As we crest the hill, the gently rolling farmland of Northumberland County lay before us, the blazing autumn colour fading to dusky blue where the landscape meets the horizon. Behind us, the wind ruffles the surface of Rice Lake into tiny whitecaps, dotted with bobbing gulls.
It's a grand day for a cruise.
We're part of a convoy of 28 cars, the majority of which are British – several having rolled off the production line before most of us were born.
It's the ninth annual running of the Lindsay to Brighton rally, an all-tarmac road tour presented by the Little Britain Motor Company. By the day's end – god and Lucas electronics willing – we will have travelled 90 miles through some of the most beautiful countryside in Ontario.
There's a wonderful sense of friendly camaraderie at the morning registration. It's obvious that many of the participants have known each other for years through British car club meets and vintage racing, and most are veterans of today's annual cruise.
Stories are traded over coffee and fresh-baked goodies, and many wandered the parking lot – java in hand – peering into cockpits to admire a newly-found, model-correct gear shift knob, the hand-polished aluminum intake in a Caterham's engine bay, or the lovely oak "boot" trunk on a 1950 MG.
"I enjoy the day more each year mostly because it is a time well spent with friends doing what we all love, which is enjoying the driving of our cars and interfacing with interesting folks," said organizer Bob DeShane, owner of Little Britain Motors.
The affable DeShane is well-known in British car club circles – he specializes in the restoration of even the most obscure British marques, and has a long history on the race track.
It's a grand day for a cruise.
We're part of a convoy of 28 cars, the majority of which are British – several having rolled off the production line before most of us were born.
 |
| Photo: Lesley Wimbush/Auto123.com |
It's the ninth annual running of the Lindsay to Brighton rally, an all-tarmac road tour presented by the Little Britain Motor Company. By the day's end – god and Lucas electronics willing – we will have travelled 90 miles through some of the most beautiful countryside in Ontario.
There's a wonderful sense of friendly camaraderie at the morning registration. It's obvious that many of the participants have known each other for years through British car club meets and vintage racing, and most are veterans of today's annual cruise.
Stories are traded over coffee and fresh-baked goodies, and many wandered the parking lot – java in hand – peering into cockpits to admire a newly-found, model-correct gear shift knob, the hand-polished aluminum intake in a Caterham's engine bay, or the lovely oak "boot" trunk on a 1950 MG.
"I enjoy the day more each year mostly because it is a time well spent with friends doing what we all love, which is enjoying the driving of our cars and interfacing with interesting folks," said organizer Bob DeShane, owner of Little Britain Motors.
The affable DeShane is well-known in British car club circles – he specializes in the restoration of even the most obscure British marques, and has a long history on the race track.
 |
| Photo: Lesley Wimbush/Auto123.com |