Caledonian Classic and Historic Motorsport Club

Argyll Classic Run to visit Rest and be Thankful
Report by Jim Paterson

The 2013 Argyll Classic Run will visit the recently refurbished Rest and be Thankful hillclimb road in Glen Croe as part of the Run on Sunday 7th April. As a 'recce' Douglas Anderson and Jim Paterson visited the resurfaced and greatly improved road on Saturday March 9th, driving the hillclimb in Douglas's Triumph Vitesse.

We arrived at the 'Rest' on a bitterly cold day that had seen a few snow flurries on the tops of the surrounding mountains. The warm welcome from Stephen Kinghorn, and a update on the changes carried out on the road soon had us excited and eager to drive the new route.

The upgrade is part of Transport Scotlands alternative route should the main A83 suffer a landslip that closes the main road. Traffic will then be sent in convoy along the old military road through Glen Croe. When the A83 is open the military road is used by Diane Davidson-Kinghorn and Stephen as part of their working farm. Both however are keen classic car enthusiasts, as is Diane's father Andrew Davidson, and are keen that the tradition built up over the years of classics 'driving the Rest' continue over the new upgraded road.

The first thing that you notice is just how smooth the surface is. Those of you who have drivern the Rest in the past will remember the potholed approach from the bottom gate, across the Forestry Commission land. A real axle breaker if you got it wrong. That thankfully is a thing of the past now. The road is also back to its former width. Over the years mother nature had been recovering her land and the sides were well under soil and weeds. All that has been scraped back to reveal the original width of the road going back to the 1920's. Extra width has been added at certain pinch points by cutting away the banking to allow modern heavier traffic to pass easily.

However, Diane and Stephen were adamant that the character of the road should not be dramatically changed and have kept the original stone bridges, which date back to the mid 1740's when Major William Caulfield, General Wade’s Inspector of roads and successor as mastermind of the Highland roads network, was ordered to survey and build a road from Dumbarton to Inverary. Strengthening of the bridges has been carried out but when finished you will not see anything different. Stephen reported that siesmic ground radar on the whole route confirmed that the base foundations of the road were still intact and suitable to carry modern traffic. They certainly knew how to build roads back then!

We drove over the stone bridge and then up toward the hairpin, at the top of the climb. Remember how rough that was? The broken surface often led to understeer for a few drivers, and a shower of stones for the spectators. A great turn now, with plenty of grip, more akin to the RSAC days of hill climbs in the fifties and sixties.

"Like an alpine climb" reported Douglas as he got out the Vitesse with a broad smile across his face. It certainly tempered the dissappointment of not getting to Monte Carlo in January due to mechanical failures.

A big thankyou to Diane and Stephen, not forgetting Andrew who could not be with us for the drive, but whose enthusiasm over the years has seen hundreds of classic's relive the motorsport history of 'The Rest and be Thankful'

So download the Regs for the Argyll Run and join those who will be in the first Classic Cars to 'drive the rest' in all its splendour. Regs Entry form