North East date for international historic car rally

Scotland’s longest historic endurance regularity rally, the iconic Scottish Malts, has attracted a strong entry from around the world.

George and Rosalind Topp will be driving car number 11 in the Scottish Malts.

And car 11 will be upholding the North east honours.

Getting behind the wheel of the 1966 Volvo Amazon 132, specially built for endurance regularity rallying, is husband-and-wife team George and Rosalind Topp.

A retired journalist, and originally from Stonehaven, George and Rosalind now live near Bordeaux .

The 18th “Malts” will see cars from the 1930s to 1970s cover 1,000 miles of the country’s best driving roads between April 23 and 28.

This year’s rally is based at Gleneagles Hotel, and from the start crews head southwest to circle south of Loch Lomond and into Argyll before the first overnight halt in Oban.

Leg two passes along the Great Glen and Loch Ness before the first of two nights in Inverness. A route through Easter and Wester Ross makes up leg three, while leg four sees the rally heading into the Spey Valley and Cairngorms to Pitlochry. The rally’s final leg takes competitors via the Tay Forest Park and Strathmore before looping around Perth and heading to Gleneagles via the Ochil Hills.

Crews taking part in a range of historic marques, from Sunbeam and Triumph to Aston Healey and Jaguar, are coming from as far away as Australia, France, Switzerland, Belgium, USA, and New Zealand.

Further information can be found at heroevents.eu/event-schedule/scottish-malts-2023/