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- Wayback Wheels -
Vintage Car Talk
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- Newfoundland's Targa race is a car lover's
dream
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- By Aaron Neilly
- It's a quiet, sunny afternoon, with a hint of sea salt in
the air. A few ducks slowly waddle across the narrow, winding
road and slip into a small creek for a quick swim. A group of
local residents gather behind a white picket fence. We're in
the postcard- picturesque town of Brigus, Newfoundland.
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- And then, suddenly, Brigus isn't so quiet - the ground shakes
and a white Mustang fastback comes roaring out of a corner, totally
sideways, smoke pouring off of the rear tires, followed by a
Corvette Stingray. A few moments later, a classic Mini Cooper
goes zipping by, followed by a white Austin Healey and a red
(how could it be any other colour?) Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV. I could
keep naming the incredible cars I watched fly by … but I'd
need my own publication for that.
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- This isn't a scene out of a Canadian remake of The Cannonball
Run, it's the seventh annual Targa Newfoundland, a race that
crosses most of the province, covering close to 2,200 kilometers
of paved road over the course of five days. The rally is held
entirely on public roads closed off to regular traffic. It winds
its way through a variety of areas, from barely inhabited (but
breathtaking) coastal areas, to the suburban streets of Gander.
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- Racing a classic car can be quite an adventure as the team
of Dave Pledger and Chris Willett (Chris is a fellow
BMW 2002 fanatic) can attest to. They brought a 1959 Morris Mini,
and after replacing an engine, replacing a clutch, replacing
a driveaxle approximately 20 feet after the clutch, replacing
an engine, having the distributor fall out, having the starter
fail, replacing an engine and replacing another driveaxle (I
probably missed a few things here, but yes, there were three
engines involved), they still finished the race.
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- While Targa is open to virtually any age and variety of vehicle,
the vintage cars are by far the most entertaining to watch. These
valuable classics are no "garage queens." Take the
1953 Austin Healey AHX 12 driven by Michael Salter of
North York. It's the 12th Austin Healey ever built. In fact,
it's a pre-production model. This was the car's fourth time competing
at Targa, and it has finished each time.
-
 Another noteworthy
classic was the absolutely spotless 1964 Jaguar XKE, driven by
Anthony Strelzow and navigated by Lee-Anne Strelzow
of Vancouver. They completed most of the event with the convertible
top down, but although the weather generally co-operated rain-wise,
it gets cold there.
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- I'd love to pay tribute to the whole collection of pristine
classics you would normally expect to see at a Concours event
like Pebble Beach, instead of actual racing, but there were just
too many to list. Everything from a '66 NSU TT (yes, there was
a TT before Audi), to a handful of Mini Coopers, to the '65 Shelby
Mustang GT-350, an earth shaking '66 Corvette coupe … I
could go on, and on and on.
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- One of the more unexpected results came from a '67 Acadian
Canso Sport Coupe, owned and driven by Jud Buchanan, and
co-driven by Jim Adams. The Acadian Canso was the Canadian
version of the popular Chevy Nova, and is a somewhat rare bird
these days. Jud's car has a few updated bits, such as a simple
but powerful 355 cubic inch V8 under the hood (With electronic
ignition and a Holley throttle body injection system for reliability),
and modernized suspension and brakes.
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- Apparently the Canso never had Nascar style rear suspension,
aluminum front AArms or four-wheel disc brakes. Jud has competed
in every Targa event to date, and finished second overall this
year. Did I mention he street drives this car all summer?
-
 On the absolute
other end of the classic car spectrum was the 1969 BMW 2002,
lovingly named "Woodstock" and driven by Roy Hopkins
with the help of Adrienne Hughes' navigational skills.
Forget the Pebble Beach Concours D'elegance and think more, well
... Andy Warhol. There's about a two-inch gap where the
door closes, the front valance appears to be rusting off, I'm
pretty sure the fenders were made mostly out of body filler …
oh yeah, and back to that Andy Warhol comment; Woodstock was
painted with a sponge.
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- They won the event. Overall. For the second year in a row.
The crowd at Targa is like a big, happy family, and the province
of Newfoundland is like no place I've ever been. The scenery
is second to none, no matter which part of the massive island
you're in. The residents have to be some of the most outgoing
and friendly people in the world. There aren't many places that
I can think of where the folks are more than happy to close down
their hometown streets in residential areas to have almost 100
cars go racing through, and then serve a delicious and beautifully
prepared lunch to everyone associated with the event at a local
hall.
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- To date, out of all the motorsport events I have serviced
at, Targa has been the most testing, the most stressful and definitely
the most tiring. It was also, by far, the most enjoyable, unforgettable
and entertaining race I have ever been to, not to mention the
best organized. Next September can't come soon enough.
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- Now … do you think I could build a classic Beetle to
compete? We may be on to something here.
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- Photo 1: A ground-shaking Stingray
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- Photo 2: A 1964 Jaguar XKE
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- Photo 3: Unique 1969 BMW 2002 called Woodstock
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- Aaron is a certified mechanic who spends a lot of time
in, under and around almost anything with wheels, especially
if it is of vintage persuasion. You'll find him at many of the
popular rally races in Canada and the USA - or in a garage somewhere.
He can be reached at bandicoot.rally@gmail.com
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