[Andrew Comrie Picard]

Marcel Chichak's webpage and project for the Shell 4000 rally has been so fantastic and upped the prominence of that event that I'm curious about the remaining orphans.

I just got a rally plate for the 1957 International 1000 Rally, organized I think by the MG Car Club New England chapter. I gather this was quite a significant event as well - 1000 miles, and international as it ran through Canada too.

I came near to buying a strengthened Saab 96 that was thought to be delivered to Homer Troter(sp?) a NE Saab dealer who ran the Canadian Winter too. Legend was he did well on the International 1000.

And on the Canadian Winter: I have some Road and Track articles, and rally plates from 1961 and 1968. I think that Roger Clark was on the 1968 version. And Doug Woods on 1970?

BTW Marcel, I just ran across a web page for works Mins that says GRX 5D was on the 1968 Shell 4000, but I don't know with who. That car was one of the most used of all works Mins - that was its 12th rally.

So, any info on the International 1000 or more on the Canadian Winter.

ACP
Flirting with the laws of physics.

 

[Doug Woods]

Andrew:

You certainly raised a number of points in one post. Here is some information for you.

>I came near to buying a strengthened Saab 96 that was
>thought to be delivered to Homer Troter(sp?) a NE Saab
>dealer who ran the Canadian Winter too. Legend was he did
>well on the International 1000.

Yes, in the 1960s Homer Trotter was a very fast SAAB driver from upper NY State. In the early 1970s, Dave Keuhne, also from upper NY State, was an even faster SAAB driver.

>And on the Canadian Winter: I have some Road and Track
>articles, and rally plates from 1961 and 1968. I think that
>Roger Clark was on the 1968 version. And Doug Woods on 1970?

I don't think that Roger Clark ever ran the Canadian Winter Rally. However, in 1967 he won the Shell 4000 in a Lotus Cortina.

Yes, in 1970 Walter Boyce and I won the Canadian Winter Rally.

>BTW Marcel, I just ran across a web page for works Mins that
>says GRX 5D was on the 1968 Shell 4000, but I don't know
>with who. That car was one of the most used of all works
>Mins - that was its 12th rally.

Paddy Hopkirk drove the works mini in the 1968 Shell 4000.

>So, any info on the International 1000 or more on the
>Canadian Winter.

I don't know anything about the International 1000. However, if you ever do manage to visit for those promised beers, I have lots of Canadian Winter Rally stuff to show you and you might even get to drink your beer out of the 1970 winner's beer tankard .

>ACP
>Flirting with the laws of physics.

 

[Steve McKelvie]

Andrew,
I believe that the International 1000 morphed into the Finger Lakes 1000 in recent years. It is (was) a week long TSD rally in the upper New York State area generally in the first or second week of August. Obviously it is difficult to organize and run a rally of that magnitude. I understand that after last year's event, the organizers are taking this year off, at least.

Steve McKelvie

 

[billw]

This reminded me that I still have on hand a few borrowed copies of Cdn Track & Traffic from the 1960s.

Here's a highlight of topics by issue relating to Andrew's post:

March 1962 - Orillia Grand Prix on Ice featuring 3rd place Homer Trotter in a Saab

April 1962 - 10th Annual Cdn Winter Rally featuring 3rd place H. Trotter/J. Bickham in one of 3 Saabs entered by Saab Motors of New York

November 1962 - Calgary Sports Car Club Loop Rally VI

April 1963 - 11th Annual Cdn Winter Rally featuring, in a 3-way tie for 4th place, H. Trotter/J. Bickham in a Saab. 2nd overall was also a tie between two teams that year.

May 1963 - Shell 4000 preview, inlcuding Entrants List showing Olivier Gendebien/Mike Kerry in a Volvo Canadian P1300 and Scott Harvey/Bob Mollman in a Chrysler 300J

March 1968 - 11th Annual Cdn Winter Rally won by Kuehne/Cady in a Saab Monte Carlo and featuring 5th placed Harvey/Beckman in a Barracuda.

The only issue with any interesting photos is the last one. I guess photo and print quality wasn't so good until the late 1960s.

Anyways, there sure is an interesting assortment of vehicles at the top of the leaderboard on these old rallies: Corvairs, Anglias, Studebaker Larks, etc. Not the sort of hero cars that get remembered much anymore these days IMHO.

Bill Westhead

 

[Doug Woods]

>March 1968 - 11th Annual Cdn Winter Rally won by Kuehne/Cady
>in a Saab Monte Carlo and featuring 5th placed
>Harvey/Beckman in a Barracuda.

Bill:

Dave Cady finished 7th overall recently on the Ontario Winter Rally.

Scott Harvey finished 10th overall on the Desert Storm Rally this weekend. Not bad at age 74.

And Ralph Beckman (with John Buffum) finished 2nd overall on this year's Historic Monte Carlo Rallye.

There's still hope for us old farts .

Doug Woods

 

[joeg]

In the 70(s) and 80(s) it ran as the MG 1000 put on by the MG Car club out of Long Island.

Brisk 4-5day TSD rally that was truly International.

I think Gary Webb out of Maine may have helped it along in the 90(s) and then the Fingerlakes Region SCCA took it over.

It was a bit of a logistics nightmare; ran only in daylight and used hidden ("closed") controls for timing.

Very good competitions.

 

[Andrew Comrie Picard]

Terrific responses - thanks. It is interesting that the Saab I was looking at definitely had reinforced strut towers, and must have been that way from the factory looking at the construction.

I'll start watching ebay for those magazines, Bill.

ACP
Flirting with the laws of physics.

 

[Doug Woods]

>>Terrific responses - thanks. It is interesting that the Saab
>I was looking at definitely had reinforced strut towers, and
>must have been that way from the factory looking at the
>construction.

Andrew:

That is quite possible. In the late 1960s/early 1970s there were a number of SAABs in the northeast that had been prepared at the SAAB competitions department. They were more or less to the same specification as the factory cars of the day.

Doug Woods