Dream Rides at Thirlestane Castle

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The Polar Bears were delighted to have been invited to return to the Motoring Extravaganza held in the grounds of Thirlstane Castle, Lauder and organised by the Borders Vintage Automobile Club (BVAC).  Happy with the way our first Dream Rides had gone in 2006, they asked if it would be possible to also include some ‘more exotic’ cars in our line up this year.

 With 4 months to organise the event, I started by asking Club members to participate.  This resulted in an E-type, a Ferrari 308 GTSI, a Ford GT40, a Lotus Exige, an Aston Martin Db7 Volante, a Ferrari Dino replica, a Porsche Boxster, a Porsche Syder replica, a Morgan 4/4, a Pontiac Bonneville and Cobra replicas on the list - an excellent start.  I then contacted non-Bears who had provided Rides in 2006 and was delighted when the owner of the Le Mans Bentley enthusiastically agreed, as did another driver who now owned a BMW M3.

 It was in March that Nigel Atkins was taking up the challenge of using the Sporting Bears’ website to raise interest in the Club’s Dream Rides activities.  This was excellent timing.  We agreed that an on-line form should be linked to the diary listing of the event, which contained my appeal for cars.  No sooner was this set up than I landed a Lancia Delta Integrale - ideal for the Borders folk who are rally daft.  A TVR S3C was then offered.  Nigel also set up a topic on Pistonheads and this raised a lot of interest from folk who thought Dream Rides was a brilliant concept.  Not all lived close enough or were available but wanted to help should there be other events - there seems to be a lot of exotica around the Aberdeen area.  In the last couple of weeks I picked up a Porsche 911 GT3 Clubsport and a Porsche 997 GT3.

 Word of mouth can be equally effective in getting results.  A member with contacts in the motor business happened to mention our fund-raising activity and was immediately offered a Ferrari F430 Syper and a F430 Coupe, which a friend owned.  A customer offered his Lamborghini Countach - later switched to his Lotus Esprit twin-turbo - and this was followed up by his friend e-mailing to ask if he might come along with his Honda S2000.

 I couldn’t resist a bit of fun with arranging to have cars at the opposite ends of the size spectrum.  What would look more amusing than a micro car or two parked next to the 18’ 6’’ long Pontiac?  Fortunately I know the young man who is the leading light in the Scottish Microcar Club and he offered his Scootacar and was also able to get a friend along in his Messrschmitt.  Another club member was thinking along similar lines but with regard to power.  He had a friend with a Ferrari P4 racer replica whom he might just be able to persuade to join us.

With 2 weeks to go I had 25 cars on my list but was conscious of the warning I had been given that at least 25% of them wouldn’t materialise on the day.  First the Lancia was sold.  Then the Bentley owner was in contact saying he had gearbox problems but the car was in Cambridge being attended to.  A week later reported sightings of it powering its way up the M74 raised my spirits.  A week to go and the event passes were sent out.  This prompted the owners of the GT40 and Lotus Exige to realise that there was confusion over the dates and unfortunately they wouldn’t be coming.  I contact the owner of a Lamborghini whom I met at Knockhill but although he said he was very interested, he doesn’t get back to me with insurance clearance. 

On Saturday morning a group of us go down to Thirlestane and set up as much as possible - garage area, booking desk marquee, assembly point/refreshmen marquee - and hope that the weather holds.  A quick check of the e-mails at 6 o’clock on Sunday morning and I begin to believe the Gods are on our side.  The P4 has arrived having driven up from Lincolnshire at 4 miles to the gallon!

It is dry and calm.  The first of the Dream Ride cars follows us up the drive and others soon follow.  After greeting the drivers and giving them their ‘starter pack’ I handed  them over to the capable hands of the garage and booking teams and breath a sigh of relief.

I can begin to relax and just talk to people while the other club members work their magic.  Fortunately the rain holds off - just a few miles to the west torrential rain was reported.

By the  end of the day, over 80 rides have been given.  For a donation ranging from £5 - £50 the passengers got a 12 mile ride.  We raised just over £2,370 to which will be added the £230 we raised with our ‘Cool Wall’ of Dream Rides cars when at Knockhill.  The Ferrari F430s and the micro cars were the busiest.  A camera crew from Scottish television filmed all aspects of the Extravaganza throughout the day, including our Dream Rides.

A few statistics - this Dream Rides event involved 27 Polar Bears and we had 21 cars with 22 drivers.  Of the drivers, only 3 had done Dream Rides before.  Four new members were recruited as a direct result of their involvement.  It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves and the successful fundraising was a bonus.  Many thanks indeed to everyone who contributed to what must be the highlight of the Polar calendar.

Fiona Davies