50 exotic and often rare sports cars, 1000 miles, great hotels, full assistance (mechanics, loaners, luggage transfers, ... ), a great crew, .... is there a better way to spend 5 days ? Well maybe, but if you are reading this, it probably means that you love cars and there is no better way…

For the past few years, Jean and Rich Taylor have organized time / speed / distance rallies mostly in their home New England region even tough they do invade the Texas Hill Country each fall... Starting in 2000, as a mean to escape the New England winter, they added the Forza Amelia rally which starts right at the end of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, an event which has grown to become the Pebble Beach of the east coast and attracts thousands of car enthusiasts and collector to Amelia Island, a small resort island just north of Jacksonville. And to make things even more interesting, the rally cars are present on the Concours field in their own separate class but judged by Amelia Island Concours judges and receive awards.

These are not speed rallies, which mean that you must respect all rules, speed limits and other annoyances and simply be on time... exactly on time as each second off your assigned time at each checkpoint costs you 1 point... not much ? When you consider that experienced rallyists strive for perfect Zeros and usually end the rally with less than 2 points... 1 second means a lot even though these are relatively easy and relaxed events.. no hidden checkpoints means no strenuous enroute calculations, no tricks in the route instructions, the point is to have a good time driving fun cars…

But beyond the fun, Vintage Rallies is a fund raiser for local charities in the states the rallies are held. Over the years, Jean and Rich Taylor have raised hundreds of thousand of dollars to help those who need help... and incidentally have received Hemmings Motor News hobby person of the year award last year.

This year again, two members of our club participated in the 2001 Forza Amelia, Russel Glace in his XK140 MC FHC racer and Pascal Gademer in his 1972 E-type FHC.

Day One… a warm up

We started the day with a first stage leaving Amelia Island south towards St Augustine, about 65 miles. As usual, the first check point opened at 8 am and a few cars were on line waiting. Russell left a couple of minute before me and after about an hour or so we reached St Augustine, a nice old scenic town, actually it is the oldest city in the country.

We spent some time driving along a new Ferrari F355, an interesting contrast with my E-type and even more with Russell's XK 140 MC. Only problem was coming in St Augustine when the Ferrari missed a street; of course we followed and had to backtrack a bit. I had time to spare but Russell was a bit closer since it took him longer to turn around and find the check point set up in a parking lot near the visitor center. Coming in late, they rushed thru the gate not giving the attendant his coupon... In the heat of the action, they went thru the check point early by 9" ... that's 9 points... On the other hand, I managed to nail that first check point right on the mark.

After a short visit of the old St Augustine and the Fort, and a bunch of pictures in the parking lot, we headed south to Daytona beach on a transit stage. We ran most of the stage in great company such as a Ferrari Tour de France, Mercedes 300 SL roadster, and many more. It included some nice sections of road but also some congested street downtown Daytona. Thankfully the car ran cool, and the A/C worked well... Destination was the Daytona Speedway where lunch was served in an private room and we toured the museum. Meanwhile, Russell's XK 140 needed some attention as the starter wouldn't crank. The generator was not charging and it seemed that the battery is defective. He had a spare which goes in.

A couple of miles from the speedway, we stopped at a Classic car museum for a quick look at the collection before leaving for a last transit stage leading us to beautiful Mt Dora, just north of Orlando. Roads were pretty nice, rolling hills with a few turns but I kept it rather slow staying with the XK which was again experiencing charging problems and some rough running. I lost touch with them near the end, in an attempt to run ahead to stop and catch some pictures... That would have been nice but I missed a turn and ended up a few miles of course... Since I am running the rally solo, navigating and driving at the same time it's easy to make a mistake when reading the road instructions clipped on my steering wheel...

Along the way I pass a group of 3 vintage Ferraris which had pulled over since one of them was experiencing some fuel pump trouble, they repaired and finish the stage. Russell's XK 140 made it too, and the Rally mechanic found a clogged fuel filter which was causing the rough running. Apparently, the new coating in the fuel tank was breaking up and clogging the filter.

