The Great American Mountain Rally Revival

STAY TUNED FOR INFO ON GAMRR 2022 IN EARLY 2022 - CHECK BACK AT MOTORSPORT REG.

Check in at:

GamrrRally@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the mailing list

https://www.facebook.com/historicrallyrevival/

https://greatamericanmountainrally.car.blog/

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History of the Original Great American Mountain Rallye 1953-1957

The flag dropped on the very first GAMR on Thanksgiving Day of 1953 and the rally continued every November through 1957. Described in the April 1956 issue of Auto Age as “America’s longest, toughest, and coldest rallye,” the races attracted driving teams from across America, Europe and Scandinavia. Conducted the weekend of American Thanksgiving, the rally typically featured challenging snowy weather through New York’s Adirondack, New Hampshire’s White, and Vermont’s Green Mountains. Tire chains were an absolute must!

In its day, the Great American Mountain Rallye attracted top teams from around the world.  The Rootes team entered Sheila van Damm in 1953 and 1954.  The late great Stirling Moss also competed in this rally in 1954.  The great Maurice Gastonides, the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally winner, was a competitor as well.  One year, multi-time world driving champion, Juan Manuel Fangio was the official starter.

This year will be the third running of the “Revival”.  Our first two years were huge successes; and we plan on this year being as good; or better than last!

GAMRR 2021

GAMRR is a Hybrid rally incorporating a “Tour” and a Regularity Rally traversing approximately 400 miles.  There will be a course to follow through northern Vermont utilizing a Tulip style of instructions and a short map reading section. This rally is well suited for inexperienced as well as veteran rallyists. 

The Great American Mountain Rally Revival will be run out of our host lodge The Trapp Family Inn in Stowe, Vermont. https://www.trappfamily.com/

The rally is hosted by New England Vintage Road Rally LLC.

The rally is similar to the Monte Carlo Historique (300 + cars driving around southern France over 5 days.  Many 'cool' cars with drivers who want to enjoy the idea that they are in a competition; even though they may not be overly concerned with winning.  Many have service crews and meet up with friends or other competitors along the way. There are controls 2 or 3 times a day to keep the cars from getting too spread out (It is a rally after all).  They get together at night to trade stories.) 

A true TSD (Time Speed Distance Rally) utilizes checkpoints (controls) throughout the entire route and thus requires you to ‘stay on time, all the time’  It is not our intention to create a rigid “structure” like a TSD; we feel you should be able to adjust your speed faster or slower as you want, provided you are not in a Regularity section.  You can even make a couple of short stops along the way - but there is a general time schedule throughout the day that you need to follow.  It's a relaxed 'rally' that will allow you to interact with other entrants during the day’s competition and afterwards to share stories at the bar.

There are a number of sections throughout each day where you have to roll up your sleeves and try to stay exactly on time.  These are the Regularity sections.  In these sections we will be employing a modern system of GPS timing, eliminating the need for numerous Control Workers.  The timing system also enables us to have as few or as many controls as we see fit.  The scoring will be performed via an automated system, which will allow a timelier reporting of daily scores.

We do, however, want to maintain the flavor of the original rally and thus we will be limiting the technology that can be used by contestants.  In theory if the technology did not exist in the 1950’s or early 1960’s it is not allowed (with a few exceptions) for GAMRR 2021. 

Routes:

Monday a short run throughout the Stowe area will allow entrants to familiarize themselves with the timing system before the first full day of rallying on Tuesday.

Tuesday's rally follows the 1955 route over Smuggler’s Notch to the Canadian border and then heads south through the chain of islands and along the shore of Lake Champlain before its return to Stowe. 

Wednesday's event swings to the south - again following a route from the 50’s – this time from 1956.   You’ll encounter 4 mountain passes during its counterclockwise loop.

General:  Entry will be limited to 25 cars. General Instructions will be in the competitor’s package available approximately mid July to download.

Registration Dates:   Registration May 1- August 15, 2021. (See below for registration fees and rooming dates)   

Itinerary:  

Day 1 – Final Registration - Monday’s afternoon ‘Prologue’ rally is a short run north of Stowe to get everyone familiar with the route instructions and the timing; it will be preceded by a short ‘school’.  

Day 2 - Starts with a hearty breakfast at the Lodge. Tuesday’s rally follows the 1955 route over Smuggler’s Notch to the Canadian border and then heads south through the chain of islands and along the shores of Lake Champlain before its return to Stowe.

Day 3 - Also starts with a hearty breakfast at the Lodge. Wednesday’s event swings to the south - again following a route from the 50’s – this time from 1956. You’ll encounter 4 mountain passes during its clockwise loop.

Classes:  

• Original: Cars that could have competed in the 1950’s GAMRs (model year 1957 or older)
• Classic: Cars of model years 1958-1978
• Modern: Cars of model years 1979-1999
• Touring: Cars of model years 2000 or newer (class only award, not eligible for GAMRR overall Trophy).

Rally Equipment:

Electronic, digital clocks and stopwatches ARE allowed.

Extra trip odometer(s) ARE allowed, including GPS odometers. 

