We’ve been kicking around some thoughts about sports cars tours. I wanted to share them with you and get your reactions.

I believe the future of tours will revolve around events that involve driving, immersion in the geography and culture of the areas you are in, and nightly “Conversations with Collectors” with like-minded enthusiasts.

For instance, in the future all SCM 1000 Tours will consist of hub and spoke routes. We will find a grand hotel to be our start and finish point each day. While this imposes challenges on the route master, we think the benefits of not having to unpack and pack each day outweigh them.

Tours will be limited to just 45 cars, to allow people to get to know one another and encourage camaraderie.

Further, our proposed format will be to drive for two days, have a day off, then drive another two days.

On the day off, we will offer a variety of activities depending on the location. In Oregon, options could include white-water rafting, horseback riding, scenic hikes and more. All of these would be available for you to choose from at the SCM concierge desk.

A key component to all SCM 1000 Tours will be the “Conversations with Collectors” we have each evening. We will invite everyone to join. We will have a panel of experts drawn from the tour participants. We will ask for questions in advance, and they can be directed at specific panel members.

We have found this makes for a very lively discussion, and we all come away a little better informed about the collector car market.

These all-inclusive tours will not be inexpensive. They are costly to put on, and we expect the cost of a six-day, all-inclusive event will be $8,000.

I’d like to hear your thoughts about this proposed tour format. At the moment, we are looking at tour locations in the NW, NE, Central and SE locations for the years ahead. The criteria are a luxurious full-service hotel and four days of fabulous roads.

Are we on the right track?

 

8 Comments

  1. Hi Keith, Really like your idea! While that may be a bit pricey for some, there will be many who will be inspired. I organized a similar tour on Vancouver Island for Corvette owners. This one-day tour captured many tourist sites, photo-ops, and bonding. I have written an article with photos should you be interested for SCM magazine to jump start your endeavours.

    Great to see you back in the seat!
    Garry
    Victoria, BC

  2. I’m certain you’re on the right track Keith. Unfortunately I’m also sure there’s a lot of subscribers in my demographic that feel shunned by the upper crust again. Be nice if you could include perhaps one rally for the working class enthusiast. After all we also subscribe to your wonderful but quite expensive magazine, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got some interesting tales to tell. (camping at the Glen when they burned the Greyhound and stomped the remains flat in the “bog”, witnessed Graham Hill’s horrifying endo, watched Juha and Marko up shifting going down the “elevator shaft” in the only group B WRC event in the U.S. right here in our NW.) Nothing like that EVER! You’re the best Keith, and the wife and I are pulling for you always. My C7 Z51 is also my first automatic and that’s just fine. These Seattle hills are too much for 76 year old legs. No more clutch! Perhaps some day we’ll pass your tour going the other way, we’ll be sure to wave.

  3. Hi Keith,
    I agree that $8,000 is very pricey!
    However, you have the right to charge whatever you want, as you need to make your necessary profit.
    I think your concept is great and wish all of the established rallies would adopt the same rules. Also, I like the Copperstate’s rule to allow all 1967 and older cars (what will your policy be?) to apply, as there is no need in my mind to limit it to just 1957 (or in reality 1960) and older cars. Sometimes I would rather bring my ‘67 Vette, then my older Ferraris.
    Good luck,
    Randy

  4. The format sounds great and the price is comparable to the other high-end rallies. I think a fair amount of dissatisfaction with these comes from the exclusivity and limited acceptance. With the others, which shall remain nameless, it appears politics comes into play for acceptance (who you know) as well as the limited number of vehicles, which results in very little turnover and requiring almost yearly participation.

  5. Christopher Gush

    Certainly in the spirit of Martin Swig’s California Mille which brings out an eclectic mix of interesting cars. I had the wonderful opportunity to know him and work with him for many years and attend some of his rallies with my 65 Alfa Romeo Spider. Great fun, interesting, and his selection of owners/drivers was carefully vetted to insure they were interesting, not self absorbed, and pompous, regardless of how great their car was. That was Martin. Opening opportunities for other collectors, now somewhat limited in the genre of this style of event, yes, should be pursued and the vehicles attending will not be completely limited in years of production as with the California Mille, however the cars chosen should be qualified as true classics of all manufacturers. Additionally, I would respectfully suggest there be a limit on how many times a specific vehicle can attend the same event, again opening up opportunities of other collectors who missed the cutoff date or limit. The same hotel each night? Yes a challenge to not create redundancy in the route. I’m not so sure attending different hotels will be that much of a challenge for four days given people can usually pack light. If you own a classic with limited cargo/truck space, well then yes… you will be limited to a toothbrush and underwear…. Could be fun, and you will know who is driving that car usually after the second day. Keep us posted as to further developments.

  6. I think the format of a single hotel is great. For me, personally, the costs outweigh almost everything else.
    I’ve done six or more various tours, some many times, and when the cost was more reasonable, I participated actively.
    With the numbers elevated, as they are, I either stay put or create my own excursion at a third the price.
    The bottom line, to me, is that the financial aspect has twisted the enjoyment factor out of the event. I wish it wasn’t that way, as I’ve been doing events since 1994 and love them.
    It is only a matter that they have become too expensive…to me !

  7. we staged the hillbilly mille 20 years ago last month; Arkansas is beautiful with marvelous smooth back roads. we even had 2 competitive stages: the eureka springs and mt. nebo old scca hillclimbs. the average speed was the speed limit, 25mph–the hairpins made it fun. if there was traffic you got another run. anyway 2 marvelous restaurants we used aren’t there any more. I think the route could be folded around to hq in Little Rock, which has a nicer hotel than eureka springs–but the eureka springs hotel is famous for being haunted, and I can vouch for that! I wrote the invitation like it was from a peterman catalog, and mr. p’s secretary complimented me on it. best wishes for the events!

  8. Keith:
    I think that lots of us ex vintage car racers have aged out of racing but still want vintage-car or favorite-car activity with pals. I’ve done lots of these rallies from the Grand to the Rich and Jean, and prefer to look out the window rather than at the stopwatch. Often, a clever rallymaster will introduce us to never-seen places which Danna
    and I enjoy. The day off in the middle has some appeal, as does the hub hotel , but these have to be in special locales. Including a visit to a private collection is icing on the cake. A cocktail hour is paramount, as each guest is standing, and can mingle before being seated.