Our destination was a very scenic small town and the overnight accommodations are the Lakeside Inn, a old historical Inn right on the Lake. One of the great things about Vintage Rallies is their selection of the best hotels each stop has to offer, usually old historical Inns. Nice place, unfortunately they seemed to have some weird phone system and I can't get the modem to dial out to upload the page and pictures…

Standings at the end of the day: I'm tied for first with 9 others... Russel is in the middle of the field due to his 9" error…

Day Two… let’s play

Rallying is fun, but playing on a track is even better which is something Vintage Rally's Rich Taylor knows and each Vintage Rally event includes at least one speed session. On this Forza Amelia 2001, they rented out the testing track at the Gainesville Raceway, a nice smooth track which can be configured in many ways.

But before we got to the track, we faced two stages through the Ocala National Forest which offers some of the best roads in Florida. We all know that Florida is mostly flat, but the region north of Orlando is actually made up of rolling hills. After leaving the Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora, the first hour or so took on various county roads to the entrance of the Ocala National Forest. Once in the forest, the roads got even nicer and it was very easy to forget that we were on public roads with speed limits... One close call occurred when I came across a pair of Park Rangers patrol cars, pulled over along the edge of the trees and hard to see. One of the entrants later noted that they looked like alligators backing off into the bushes to ambush their prey... No radar on, it seemed that they were just talking to each other but after seeing a few exotic cars flying by, they did showed some interest and flashed their blue lights to remind participants that they shouldn't mess around... like gators opening their jaws... no tickets though…

The end of the first stage ended in the rain, with a perfect score for me, and a 1 second penalty for the Glace brothers... More rain for the second stage, on the way to an historical farm just outside Gainesville, and a perfect score for both Russell and I.

From the farm and its park, a short transit stage took us to the track for some fun... No.. make that some serious fun…

As usual, I am one of the first one on track and I run both courses a few times. This was the first time I got to push the car with the new suspension set up and I loved the result. Cornering is much flatter than it used to be and the car handles really well. The only glitch is a slight misfire when the car is hot and in left hand corners, which puts me at a disadvantage since most of the turns are left handers, including one long 180 degree final turn, laid on the track skid pad, a great place to push the car to the limit of grip. I was having so much fun that I didn't pay much attention to the time sheets…

Lunch was served in a tent next to the staging area, quickly swallowed like a kid eager to go back and play.

During that brief interruption, Russel and I decide to swap cars for the fun of it. After one run in the passenger seat I slide behind the wheel of his XK 140 MC and what a feeling it is... My E-type, despite being almost 30 years old, almost feels like a modern car. The XK on the other is a totally different breed of cat... The seating position, the steering wheel, the gear box, the brakes, are all totally different and it took a while getting used to them, especially the stock gear box with its not so smooth shifting.... The brakes too are very different, they work well but require heavy pressure to slow the car... Handling on the other is pure pleasure and very predictable. I had fun driving this car around on a few run as this was my first time driving an XK.

Then Russel drove my E-type around the track a few times, and pushed really hard, much harder than I had pushed it... Of course, he got a big grin on his face when he learned that he had beaten my own time by just around one full second. Since I couldn't let this stand, I took over and regained my honor by beating his time by over 2/10... A third run would improved that by a few hundreds before we called it quits. Such childish behavior using vintage cars could escalate out of control and there was still 500 miles to cover in the rally, and another 400 to get home.

I didn't bother trying to re run the other shorter course, since things hadn't gone very smoothly for Russell with one big spin in the third corner... one full turn but skillfully keeping it on the track... Spinning and off road excursions were common sights that morning, with some entrants clearly pushing their cars beyond the limit... new or old, even the Rentech Mercedes 600 or the modern Ferrari entertained us with smoke and dust…

By the time we were engaged in our own private challenge, most of the other entrants had left, satisfied with just a couple of runs, and it's the turn of Rich Taylor to play with his racing Sting Ray, entertaining us with a nice display of gradually faster runs.

Following this fun session, we left the track on a Transit stage, un-timed, to our overnight stop in rustic Cedar Key, on the west coast, north of Tampa. An uneventful stage which was interesting because of the good company. I spend a lot of time running with one of the Sting Ray, fast of course, and then catching up some of the other cars. While Vintage Rallying isn't about speed, it's always fun to catch up other cars and passing them as you get to see a variety of cars in their natural environment, the open road...It also provides the unique opportunity to enjoy the sounds of the cars, especially the Ferraris…

Once in Cedar Key, we washed the cars and then head to the old town to take a few pictures in the last minutes of daylight. Cedar Key is a very small island, linked to the west coast by a small bridge, with just a couple of street downtown including a portion which belongs more in a New England fishing village. I used this as a background for the pictures to enhance the beauty of the Jaguars. On a funny note, I tried to make Russel gather a nearby flock of birds in front of the cars, it didn't work and only a few end up in the background... nice try !

