Celebrations, cars, and classic adventures

December has been a very busy month for motoring enthusiasts and for The Classic & Sportscar Club in particular.

Before I move on to that, I’d like to say how delighted I and many others were with Lando Norris capturing the ultimate prize in F1 and winning the 2025 World Championship.  This personable young man from Glastonbury (a near neighbour of Frome’s Jenson Button) has worked hard for this and richly deserves the spoils of victory, both in the present and those to come in the near future. And hats off to McLaren under Zak Brown for taking the constructors title for the second year running. No mean feat that!

Radical new rules and regulations come to F1 next year which everyone hopes will bring great racing with different teams showing competitive form. I can’t wait for the season to start in Australia at the beginning of March! Watch this space….

December and January events!

Two very busy months!  In December The Classic & Sportscar Club had a Christmas lunch at La Sierra Restaurante, then on consecutive weekends it organised two special Christmas themed car runs. The first started from Santana Golf near La Cala de Mijas and took in a route past Coin, Alozaina, Casarabonela, Zalea and Carratraca before turning south in Ardales and heading back to finish with a fabulous lunch at The Geranium restaurante in La Cala. A coffee stop was enjoyed in Zalea at La Herradura where the Club met up with fellow enthusiasts from the Porsche Owners Club of Andalucia ( POCA), also enjoying their Christmas Run. Some 70m people turned out for this super event and, it has to be said, a good time was had by all!

Not content with that, the club the organised another Christmas run the following weekend which started near Estepona, took in the fabulous climb up over the Sierra Bermejas, dropping down into Guenalguacil before heading to a light lunch at the excellent Restaurant Eel Paisaje in Atajate. When that was finished 30 cars set off for a nights stay in Ronda at a 5-star hotel and enjoyed a black-tie dinner and a ‘a Bit of a Party’ to follow. Marvellous fun with music for dining and dancing and a very late bar! Thankfully, everyone stayed the night before a very late start on the Sunday morning to return to the Coast and a decent Sunday lunch!

ANNOUNCING THE FIRST CARS and COFFEE MEET!

There is a small registration fee of €15 but that will get the driver a coffee and a bacon roll supplied by Yanx American Diner.

Anyone wishing to register in advance can contact The Classic & Sportscar Club at csccspain@gmail.com

Chris Rea

As I write this I am just hearing the very sad news of the passing of internationally famous blues and pop musician Chris Rea. What many people don’t know is that Chris’ passion outside of music was motoring in general, Ferraris specifically and F1 in particular. He was a really lovely guy, and his passion for F1 and Ferrari stemmed from seeing the fabulous Type 156 F1 ‘Sharknose’ in 1961 when Wolfgang Von Trips drove the car and Phil Hill won the World Championship in it. Many years later Chris pulled off an amazing coup by recreating, from scratch, two stunning replicas of that famous car.  One was to be used in the making of his big-screen venture ‘ La Passione’ the semi autobiographical story of an 11 year old boy who sees a ‘Sharknose’ for the first time. If you’ve not seen it, it’s well worth digging out for the photography, the car and the music.

That year, Chris arrived at Goodwood with one car and pulled the covers off it in the paddock while talking to his hero, the same Phil Hill. To say Hill was gobsmacked is something of an understatement! The car was so impressive, even Ferrari approved of it! Chris was typically modest, passionate and understated! He was well known, admired and respected by everyone in motorsport and knew just about everyone! His knowledge of the sport and its participants was prodigious and he was always so modest and unassuming, forgetting completely his own ‘superstar’ status!

The Classic and Sportscar Club’s own, ex McLaren team manager, Jo Ramirez was a friend and neighbour of Chris when both were living in Berkshire some years ago.

When Jo’s wife sadly died, Chris was on the phone to Jo offering condolences and saying that he felt Jo’s pain and that he should go around to share a glass at some time. What a lovely man he was. What a terrible loss at only 74. He will be missed by both the worlds of music and motoring. To his friends and family, we send sincere condolences.

Retro Malaga

We’re approaching that time of year again! The winter shows are coming and one of the first of the season is ‘Retro Malaga’ which will happen in it’s usual home venue, the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos’ in Malaga from January 23 to January 25. It’s part classic car show and part Autojumble but its always well attended and well supported. In fact, the special ‘Classic Car Park’ outside the show for pre 1973 cars is terrific and well worth going for that alone! Many of the internal stands are selling old Seat parts, motorcycle parts, models and car stickers but it’s still a good show to visit and a good meeting point for car enthusiasts.

The Club has a busy programme for January too. Starting with lunch at La Sierra restaurante in Cerros del Aguila on Tuesday, January 6 which is followed by a car Run and lunch on Saturday, January 10.  On January 11, a Sunday, is the first of the Cars and Coffee meets any Centro Plaza in Puerto Banus from 10.00 to 13.00 at YANX American Diner. A registration fee of €15 gets the parking, a coffee and a bacon sarni!

On January 24 the Club has its famous Burns Night Supper at the Geranium in La Cala de Mijas and on January 26 the Club runs its revised 5-day Tour de la Luz.  This fabulous and inexpensive event is open to non-members and more information can be found on the website www.csccspain.com.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

 Starting on Monday January 26, the Club will run it’s terrific 5-day Tour de la Luz.

The event is open to non-members and will take in two nights in Jerez, a night at the stunning Palacio de Medinacelli in Puerta de Santa Maria and will finish in Tarifa on the Thursday night. There will be a gala dinner in Jerez, and a finish dinner and party on the Thursday night. The entry fee is only €550 pp assuming two sharing and includes hotels, breakfasts, parking, two full special dinners with wines, and drinks etc as well as full easy-to-use professional Roadbooks for simple navigation.

Entries can be made through the Club website, www.csccspain.com or through the organisers website www.iberianmotoringevents.com where registrations, entries and payment by credit card can be made.

That’s it for now, more next week. Happy motoring!