Alpine]

some more 'action' from the corkscrew.

Sadly the stage is seldom used and has now got quite overgrown and breaking up.
Lost the exhaust here.
Thankfully the later part of the stage had fantastic tarmac, single lane sweepers and drops into ravines with no edge to the roads. So no photos from there as I was rather busy reading maps and notes :)