GAMRR 2023 IS IN THE BOOKS!

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This past week 40 contestants gathered in Bolton Valley Vermont to run what was the 70th year since the first running of GAMR in 1953.

We had a group of 20 cars, that ranged from as old as 1930 and as new as 2018. A large number of the cars were from the 50’s through the 70’s, comprising mostly European cars; similar to the original GAMR events.

Six new teams joined us from as far away as Florida, Nova Scotia, and California. You can find the team bios posted in my earlier postings a few weeks ago.

A few thousand miles of recce was run to get the perfect 400 miles of rally routes assembled.

John Buffum; as usual, dug deep into his intimate knowledge of Vermont Roads and pulled out a great mix of paved and gravel sections.

John had just enough sections to keep you thinking, lest you hear that ominous “Off Course Richta “Ringy, Dingy”!

Our accommodations at the https://www.facebook.com/boltonvalley were great. The food was fantastic and the hospitality was incredibly attentive. We were a bit remote to the closest towns of Waterbury & Richmond, but a quick bite could be had a the resort’s Pub, or Flat Bread Pizza shop.

Thanks to Eric Davis and the rest of his crew.

And the weather; best 3 days we have had since we started the Revival back in 2018. Low 50’s in the morning, fog in the valleys and riverbeds that cleared by 9:00-10:00 and reached into the mid 60’s every day. We were a little early on the foliage; but as a number of our runs were in higher elevations the colors were starting to turn. (However, it did keep the leaf peeper traffic down!)

All in all it was a great event with some really cool original cars, including the ’53 Beetle and ’53 Sunbeam Alpine; both models that were run during the original GAMR.

Got to see some old friends and meet some new ones.

A big Shout out to John Buffum; Clerk of the Course, for whom this event would not happen without his help; Joe Salvatto, my good friend who handled everything from registration to setting up the awards Dinner. And my other good friend Scott Sislane and his group at https://www.facebook.com/CalicoGraphics who were instrumental in getting all the GAMRR swag together; just in the nick of time.

Thanks guys.