The Canadian Wilderness Is A Perfect Place For A Classic Car Rally

Photography by Michael Banovsky

If you enjoy being treated like an adult, wide-open roads perfect for sports cars, epic scenery, and nice people, you’ll probably enjoy a Classic Car Adventures event.

It’s the conclusion I arrived at about halfway through the first day of the inaugural Maple Mille, a rally that went from Barrie, Ontario, Canada to North Bay and back, using mostly well-paved back roads, with some highway and a few car lengths’ worth of hard-packed gravel (due to construction) thrown in to keep it interesting.

An early passion of company founders Dave Hord and Warwick Patterson’s is top-level rally competition, so a few lessons learned there were applied here: everyone needed a warning triangle onboard, there was a mandatory tech inspection, the Hagerty Insurance-supplied “sweep” ensured no strays were left behind, and the roads chosen were—especially once out in the middle of nowhere—brilliant fun.

You should know two things. First, I’m not a fan of most traditional car events; concours, auctions, “fast” road rallies, ride-and-drives, scavenger hunts—even most car shows. Why? I’d rather be out and about in my own car, traveling at my own pace (quickly, natch), with the freedom to stop or to not feel too terrible about getting lost.

Second, because my 1973 Porsche 914 2.0-litre is out of commission, I shared driving duties with my friend Nicholas in his 1971 Plymouth Valiant Scamp…yes, the one with the agricultural-but-bombproof slant-6.

In Canada, we have a lot of “nowhere”, and most of it is far prettier than what you’ll see on TV. With twisty, hilly, winding roads to far-off communities built over old logging or trade routes, I often wished I was driving a sportier car—but the Scamp cruised around just fine.

Hord says that the crowd varies depending on where the event is being held (B.C., Washington/Oregon, and Colorado all have CCA events), but my fellow participants were laid-back, fun to talk to, and shared the same mindset: classic cars are made to be driven, so drive.

So why are you looking at a Porsche 914 and not a Scamp? A few months ago, you may recall a story about Classic Car Adventures. Well, Petrolicious reader Victor saw that article here, signed up, and traveled all the way from Ohio to take part—and he loved it.

Even better: Victor’s beautiful 1973 Porsche 914 2.0-litre is a car he’s had since 1979 and one he lists as the favorite among his collection (of some pretty amazing stuff)—a believable claim since the odometer has already rolled around once. Maybe I’ll get to drive it again next year…

For more on Classic Car Adventures, visit the website. Keep in mind for next year: the well-established events typically sell out of all 75 entries within hours.