Tarheel 500

[Gary]

TARHEEL 500 - a low-buck rally in the same vein as the California Melee and the Snowball Rally. It'll be October 3rd-4th, and it will run 500 miles or so from the SE coast of North Carolina to the top of Mount Mitchell, NC; the highest point on the east coast. All sports and touring cars 1976 and back are welcome. More info is at www.tarheel500.com or send an email to; christen2002"at"gmail.com

Carolina Opel Club take note!

[Ooooner]

Gary, thanks for posting this! I will look into getting some Opels together for this. This thing goes right through my neck of the woods! Any others interested in joining in?

[PROPEL]

Thanks for posting, Gary... it sounds great.

I do miss driving these events in California. And I had once thought about trying to recreate a similar event on the east coast. But the roads are more heavily patrolled and the population density too high here in the northeast. (There are desolated backroads in California that you can drive on for hours—a real test of your mechanical and teamwork skills in case you happen to break down in the middle of nowhere.)

But this event appears well organized and looks like fun!

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by PROPEL Thanks for posting, Gary... it sounds great. I do miss driving these events in California. And I had once thought about trying to recreate a similar event on the east coast. But the roads are more heavily patrolled and the population density too high here in the northeast. (There are desolated backroads in California that you can drive on for hours—a real test of your mechanical and teamwork skills in case you happen to break down in the middle of nowhere.) But this event appears well organized and looks like fun!

Plenty of places in Vermont, New Hampshire, upstate New York, and Maine to do this. In fact, they do run a few events for high dollar cars (with a high dollar entry fee!) already. V I N T A G E R A L L I E S

Walter, if you want to make it happen, I'll connect you up with a guy who's already very experienced with making motorsports events happen in New England (Mt Washington hillclimb for example).

Bob

[Gary]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Walter, if you want to make it happen, I'll connect you up with a guy who's already very experienced with making motorsports events happen in New England (Mt Washington hillclimb for example). Bob

Go Walter, Go Walter...

[West Coast GT]

Originally Posted by PROPEL ... (There are desolated backroads in California that you can drive on for hours ...

There's still some out there, but it's getting pretty rare to find a nice back road anymore without getting stuck behind a pickup truck with an over-sized camper shell wallowing through the turns, or having an SUV tailgate us because the driver feels too confident in his/her driving (not understanding it's not their skill that keeps it on the road, but rather, the extraordinary talents of engineers and electronic stability control systems).

And finally, if the road is free of the two previous conditions, we have to wait for the emergency crews to clear the road of single-car accident SUV debris.

After visiting Kentucky several years ago and driving some of their back roads, I'm ready to sell the house and move there. The driving was exciting.

However, that said, I still have to remark on the very nice drive OpelWasp arranged again this year through the Gold Rush country. It was remarkably empty of traffic and the weather was perfect.

And I am driving the coast route north to the Tacoma Gathering again this year. And it's beautiful. Damn, we do have good driving here, don't we?

[PROPEL]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Plenty of places in Vermont, New Hampshire, upstate New York, and Maine to do this. In fact, they do run a few events for high dollar cars (with a high dollar entry fee!) already. V I N T A G E R A L L I E S Walter, if you want to make it happen, I'll connect you up with a guy who's already very experienced with making motorsports events happen in New England (Mt Washington hillclimb for example). Bob

I have heard that the high entries fees associated with these New England events include generous contributions to the local constabulary associations!

But I really like the low-buck idea using 'less-than-polished' machinery. And actually, I did scope out some promising routes in New Hampshire a couple years back. Hmm...

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by PROPEL But I really like the low-buck idea using 'less-than-polished' machinery. And actually, I did scope out some promising routes in New Hampshire a couple years back. Hmm...

I'll bet you could get Hemmings to co-sponsor such an event, maybe start out in their parking lot in Bennington?

[PROPEL]

Anybody else here participating in the Tarheel 500 this weekend?

Supposedly, there will be a chase/repair vehicle provided on the rally with tools and fuel. But I'm still planning to bring Opel-specific tools and a few carefully chosen spare parts. Space is tight in this car due to its rollbar and the need to accommodate personal travel items for both driver and co-driver.

[socorob]

Did you go on the tarheel 500? If so how was it and any pictures?

[PROPEL]

Originally Posted by socorob Did you go on the tarheel 500? If so how was it and any pictures?

Unfortunately, the Tarheel 500 was cancelled the day before due to lack of participation. But this event will be marketed again in 2010, according to its organizer.

So I'm going to have to either create my own northeast event, or maybe join up with another organizer who is already working on a Maine event for next year.

[socorob]

Im hoping they do it a hopefully by this time next year our car will be long road trip worth. If only they had something in the midsouth or southeast...