Colin’s Cars at Knockhill – May 16th / 17th
One of the star attractions at next month’s ‘McRae Rally Challenge’ supported by Beatsons’ Building Supplies and EventScotland will be the display of ‘Colin’s Cars’ – not just competition cars driven by Colin McRae himself, but many other cars associated with the 1995 World Rally Champion.
Amongst the featured cars will be examples of the Subaru Legacy and Impreza which brought him so much success on the national and world stage, plus the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Focus which highlighted his fearsome talent and endeared him to fans right across the globe.
Of particular interest will be his fully restored BL Mini, his first competition car which he drove as a 16 year old in autotests. That came after a successful career on two wheels, when Colin switched from junior motor cycle trials to four wheels, campaigning his autotest Mini at events throughout Scotland and Ireland. A year later and the precocious youngster entered his first rally just days after his 17th birthday. His first ‘proper’ car was a 1600cc Talbot Sunbeam and this has now been fully restored and added to the collection.
Another recent addition to the collection is Colin’s original Vauxhall Nova which brought him to world attention when he contested his first WRC event in Sweden in 1987. Never having been to Sweden, he finished 36th overall, but it was his flat-out, fearless driving style that so endeared him to the rally-mad Scandinavians. That was the start of the world-wide adulation which burgeoned in the wake of the young Flying Scotsman.
Also on display will be a number of cars from the McRae era which will prompt fond memories to visiting rally fans. Now owned by an Aberdeen businessman, there is McRae’s 2001 Network Q RAC Rally Ford Focus WRC fully restored and pristine again after McRae’s much publicised and spectacular exit from the rally alongside the Rally Australia Ford Focus WRC from 2001. His China Rally winning Subaru Impreza S3 WRC from 1997 and his 1997 Network Q RAC Rally winning Impreza cars will also feature and more are promised.
There will also be two more rather special cars which Colin owned, his beloved Ford Escort Mk2 on which he latterly lavished so much care and attention and the promising McRae R4 rally car which was designed for competition on the world stage. Sadly the concept of an entry-level formula in to the World Championship was never to be fulfilled, but the original and unique R4 car remains as testament to Colin’s vision and engineering ability.
An unusual entry in the line-up is the Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello which Colin shared with racing drivers Darren Turner and Rickard Rydell at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2004, finishing third in the GTS class.
And that’s just for starters, the list of ‘Colin’s Cars’ is growing daily as more fans offer up their own prized examples of sporting mechanical memories.
Artist in Residence
Throughout motor sporting history, numerous artists have attempted to capture the speed and the passion of motor sport. We all love a good photograph, but there is something special about the appeal of a personally painted and visualised image.
Featuring amongst the top British motorsport artists is Fran Richley from Wales. Not only will he be exhibiting and selling his limited edition fine art motorsport prints at Knockhill, he will be demonstrating his art during the McRae Rally Challenge. Many of his prints are individually autographed by drivers and/or co-drivers as well as the artist.
Visitors will have the opportunity to watch Fran at work and witness the unveiling of his latest commission which features Jimmy McRae in the revered Ford Sierra Cosworth.
Fran said: “Jimmy is extremely popular and I have a lot of people patiently waiting for this print already. I can’t think of a better place to finally unveil it to the public”.
Over the weekend, two of Fran’s McRae related prints will be auctioned to raise money for the Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland.
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