For classic car enthusiasts, exciting events are few and far between. The yearly conventions provide adequite entertainment, though for the most part, the conventions showcase many of the same antique vehicles and after awhile, more is needed to fulfill a true car fan’s insatiable hunger for the past. 
The more wealthy car collectors spend hundreds upon thousands of dollars traveling the world in search of the rarest and most elegent cars of yesteryear. For the middle class enthusiast, however, this is more of an unachievable dream. Money issues, family and work come into play as reasons why their dreams of seeing these almost fantasy-like creations will most likely never come to fruitation. For the first time in 60 years, though, a select few of these dream cars are crossing the sea and visiting the United States for one month only.
This month, five vintage Austin Sevens from Britain – all members of the 750 Motor Club, founded in 1939 mainly for such cars – plan to pass through New Mexico as they travel Old Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. They will commence their epic journey tentatively on September 3, 2006, and plan to stop in Tucumcari on the night of September 10th, in Santa Fe on September 11-12th, Grants on the 13th and reach Santa Monica, California, by the 23rd, if all goes well. The driver of the support vehicle and her daughter, who is co-driving one of the Austins, are making the journey in memory of their late husband and father, who had hoped to travel Route 66.
“All the cars and crews have traveled extensively in Europe in their Sevens and four of them completed a 3,500-mile journey from Buenos Aires, across the Andes to Santiago, Chile, and back in February 2005,” said Ken Cooke, an organizer of the event along with Vince Leek. “The cars date from 1929 to 1938 and are the type of car on which the ‘American Austin’ and ‘Bantam’ cars were based.”
Cooke said Jack Rittenhouse did the same Route 66 trip in a Bantam in 1946 and wrote about it in his book, “A Guide Book to Highway 66”, which is another inspiration for the return trip 60 years later. The cars arrived in New York by sea and the crews by air on August 23. 
Five days later they left for Chicago for the start of what “we anticipate will be a fascinating journey,” Cooke said. The cars and their drivers will return to the United Kingdom at the end of September. The participants include Richard and Marlies Bishop from Exeter, Devon in a 1938 sports; Ken and Eileen Cooke from Hertfordshire in a 1930 four-seat tourer (roadster); Vince Leek from Warminster and Diana Garside from North Carolina in a 1929 tourer; George and Joy Mooney from Bournemouth in a 1934 Cambridge special; Stan Price from Carlisle in a 1932 ‘box’ saloon (sedan); and Veronica Garside from Swindon Wilts and Wendy Hider from Epsom in the support car.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the kids of today to experience a piece of history and learn about the origins of the automobile. For the older enthusiasts, this is a very rare oppurtunity to experience the genuine beauty of these rare cars right in the comfort of your own backyard. Don’t miss it!
www.750mc.co.uk/
For more information, contact Ken Cooke at [email protected]
