| It’s been a vintage year
at Clyde Naval Base, thanks to a rally of venerable old cars.
More than 60 classic cars rolled into the Scottish base as
they re-enacted the Glasgow Exhibition Trials of 1901.
In those days the vehicles rattled along the old A814 –
the former route of which has now been lost under the naval
establishment near Helensburgh – so organisers decided
that Faslane was the obvious place to be included in the itinerary.
The roads through the base have been closed to the public
for around 90 years, but naval leaders opened the gates to
allow the classic cars in for a brief pit stop before they
returned to Helensburgh.
The 2003 re-enactment of the trials – the original
was Scotland’s first motor sport event – was sponsored
by Jim Clarke, who used to work at the Clyde base.
A 1906 Cadillac was the oldest vehicle which managed to make
it to the base, alongside a Bentley convertible once owned
by Elton John, and an Aston Martin DB7, James Bond’s
traditional car of choice.
Racing cars covered a 50-year period, with World Rally Championship
cars from the last couple of decades, some high-performance
road cars and a collection of anniversary American vehicles
also featured at the Supercar Pavilion set up at the Helensburgh
Pier car park.
For those interested in speed, the Toyota, Jordan Ford and
BAR Honda Formula One teams brought along their display cars
to Helensburgh, and Audi showed off its R8 from this year’s
Le Mans 24-hour race.
Scotland’s most senior naval officer, Flag Officer
Scotland Northern England and Northern Ireland (FOSNNI) Rear
Admiral Nick Harris, got proceedings under way and took a
Toyota Formula One car on a lap of the Monza grand prix circuit
in Italy through a computer game.
Also taking place was the Clarke Energy Three Lochs Classic,
a 60-mile road route taking in Loch Lomond, Loch Long and
the Gare Loch, for post-veteran cars, all part of so-called
Helensburgh Grand Prix. The only thing missing from the day
was a genuine Grand Prix race.
Pictures by WO(PHOT) Jon Garthwaite and LA(PHOT) Mez Merrill |
