1989 - 25th anniversary of Escort production... and I was a member of the SEOC. My Harrier (EOL 322V) was one of I think 8 Escorts taking part + 1 support vehicle. Starting from a Ford dealer in Stourbridge, West Midlands, we set off up north via the M6 (briefly stopping en masse when 1 car got pulled over by the Police... ). First stage stop was Edinburgh where we met up with a bunch from Club Ecosse (think I got their name right), then we headed south via the A1. I remember traveling through the Humber tunnel trying to recreate the sewer scene from the Italian Job, with us all weaving around from lane to lane humming the tune (self preservation society)... We had to call in on another Ford dealer in Stamford, Lincs, but not before I reversed across a nearly empty service station car park and clouted the only other vehicle nearby, wiping out one of my rear light clusters... (tiredness was a factor). We then went down to London, on FA Cup final day, where we negotiated the football traffic and another dealer, before heading to the M4 and Wales.... Cardiff was our next stage, after getting a bit lost trying to get out....lol From there it was the last blast back up to Stourbridge - and all in under 24hours Several cars dropped out on route / we all lost contact after Cardiff / some made more fuel stops than others (one Escort was a 3.5 V8 conversion...lol), and I made it back in under the 24 hours ok. I recall that only 1 other car made it to the line...
We all had co-drivers of course, although my father in law only drove approx 1/3rd for me. My car was faultless, but should have been after only just coming out of rebuild anyway....lol It was memorable for lots of reasons, and we raised money for Stoke Mandeville Hospital as part of the reason for doing it... Somewhere I have some press cuttings of me and my car, and a photo of it before it was covered in temporary sponsor decals for the drive