The night ends in a local restaurant for a fabulous dinner. It turned out that the Chef / Owner of the Island Room used to own a renowned New York restaurant until he decided to leave New York behind, relocate to Florida and open a smaller place... well done, the food was absolutely terrific !

Standings at the end of the day : I was tied for first with 5 others... the Glace Brothers slipped a little it further in the midle of the field …

 

Day Three… Greece ?

As we were getting ready to line up for the start in Cedar Key, the sun rose over the hotel and started casting a nice warm light over the sensual curves of the XK140, another photo opportunity I couldn't resist... Photography is painting with light and it was clearly true that morning... An old fishery building provides a perfect backdrop…

After the start, we followed a few detours on Cedar Key's side streets and then reached the open road... long stretches of straight separated by gentle curves. Little traffic make it possible to push the cars and we soon caught up with the cars ahead; again sort of a dynamic rolling car show.... Russell's 140 seemed to be blowing some smoke when pushed, side effect of the track activities of the previous day and of the high speed RPM levels.

We made it to the first check point way ahead of time, but I get a 1 second penalty... By bye perfect score... Russel has lost quite a bit of oil but not enough to stop. While at the checkpoint, in a gas station, I ran into Jim Walker editor of the Ottawa Jaguar Club newsletter ( small world isn't it ? ) who happened to drive by while on vacation and of course pulled in attracted by the display of vintage cars. What are the odds of two JCNA club editors running into each other, me hundreds of miles from home, him thousands ?

After the check point, we followed a transit stage to Tarpon Springs, a Greek fishing village north of Tampa. While the ancestry of the fishermen may be really Greek, the place has a distinct tourist trap flavor... Food, at a Greek restaurant, was good though and it was worth the stop.

We were in for a treat that afternoon as we headed to a Classic Corvettes, a Museum / Classic car dealership owned by renewed collector Al Weissman. The place specializes in Corvettes and American Muscle cars, but also include some interesting and unusual automobiles such as a presidential open tourer from the 40s and 50s, with loaded gun racks, secret service grab rails, etc... Adjacent to the large showroom is a huge full restoration facility which we got to tour. Very impressive place capable of full restoration on any type of Classic car. Then came the second treat of the day, an invitation to visit the owner's personal collection of great cars and memorabilia.

We caravanned a few miles to his home outside Tarpon Springs where he gave us a personal tour of a fabulous collection of rare cars including a turn of the century Ford Town Car which had just received an Award at Amelia Island. Other show pieces include a 1930s hybrid car, with a gas engine turning a generator to supply power to electric motors, fully restored Dusenberg, Cord, etc... Even a soviet limo used to chauffeur former soviet leader Breznev at the peak of the cold war.

On to a transit to a Chevron station where the last stage of the day was to be started... Unfortunately I missed the amended instructions and didn't hear that the last stage had been cancelled due to the added stop and wasted half an hour hunting for a Chevron station which had been changed to a Citgo station...

After hunting in traffic, I called Rich on the cellular phone who told me that the stage was cancelled... I ended up running the last section to Howey in the Hills, north of Orlando, following or ahead of his racing Sting Ray, a nice run !

When results were announced at diner time, I had slipped to 8th because of that 1 point penalty, with 7 cars tied for first with a perfect score. Jeff and Russel are still in the middle of the pack

Day Four...

The final day, which was also be the longest with no less than four stages leading us back to Amelia Island. The threat of rain was also hanging over our heads, a concern for those with open top cars and also because in can be sometimes tricky to stay on time when speeds drop because of the rain.

The first stage took us out of Howey-in-the-Hills, through Mount Dora and towards I 75 to the Don Garlits drag racing museum. For those of you who prefer turning left AND right rather than just going straight, Big Daddy as he is known was a drag racing legend in the 60s and 70s, winning just about every trophy and dominating the sport for what must have felt like an eternity to his competitors. The museum is big and contains hundreds of drag strip racers along with memorabilia. Next to this museum is a smaller classic car museum with plenty of cars to admire.

