Just completed our first classic rally in the Mini

[Aerkuld]

Well, we just completed our first ‘rally’ in the new-to-us 1964 Morris Mini, and what an amazing weekend!
The Snowball Rally is a two-day event, with an optional 'night stage' on the Friday evening. The event is strictly for classic cars, the only criteria being, they must be pre-1980, and the more interesting the better. To be fair, it’s probably more accurate to describe it as a classic car driving tour than an actual rally, although there is still the need for basic navigation and route plotting. You’re not just given a destination and use GPS, that would be too easy. The route is only revealed when you get the road book. Until then you have no firm idea of where you're going or where you're staying for the night.

We started off late Friday afternoon meeting up with some of our fellow entrants on the Marin headlands, at the North end of the Golden Gate Bridge. The assortment of cars was pretty amazing. Among them were a few Porsche 911's and a 356, a handful of TR3's and TR4's, several interesting Alfa Romeos, a pair of Datsun 1600 Roadsters, a Dinalpine (Mexican built Renault-Alpine A110) and a 1950's Rolls Royce Silver Cloud - you get the picture. The collection of people was equally diverse. There were three Minis, a silver 1968 (which looked significantly newer, but who cares), a 1971 Australian built Mini 1000, and our 1964 We could safely make the claim of having the smallest engine of all the cars there.

Early evening, after the bay area traffic had calmed down a little, we were given our road books and a quick drivers briefing, and were dispatched off towards Sacramento, our Friday night destination. The route took us out of the bay area, and North through Napa wine country. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening, and quite a spectacle running along with other classic cars, through picturesque small towns as the sun set. There were plenty of pedestrians stopped in their tracks on their evening stroll to watch and take photos as the cars drove through.

I will admit, we made an early navigational error. We were assuming the instructions would take us straight unless told otherwise, but quickly worked out that we should stay on the road designation (i.e. CA-12) even if it turns ninety degrees off the straight road you're on. Never mind, we quickly corrected the error, got back on track, and learned the thinking process of the guy setting the route.

As darkness fell, we were zipping along a road atop one of the levees on the Sacramento river delta. The cars were well spread out by now, so the road was very quiet. It was a good chance to run our genuine Lucas auxiliary lights. Fortunately, they worked (you guys don't know what they're talking about with your Lucas jokes) and lit up the road up like daylight. A good job, as the road was very unpredictable. It basically followed the edge of the water, but would suddenly dip down off the levee, through a sharp 'S' bend, then another 'S' back up onto the top again. It was a wonderful drive, along a very interesting piece of road, an obviously the Mini was in it's element. We finally pulled in to the restaurant's crowded parking lot. We were definitely not the first there, but also not the last to arrive. Already the tales had started!

[Aerkuld]

Day two started bright and early(ish) in a small square to the south of downtown Sacramento. We pulled in and parked, then watched car after car arrive. Of course, the guys we'd seen the previous night were all there, but then other machinery started pulling in and some of it was breath taking. Two Jaguar Xk-120's, an XK-140, two big Healeys, an E-type, then a BMW 3.0 CSL. Seriously, how many of those have you seen on the road in recent years, and this guy was going to give it a thrashing through the mountains. That's so neat! All in all, there were about 65 cars entered, and another dozen or so driven up just to watch. Again, some interesting stuff, including a guy with a 1960's Renault Floride Gordini. I don't think I've ever seen one of those before.

After another quick drivers meeting (we were basically told not to crash, and be cool) we set off of the day one route "Snowpocalypse". Leaving Sacramento as quickly as possible, we set out along more scenic country roads and rolling hillsides. Everything was still beautifully green after our unusually wet winter. Again, cars were reasonably well spaced out, but inevitably small groups form and run together. This is definitely a social tour rather than a frantic competitive event. A quick stop at " . . . the last gas station for 70 miles" along with almost every other car on the event, had the locals bemused. I was a little concerned with the range on a standard Mini fuel tank. Particularly as the tank is foam filled, which further reduces it's volume, and has no gauge to read inside the car. We have a calibrated sight glass (well, plastic) in the trunk, so know how much fuel we had when stationary, so had to rely on an average mpg figure to calculate available range. Still, we never ran into issues and were getting a fairly consistent 36 - 38 mpg (real gallons, not US gallons) despite driving everywhere practically flat-out.

Shortly after the fuel stop we ran behind one of the Healeys as we climbed up CA-88 towards the Carson Pass. Admittedly, our little 850 was no match for the big Healey going uphill, and we were frequently running third gear at 40 to 50 mph just to keep moving. As soon as the road got level and twisty, or any downhill whatsoever, we could catch up again. It was good entertainment, if a little loud, and before too long we were crossing the 8652ft pass, crossing the state line into Nevada, and heading towards the lunch stop.

The organizers did a great job with their planning and had made arrangements with diners and restaurants in the small town at the designated lunch stop along the route. Pulling in next to the XK-120, or a late 60's 911, was very pleasant visual treat, for us, and the other visitors who were keen to stop and talk to people about the cars and what we were doing. There was so much interest and appreciation from hikers, cyclists, bikers, and fellow participants.

The next leg continued along now NV-88 before turning off again through several other small towns heading towards Carson City. The city itself was busy, traffic was slow, but it was really unavoidable. Still, the Mini was getting lots of waves and thumbs-up from other drives, most of whom were driving pick-up trucks the size of small houses. Before long we were back off the bust roads and heading up towards Virginia City. For those who don't know, Virginia City is a mining 'boom town' that sprang up in 1859 when major silver deposits were discovered near by. Looking at it, it hasn't really changed much since then. They have surfaced the road through town, but there are still wooden-fronted stores along a wooden boardwalk just like you see in the westerns. Unfortunately, this has made it a tourist attraction, so everything appears terribly 'tacky'. Still, it was worth stopping for a photo and another inevitable chat with the bystanders.

