Mike Cowlam
About 15 years ago I bought a Mini Clubman rally car with extensive (period) modifications. Not easy to drive on the road but it came into its own on tarmac tracks. I mainly used it for hillclimbing but I just couldn’t bring myself to take it rallying. The risk of damage and the cost of updating the safety equipment was too much, and I am not alone. There are plenty of historic rally car owners who want to exercise their cars while minimising the risk of damage.
That’s where events such as the Lombard series and Hero come in. No onerous regulations or licence requirements but challenging driving mixed in with an element of socialising.
If you have never done one of these events it is worth speaking to the organisers and perhaps a previous participant. Check that your car is suitable, what navigation method will be used and what mechanical support is available.
The series of historic rally car demonstration events run by the Lombard Rally organisation is expanding in 2026. The series taps into the growing interest in historic rally cars, and the group of cars that are now unable to be rallied competitively. They are too valuable to be rallied, fall outside current regulations in the UK or their owners do not want to damage them due to difficulties in obtaining replacement parts.
The Lombard Rally Festival events recall a period when the Lombard RAC Rally was the largest attended sporting event in the UK. More people came out to watch over its November weekend than watched every football league match added together during the season.
Participants will be joined by rally champions, for instance at the event at Craufurdland Castle in 2025 they were joined by Dai Llewellin from Wales and Harald Demuth from Germany, who were both factory drivers for Audi in the legendary Quattro. From Finland they brought Harri Rovanpera,
factory driver for Peugeot, Toyota and Seat and Harri Toivonen who was a driver of the iconic MG Metro 6R4 in 1986.
Taking part in period cars at Craufurdland, the drivers put on a great spectacle and are happy to talk to spectators and tell stories of their past successes. They were also joined by Scottish Rally Legend, Jimmy McRae, who was reunited with an Opel Ascona 400 rally car he had competed in back in the early 1980s. In addition to the Rally Car action a Scenic Tour will start, before finishing later in the afternoon at the Estate, where people taking part in the Tour will be able to join spectators to see the Rally Cars in action.
The Rally Cars start running on Saturday morning with social in the evening, with the featured drivers telling a few stories. On Sunday the Rally Cars are joined by a static display of classic and sports cars in front of the Castle or House, with the Rally Car action again running all day.
A similar programme of events will take place at the other events over the year. In addition, local drivers can join the select few in action over the weekend. A special feature for the Dorset event is that the rally cars can also be seen in action in the dark on Saturday evening. The rally cars will run on the smooth tarmac drives of the Estate until around 5.30pm and will then have an hour’s break to fit their spotlights and fettle the cars. From 6.30pm they will start again for around an hour, lighting up the sky with their lights as they navigate the run. If you have never seen rally cars in action in the dark, you are in for a real treat!!
On Sunday a great selection of classic and sports will be on display. With a food court in place and other attractions, it will be a weekend for all. The drivers are always approachable and ready to talk about their cars; particularly the older ones who have stories of finishing rallies in cars that they have literally dragged to the finish line, winning or losing – as the saying goes ‘the older we get, the faster we were’!
In 2026 the action will start on March 7th & 8th at Weston Park, between Birmingham and Telford, before moving to North East Scotland at Brechin Castle in mid-June. Over the last weekend in June, the series is part of the Longleat Motor Show – Weekender, in Wiltshire. A break in July follows, before returning to Craufurdland Castle at Kilmarnock in August. Craufurdland Castle will concentrate on celebrating the brutal Group B rally cars of mid-1980s, which were banned from the World Rally Championship exactly forty years ago.
There are plans to fit in a return visit to Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire where due to farming activities they were unable to attend in 2025, before St Giles, Dorset again in October.
Filming of the events often takes place, with two recent ones here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWTfpnZXyH8&t=57s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukp_rdz1Bzs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTW9EOgaPK0&t=78s
For more information http://www.lombardrallybath.co.uk