Three fantastic days of rallying in beautiful Stowe, Vermont, based on the host inn, The Trapp Family Lodge. John Buffum, multi-time USA Rally Champion and past European event Rally champion has agreed to be the Clerk of the Course for GAMRR. John’s vast experience in Stage and Regularity rallies will cement GAMRR as one of the premier Regularity rallies in North America. This is the third year of this revival rally, after the break from Covid last year. Lessons learned from the first two years will be incorporated whilst at the same time being dedicated to keeping to the spirit of the original events of the 1950s.

GAMRR is a Hybrid rally incorporating a Tour with a Regularity Rally. There will be a course to follow through northern Vermont utilizing a Tulip style of instructions and a short map reading section. Monday‘s Prologue rally is a short run north of Stowe to get everyone familiar with the route instructions and the timing. This will be preceded by a short “Rally Awareness”. Tuesday‘s rally follows the 1955 route over Smugglers Notch to the Canadian border; it then heads south through the chain of islands and along the shores of Lake Champlain before its return to Stowe. Wednesday‘s event swings to the south – again following a route from the 50s this time from 1956. Competitors will encounter four mountain passes during this clockwise loop.

GAMRR is similar to the Monte Carlo Historique, which has 300 + cars driving around southern France over 5 days. In that event there are some ‘cool’ cars with drivers who want to enjoy the idea that they are in a competition though not overly concerned about winning. Many have service crews and enjoy meeting up with friends or other competitors along the way. This is where GAMRR is different, it is assumed that no one will be bringing their own crew to this event. A true TSD (Time, Speed & Distance) Rally utilizes checkpoint controls throughout the entire route and thus requires you to stay on time, all the time. GAMRR does not apply that rigid structure, the organisers believe that competitors should be able to adjust their speed commensurate with the conditions pertaining. This relaxation applies to none Regularity timed sections. However, there is a general time schedule throughout the day that competitors need to follow, it is a rally after all! In the Timed Regularity sections, a modern GPS timing system will be utilised, this eliminates the need for control stewards. . The scoring will also be performed via an automated system, which will ensure a speedier reporting of daily scores. The organisers want to maintain the flavor of the original rally and in pursuit of this, they will be limiting the technology that can be used by competitors.

The above is a brief summary of what this exciting Rally, with its historic roots, is all about. For further information please check the FaceBook Page – https://www.facebook.com/historicrallyrevival/

Just to give you an idea of how seriously the “good and the great” of the 1950s/60s Rally World took the original GAMR here are some photos from those times –

Sheila Van Damm with her Sunbeam Talbot Alpine before leaving London for the GAMR, 1954.                  Photo courtesy GAMRR.

The Entrant’s Plate shown below was sold at Auction, in the U.K., in early 2021. If you know who bought it please get in touch.

Stirling Moss’s Entrants Plate from the 1954 GAMR. Photo courtesy of GAMRR.

1954 GAMR Entry List. Courtesy of the Henry Ford Museum and GAMRR.

Austin Healey 100 on an early GAMR event. Photo courtesy of the New England Vintage Road Rally LLC.

Note: –

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