From there, we headed down into the Reno valley, but no time to stop before heading up into the mountains (and the snow) to the West. Mount Rose Pass is the highest point of Highway 431, and the highest pass which is open year-round. Other, higher passes are closed in winter due to the snow. At 8911ft elevation the little Mini felt a little asthmatic, but we still managed to pull over the summit with more third-gear thrashing, before descending to Lake Tahoe. As well as the tin air at altitude, the scenery was breath taking. Tahoe is an absolutely magical place - one of those 'looks almost too good to be real' sort of places. Of course, being Nevada, our overnight was in a hotel casino. We felt we'd gambled enough all day, so we didn't touch the tables and headed straight for the steak house, and dinner with some new-found friends.

[Nickshu]

That is so awesome!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Aerkuld]

Our final day was a slightly later start to allow everyone to sleep off the previous night’s festivities. Apparently, not everyone just went for dinner then turned in for the night!

We managed to have an entire parking lot reserved for Rally participants, which made life easy for another pre-run drivers meeting. This was the usual "don't crash" and a warning about some towns to take very cautiously, and general road conditions. Still, everyone was anxious to head out, then stop down the road for breakfast.

Driving along the shores of Lake Tahoe in the early morning was sublime. Several other car owners, not participating in the rally, had come out to have a look and follow along for a while. We followed a lovely white 911 out of town and up the Donner Pass road. As we turned off the head cross country through undulating pine forest, we were followed by a British Racing Green XK-120 and a TR-3. I thought we'd be passed in no time, yet as soon as we got to some bendy roads we lost them. It wasn't like we were going particularly fast, it's an 850 don't forget, so maybe they were some of the revelers from the previous night.

Pine forests quickly gave way to wide open alpine meadows. Yet again, the organizers had found some stunning scenery and it was too good not to slow down to enjoy.

The lunch stop arrived quickly and, feeling as though we'd only just had breakfast, we made the decision to fill up with gas then drive on. Hopefully we'd get a run at the canyon before everyone else got there. We'd been told by a fellow Mini driver who had done the event previously, that we were very likely to take the Feather River Canyon road. He said it was a road made for a Mini. He wasn't lying! It was pretty much a straight run of 75 miles following the Feather River gently downhill. The road wound back and forth parallel to the river. Sunlight and shadow flickered through the windscreen as we wound our way under lush green trees. It was probably the driving highlight of the weekend and we seriously considered stopping at the bottom, turning around, and doing it all again.

Sadly, we were time limited, and our evening reception dinner was already booked, so we continued on our way. Exiting the canyon, we quickly started to descend back down to the Sacramento delta. As the altitude decreased, the temperature increased and it was over 30 centigrade as we got back to the level. Still, the Mini was relatively unfazed, although the temperature gauge was noticeably higher that earlier. A quick, but boring run along the Interstate was ended when we turned off through a small town and back onto one of the levee roads. It was much more open in the daylight than the tunnel it felt like at night, but the coolness of the river fifteen feet below us on the right was definitely helping keep the temperature in the car down. Another beautiful drive, although not quite as exciting as our night time jaunt, and we were soon back in the city heading towards our final stop.

I have to say, the whole event was an absolute blast - great cars, great people, fantastic scenery, amazing driving roads, and top entertainment. I'm very fortunate that my wife really got the hang of the navigating and on top of that, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. We have agreed that this is something we most definitely want to do again.

Our little rally Mini may not be pounding the Finnish forest stages anymore, but she is still giving it a good go, and keeping smiles on faces.

Oh, then to top off the weekend events I heard today that we were the winners of THE trophy. While this isn't a competitive event, there is a trophy for "Best In Snow". Word is we won it on account of our enthusiastic spirit, and having an interesting, appropriate, and period vehicle. I guess it just appealed to the right people!

[wdfifteen]

Sounds like a lot of fun! The cars are great.

[Aerkuld]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Sounds like a lot of fun! The cars are great.

Absolutely. Some of the cars looked as though they should be in museums, not thrashing through the mountains. I was amazed at some of the stuff that turned out.

[Tobra]

Formerly known as the Alpine 500. My brother and I did all 5 years of that one in various old air cooled vehicles. Any of these guys look familiar? That orange 911 in the middle of the 1st pic is one. That is my orange 914 all the way to the right in that shot. Hopefully the guys in the 450 SL with the black hood in the 2nd pic were not there, they were a-holes

[bivenator]

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed the read.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by bivenator

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed the read.

^^^^ Yes indeed!!!

[porsche930dude]

Awesome how many miles did you cover? Is your 850 stock or modified?

[pwd72s]

Congrats on THE Trophy...

[Don Plumley]

Awesome!

[BK911]

Coolest thing I've read in a while.
Thanks for sharing.

[Jay Auskin]

Very cool cars...thanks for posting! I always find it funny how California gets pegged as the green state, but yet there is this huge car culture there (of not so green cars).


Also, is that the new Buick Encore next to the Corvair? It looks great!

[MattKellett]

Fantastic write up. It really looks like you both had a blast and obviously the mini was a hit and how could it not be?!

Seeing your photos makes it very tempting to join you on this next year.

[VincentVega]

x2, thanks for posting. Looks like a great time. This doesnt help my, I dont really need a mini, idea either. Well done.

[Jim Richards]

That must've been a terrific event. I would've loved to be there to see such a great assembly of vintage sports cars.

[Rich Lambert]

Sounds like a cool event...thanks for sharing!

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by BK911

Coolest thing I've read in a while.
Thanks for sharing.

Ditto.

[dafischer]

Great story and pictures.
The envy is strong, but thanks for sharing.