Classic Adelaide
November 19 - 22, 1998

Classic Adelaide 1998 - a view from the outside

In the midst of this >future= activity, has been >Classic Adelaide=. This event, which was conducted for the first time in November 1997 and has just now completed its second staging in November, appears to be setting the standards, against which other mainland events will undoubtedly be measured. From what I saw of the event it, it is run to the highest professional standards on great roads through the Adelaide hills and environs. It succeeded in attracting a highly competitive field and importantly public support. It is an event that is likely to continue, all other things being equal, for quite a few years to come!

John Allison who drove in the inaugural event in 1997, kindly recorded his experiences and impressions of that event in our December 1997 issue of this newsletter. So for a driver=s view of the event I suggest you read his excellent article. My involvement was far more mundane. Not having a car that was old enough to compete, (it needs to be 1970 or prior), I was reciprocating Chris Stephen=s valuable support in Targa Tasmania earlier this year. Chris Stephen has decided to take me up on my offer of assistance. So it was off to Adelaide, not as a driver or navigator but as a member of the service crew ... a new experience.

Arriving in Adelaide it was straight into town. The headquarters for Classic Adelaide is the Adelaide Hilton with the cars in the event garaged a hop, skip and jump round the corner in the multi-level car park above the market in Gouger Street. Unlike Targa Tasmania where you have to pick up your gear and move from Launceston to Hobart to Burnie and back to Hobart, this event starts and finishes each day from the same location. What=s more with the car park located in Gouger street, which is the Adelaide version of Lygon street (but much busier during this event), the choice of where to eat and drink each night was quite a challenge!

With more than 100 cars garaged in Gouger Street, one=s initial impressions of the event can be quite deceptive. Classic Adelaide is really three events in one, with each sharing the same piece of road. First group off each day were the 25 or so cars entered in the >Tour=. These cars, not set up for competition, did what the name of their group aptly implied, >toured=. Cars in this group drove pretty much line astern behind a pace car which traversed the stage at a quick yet modest pace. Cars entered in this section of the event included a 1914 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso, 1932 Delage D8S, 1936 Mercedes Benz 540K, at least three Jaguar SS100's through to some E-types and Falcon GT=s. Those participating seemed to have a great time exercising their cars without the pressure of any competition.

The second group off for the day were the >Parade= cars which were participating in the event. These cars, 10 in all, at the invitation of the organisers. Each car had a unique history either in terms of race history, the uniqueness of its manufacture or some other factor relating to the uniqueness of its lineage. The Parade, unlike the Tour cars was despatched at one minute intervals in the same manner as the Competition group to follow. Whilst drivers in the Parade could >go at their own pace= most seemed to go fairly hard. This group of vehicles included a rare Mercedes 300SLS from the Mercedes museum, a rare 1956 Jaguar XKSS from the UK, a Ford AC Cobra from Sweden, a Perana Capri from South Africa (imported by John Lamb), two 1953 Jaguar C types and one Jaguar D type. Colin Bond drove the Bathurst winning 1968 Holden Monaro and club member Phillip Schudmak a Porsche 356a. But my favourite was the Ferrari 250 GTO driven very energetically by Paul Vestey and navigated by the famed motoring journalist and Ferrari historian Doug Nye. Despite the rumoured A$7 million plus price tag on the car this was not a casual outing as it is campaigned heavily in the UK and Europe. Listening to the car early on a Saturday morning as it wound its way up the Adelaide Hills from the valley below is something I will long remember. Certainly a rare opportunity, which I am sure the Ferrari fans in Adelaide not only appreciated, but relished.

As expected Chris Stephen and navigator Adrian Mortimer had the event pretty well sorted out. Adrian a South Australian resident and avid Crows supporter (and still >crowing= about back to back premierships in the AFL) seemed to know the planned route back to front. So my task was pretty easy. Just meet the car at a designated morning, lunch or afternoon stop with sufficient supplies of Av Gas for the Iso=s requirements. This basically meant that I checked tyre pressures first up in the morning and then zapped off to the first meeting point. Then following a re-supply of fuel, off to the next agreed meeting point. What this really meant was that you got little opportunity to see much of the event on the road. And believe me, that=s where it was all happening ... on the road.

Going in to the event it appeared that the likely front-runners would be Chris in the Iso (he finished 2^nd in the inaugural event) and Andy Miedecke in the Falcon XT GT with Ross Williams in the Elfin Clubman not too far behind. Well that=s how it worked out ... almost.

The problem was a bright shiny immaculately prepared 1972 Ford Escort RS 1600 driven by Andrew Cavelli and Michael Dale both from Adelaide. Eleven weeks out from the start of the event these guys in a moment of inspiration decided to build the car from scratch and have a go! The Escort was completed with just a day to spare prior to Scrutineering on the Wednesday. By Thursday night they found themselves leading the event with both Chris Stephen and Andrew Miedecke following very close behind. At days end (the results for the day were made available around 6.00 pm) the topic around the keg of beer in the temporary bar (erected by the organisers) in the car park, was how long the Escort would last. When would it break? (By the way there is no mistake! There was >free= beer for competitors and results were available each night).

Talking of breaking, on Day One, Adrian Mortimer, Chris Stephen=s ex-rally champ navigator, managed to break the zip in his brand new, made to order, driving suit, which incidentally reflecting his pride in the local football team just happened to be in the colours of (can you believe it!) the Adelaide Crows. Fearing some sort of penalty for defective gear, it was decided the best course of action would be to replace the suit with a new one the following morning prior to the start of Day Two. As an Essendon supporter I had great pleasure in picking up a temporary replacement suit for Adrian to kick-start him on the Friday morning. Problem was (for Adrian) it was red and black ... Essendon colours. What a coincidence? What a reaction!!

Honorable mentions to club members Peter Eames and Vic Spiteri (1970 Jaguar XJ6) for 17^th outright and also to Scott Shearman (1960 Aston Martin DB4) for 18^th outright and who but for some >problems= would have finished much higher. That=s motorsport!