Classic crews line up in front of Paisley Abbey.
Jim Wilson Standard 10 piped off to Monte Carlo
Timekeeper Maurice Millar with Car 0 Standard 10 waiting for the start time.
Rosemary Smith waits her turn in the Imp
Rosemary Smith, Paddy Hopkirk and Provost Anne Hall
Paisley crowd gathers.
Nico Alonzi follows Rosemary in his Lancia Stratos replica.
Xerxes Matten in Datsun heads off to the alps
Gordon Glen Volvo
John Brown & Bob Thomson in Riley 1.5 going to Dumfries
James and Peter Meggat prepare for start in their Chrysler Sunbeam
Alex Knox in Singer Chamoix heads to Loch Lomond
Tom Bicket Anglia on way to Dumfries
Steve Lee Triumph TR4 picks up speed
Scott Fanning and Hugh Liddle would go on to secure Best Car award in this ready for action example of the Hillman Imp. 
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Paisley cheers Monte Carlo starters - 23 January
Story - Jim Paterson. Photos - Jim Paterson, Peter Baker
Paddy Hopkirk flags off another starter on the Monte Carlo Start in Paisley
Around
10000 people from Paisley and Glasgow turned out on a chilly evening to
watch some 70 classic cars roll over the ramp for the Glasgow Start of
the Monte Carlo Historique, the only UK start point of the famous
rallye event.
 Waving the flag to start each entrant was Rally
legend Paddy Hopkirk,having recovered from the previous evening pre
Gala Dinner in the Blythswood Hotel. This years Monte Carlo
Historique celebrates the 50th anniversary of Paddy's win in 1964 when
he drove a Mini Cooper S with Henry Liddon at his side.
First
away was Jim Wilson in his Standard 10 course car, which had been
on display ,and attracting a lot of interest in the Blythswood Hotel
foyer. He took off at 1745, 15 minutes ahead of the pack, on the 1670
mile journey to the south of France.
 Heading
on to the ramps after he
left was another rallying legend, Rosemary Smith.She felt completely at
home behind the wheel of a Hillman Imp, also celebrating its 50th
anniversary, being built just down the road at Linwood. Glasgow
Start coordinator and CCHMSC member Douglas Anderson was
doing the
navigating for Rosemary who drove this little car on many rallys in
the sixties and seventies, securing a fair number of wins as well.
 The
crowds then cheered the first batch of cars heading off on the 'Full
Monty' with car number 9 Xerxes Matten and Janes Aquilina crewing a
Datsun 240Z. Local men Gordon and David Glen from Alexandria were next
away in their Volvo 122S, quickly followed by another local man,
Malcolm Oswald in a Riley 1.5 with Victor Juhasz reading the notes. The
UK crew of Tom Fitzsimmons and Stewart Hutton chose another earlier
version of the Swedish Volvo, a PV544 (see above), before the French crew Jean-Marc
Humbert and Staphanie-Pey Ravier chased them down the road in their
BMW1802. Andre Grangeon and Jean -Pierre Grangeon in a Porsche
924 turbo led the last Historique car of locals Rick Pearson and Stuart
Pringle in a Lancia Fulvia 1.3S
Alan Duncan and Catherine Laszock in Toyota Celica heading for Monaco
CCHMSC
run a Heritage tour that
allows classic enthusiasts and members to join the celebrations,and
this year put on the Heritage Runs, on a tour from Ecosse to Monaco at
a
more leisurely pace than the main event, over a slightly easier
route, but taking in some of the key 'must see' points to view the
action. Included in the crews was Alan Duncan, who many of our regular
visitors know for his enthusiasm for all things 'classic car' and the
many photographs he takes of many events. He has two 1970's Celicas and
this yellow variant is going all the way to the south of France. We all
hope they get there,trouble free if possible.
The second run followed the Monte route as far as the Dumfries
welcome point at the Auldgirth Inn, using the original route of the
fifties and sixties to Kilmarnock and Dumfries. For those wishing to
experience a taste of the alpine roads,we put on a run to
lochLomond that took in the 'Campsie Alps' .
 Paddy waved each car over the ramp, with
Renfrewshire's Provost Anne Hall, in full regalia, at his side to
wish the starters good luck.
Those heading south soon got a
taste of what they may find in the alps, when snow met them
on the A77 toward Kilmarnock. Fortunatyely it dissappeared on the
A76 toward Dumfries but was a great taster.
Amongst the crews were Imp specialists Clark Dawson and Rob Dixon who have done much work on Rosemary's  works Imp. This time they brought their Imp powered Clan Crusader. Checkout here for more on their work
Heritage runner Andy Thomlison and Darren Mcguiness in an MGB/GT on
the Ecosse to Monaco tour experienced electrical difficulties down
by Dumfries and soon after the Auldgirth stop had to pull over.
Fortunately
Ranald White, a veteran of the 2013 tour to Monaco, was passin in his
V8 powered Ford Popular, and pulled over to help. Being an auto
electrician he soon found a short circuit in the wiring to one of the
rear number plate lamps. One lamp will do as he isolated the fault. The
MGB was also suffering starting problems so a replacement starter motor
is being shipped out to one of the overnights in France. Lets hope its
not snowing as it won't be th ebest of fun lying under the car changing
a starter motor.
 Those
heading north to Loch Lomond were routed
over to Lennoxtown and up the Crow Road over the Campsies. Now the
temperature was dropping like a stone and Ian wishart and Keeny mitchel
must have wodered if leaving the soft top at home was a good idea ! My
modern organiser car was
screaming zero degrees. and the 40 year old cars with no Dynamic
Stability
control, ABS or any other driving aid, apart from driver skill, found
the slipping and sliding, with 'twitching' back ends a real reminder of
what it must be like on the special regularity stages of the Monte
Carlo
event. In the dark only added to the interest. Fortunately only the
classic crews were around at the time, apart from a grit spreader
coming from the other direction.
It was great to hear
the stories at the Coffee Shop in Luss where we ended the tour with a
much needed plate of hot soup and a cup of tea.
 You can follow
the reports of the tour to Monaco as journalist Peter Baker, who is
taking part in the event in his 1976 Porsche 924, with reports on his website
More stories of the event to follow as they head south to the channel and into France.
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Watch
a video of the build up to the start, and Paddy hoppkirk waving off the
starters, including the Hillman Imp driven by Rosemary Smith.
Video courtesy of CCHMSC club member Mark Hoogiemstra.
Full Entry List available HERE
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| Updated 26 January 2014
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