Car Rally
Collectors' cars enter Mountain Brook Village during a road rally in a previous year.
Car Rally
Mountain Brook Village
Friday, May 15
5-7 p.m.
Historic collectors’ cars will descend upon Mountain Brook Village on Friday, May 15.
Around 4:30 p.m., a wave of cars competing in Barber Historics and about 45 of local car clubs’ best picks will drive down Highway 78 from Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds to the village and park in its circle starting at 5 p.m. Another 100 cars from the car clubs will follow in a second wave and park on the spokes of the village.
The cars will be driving down Montevallo Road en route to the village, and residents are encouraged to come out to cheer them on.
Until 7 p.m., car owners will be on hand to talk with visitors.
“It’s a good opportunity to see cars outside their racing element,” said Jeff Ray, director of Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.
Parking spaces in the traffic circle will begin closing at 2 p.m., and traffic will be detoured starting at 4 p.m.
The event is meant to raise awareness of the weekend-long Historic Motor Sports Association event at Barber Motorsports Park that will draw visitors from around the country. It will feature 125 museum-quality cars from the early days of motorsports through the 1980s, including prewar, Formula One, Can Am and Trans Am cars, as well as Lotus cars from all over the world.
Lee Clark, manager of restoration and conservation at Barber Motorsports, said at the rally you will see every kind of historic racing car you can think of, mostly from the 1950s to the ’80s. The Mountain Brook Car Club, Porsche Club, Corvette Club, MOB (Men of Birmingham) Club, 8-10, Antique Automobile Club of America, Mini Club and BMW Club are among those participating.
“We are trying to keep it historic-themed as much as we can,” Clark said. “If you watch any kind of sports car racing, you will be interested. Come out and meet the drivers — they love to talk to folks.”
But the rally isn’t just for car racing enthusiasts.
“The event gives our community an opportunity to see these cars,” said Suzan Doidge, executive director of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce. “It is exciting for not just car enthusiasts but young people as well. To my knowledge, this isn’t done in any town in the South. It’s a unique experience, just like Mountain Brook is unlike any other area.”
The Historic Motor Sports Association absorbed the Legends of Motorsports that held a similar car rally event in association with the Barber races in previous years, so Clark said the event will be much like the ones held in the past. You’ll find a collection of Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Camaro, Audi and Lamborghini cars, among others.
Representatives from Barber selected Mountain Brook Village to hold the first car rally several years ago, and the current HMSA director, who grew up in Hollywood, California, also liked what he saw in the village. Clark hopes that the drivers who come through like what they see, too.
“Barber wants to bring people to town who might not otherwise know about Birmingham to come to the track and see Mountain Brook Village,” Clark said. “Hopefully they will be impressed and want to come back. Amateur drivers tend to drive with their wives, and we want them to want to come back, too.”
Clark, who grew up in Mountain Brook, believes the atmosphere of the village is especially appropriate.
“The idea is recreating what [car rallies] did in the ’50s and ’60s in these towns, and Mountain Brook Village has that feel,” he said. “It’s not just a parking lot and a mall.”
As the Historics event expands in the future, Clark hopes the rally will as well.
“Once an event grows, it’s just as much fun to see the collectors’ cars as what’s on the track,” he said. “It all adds to the package, and it’s a great way for people to see the cars in that setting.”