• The odometers may also be capable of showing your speed (similar to a speedometer) but not your ‘average speed’ (the speed you have been averaging since some previous point).  (Ex: Terratrip 202; Brantz 2 Pro, 3 Pro).  Note:  the Terratrip 303 or the Brantz 2S Pro may be used, but NOT the Average Speed Readout and/or the Driver’s Display, which shows how many seconds you are behind or ahead of a set average speed. 
• The device may allow the user to calibrate the trip meter to match the organizers distance.  

Devices that allow the user to input a speed from which it can automatically calculate a theoretical ‘perfect’ time as you drive (Ex: Timewise, Alfa Rally Computers) are NOT allowed.

Halda Speedpilots ARE allowed.

Curta, Rally tables, Slide rules, 4 Function Calculators ARE allowed.

Phones, APPs, Computers, Tablets or other similar ‘modern’ devices are NOT allowed.  

No GPS map display may be used – neither in car nor on phone or similar device.

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/historicrallyrevival/

https://greatamericanmountainrally.car.blog/

Itinerary is subject to change as the rally is finalized.

As we enter the third year of this revival rally, we are incorporating “lessons learned” during the first two years.

We are dedicated to keeping this event in the spirit of the original events of the 50’s with just a touch of modern-day conveniences.

We are certain you will enjoy it!

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Update June 22, 2021

Early registration fee and cancellation dates have beed extended.  See revised Registration and Cancellation info below.

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Update May 4, 2021

Routes and Rally Roads - From the Clerk of the Course

We have had some recent inquires about the roads we are using during the event.

We would like to clarify that we have carefully laid out the event such that the “flavor” of the event reflects what the contestants would have encountered during the original running of the event in the 50’s.

Many of the roads in New England, and Vermont in particular were not paved during this era. Some of them are still not paved! We have utilized many of the roads that were run during the 1955 & 1956 events.

When people hear about dirt, or gravel roads the hair on the back of their neck immediately goes up.  And for a good reason; it sounds pretty ominous to some. The truth is that Vermont and part of New Hampshire do not pave many of their secondary and tertiary roads because of the havoc the cold long winters wreck on paved roadways. A number of the roads we will traverse are closed for the winter and open as late as early May.

After the spring thaw and rains the towns take to the roadways and make any necessary repairs filling in potholes and repairing culverts. Then they run a grader over the surface and tamp and roll it so that it is sometimes indistinguishable from pavement. I have often commented that Vermont Gravel roads are better than the paved roads in Massachusetts!

Over the summer vehicles continue to pack down the surface and intermediary grading may take place if necessary.

Over the last two years approximately 20-25% of the roads were gravel and we expect a similar percent this year.  No one running our event had any issues with getting stuck, or causing damage to their car.  The cars running included a Porsche 356, Porsche 912, a late 90’s Corvette a two Hudsons which are very low to the ground.

It is possible that we may have rain before and during the event and your car may get some deposit of the road dust stuck to it, or it may be extremely dry and it could be dusty.

It is not our intention to purposely put you in a position to damage your car and carefully set speeds appropriate for the road condition.

We hope this gives you a better understanding of what you may encounter during our event.

Respectfully

John Buffum, Clerk of the Course

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May 3, 2021 update:

Equipment waivers - From the Rally Chairman

Hello to all.  We're excited about presenting a third GAMRR. We feel it's a revival of a great old International Event.  We've tried to keep the equipment and cars respectful of those 'old times' so as to maintain as much flavor as what existed in the 50’s. 

We do understand that there may be competitors whose factory equipment (specifically odometers and speedometers) put them at a significant disadvantage when compared to the majority of the field.

If you fall into the category above, please contact us and if we feel that a specific technology provides no competitive advantage, we will make a determination of it’s suitability for the event.

Please note that all determinations made by the event organizers are final.

Respectfully

Gary J. Hamilton, Rally Chairman

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May 3, 2021 update:

Odometer and Speedometer Information - From the Clerk of the Course

I think the one most important item for following the course is a correctable, hundredth reading odometer.  We listed a few in the Entry Form, but there are some other ones from Timewise and Alfa.  The above is because most turns have a mileage associated with them and thus following the course with a hundredth reading odometer makes your job much easier.  

It also seems to me that having a Speedometer readout incorporated would be worthwhile, as many older cars don't have accurate speedos.

Further having a GPS based odo signal, although slightly inaccurate sometimes, makes the installation much easier - no wheel sensors to attach to the car.

Also I wanted to say that the list of calculating equipment is by no means inclusive (a Turbo-Kurta comes to mind); I'm sure there are other instruments where you can manually put mileage and speed together. If you are unsure whether a piece of equipment you propose utilizing is in compliance with the regulations, please reach out to us for confirmation.

Respectfully:

John Buffum, Clerk of the Course

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April 30th update:

Limited trailer parking is available at the Inn 

If you plan on towing your rally car to the event contact me and I will arrange for a spot to leave your trailer.

Please do not show up without contacting me first.

Thanks!

April 27th Update:

Registration will be opening Saturday May1.