Leaving the museum we headed out into Horse country, a part of Florida known for its horse farms. I picked up a navigator for this last day, Michael Suppley, navigator in a Maserati who broke down early on and whose owner just called it quits. After soloing for 2 days in a loaner 500SL roadster, Michael assisted me with the navigation. It made my task a bit easier but I had getting used to reading the route sheets, clipped on my steering wheel.

Russell's brother Jeff was driving the XK while Russell was enjoying the ride in the blue Sting Ray until the XK started showing signs of trouble... As miles went by on the second stage, a transit to the Gainesville Country Club, the XK started running rough to the point where Jeff had to pull over. The Sting Ray and I pulled over as well and we started troubleshooting the XK's misfire which by now had turned into heavy backfire and flames occasionally shooting out of the side exhausts..

Troubleshooting a misfiring car with an almost dead battery isn't easy as it must be push started every time.… We first found a dirty fuel filter, once again, but still the car wasn't running properly. A quick check of fuel flow in an empty bottle confirmed that fuel was now flowing so Russell changed the plugs. They turned out to be pretty clean so with time running out on getting to the start of the next stage, we called for assistance. The Sting Ray and myself left them on the side of the road, in what was actually a nice spot with smooth grass, overhead trees, and little traffic…

After a quick lunch at the Gainesville country club, we started the last two stages with first a run up to the Georgia State line into a small country store, Lacy's. The roads were really empty and once again it was fun to run with another car, that same blue Sting Ray. Halfway thru, the throttle return spring snapped, leaving me only with the weak carburetors spring; it's amazing as something as small as this can make the car completely different, with a much softer throttle delivering much faster response for the same amount of pressure. Disorientating at first... I tried to fix the spring at the checkpoint but didn't feel like taking a chance by taking the control apart in the middle of nowhere and postponed the fix till the end of day.

While awaiting for out time to cross, the young son of the country store owner was delighted to look at the funny cars and absolutely thrilled to pose sitting on the driver sitting... a cheap and easy way to make a 6 year old day !

The final stage went smoothly, back to the Amelia Island Plantation resort where I took no less than a 3 seconds late penalty. I knew I was a bit late crossing the line but not by three second. A non official protest prompted the scoring crew to check their clock which appeared to be a second off, so the penalty was later reduced to 2 points for a total of 5. Not bad since I didn't have a navigator for 3/4 of the rally.

Russel and Jeff enjoyed their afternoon cruising in a new 500SL roadster listening to classical music and didn't do the last 2 stages and would end up near the bottom of the rankings... The problem with the XK would turn out to be a breaker point and condenser problem, fixed that evening by the rally mechanic, and the car made it back home to south Florida under its own power.

Final results announced at the award dinner that evening had me in 7th place and second of the vintage cars in the speed event, narrowly beaten by the Sting Ray.

This rally turned out to be a fun week, with plenty of good driving and meeting interesting people. Nearly half the entrants had participated in other Vintage Rallies before and it's always good to see familiar faces. Jean and Rich and their crew one again ran a flawless operation despite the logistics involved : different hotels each night, some 12 crews to coordinate, luggage transfers, scoring, etc...

Once again, this 1000 mile rally, and the 800 mile round trip to and from Amelia, show that a vintage car can be reliable and pushed hard at the same time. It does take some preparation and personally I like the idea of having a certain number of reliability upgrades on the car such as modern electronic ignition, modern alternator and starter, etc... Carrying the proper spares and tools helps too... on the way up to Amelia, I lost the fuel pump on I 95 going through Jacksonville even though it was one of the new electronic Burlen SU design. Having a spare saved the day and I was back on the road in no time. Other things such as a service manual can help as well.

This was the first long trip for the car after the recent rebuilt by Thierry and Jake at Jaguar Doctor, and as usual they did a great job preparing the car, thanks guys !

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About the author - Pascal Gademer is the webmaster and newsletter editor of the South Florida Jaguar Club. Owner of a restored and upgraded (for reliability and performance) 1972 series 3 E-type 2+2, he doesn't miss an opportunity to drive his E-type to various events (concours, rallies,..) often regardless of distances. His daily driver his another Silver Coupe, a 2000 XKR.

Posted: 4/2001