Publications
Partners
LONDON, England - The Royal Automobile Club will host the world's oldest motoring event, the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, on November 4 but while every one of the 550 participants is a car enthusiast with interesting motoring adventures Joy Rainey does stand out.
Though a person of restricted growth, Joy has a very varied motor sport career. She campaigned a Jaguar E-type in hill-climbs before progressing to a 2.3-litre single-seater and broke several records along the way. She took part in the 2004 London to Sydney Marathon (in a Morris Minor) and the 8000km Carrera Sudamericana two years later in a V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
PUB LUNCH VIEWING
She first took part in the London-Brighton Veteran Car Run in 2001 in a 1901 Clément Voiturette loaned to her by the Haynes Motor Museum. The car didn't make it to Brighton but for the 2006 event Joy returned with 1904 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout from the USA, which she bought by selling her single-seater hill-climb car.
She said: "An invitation to a pub lunch and a viewing of the veteran resulted in me arriving home complete with the back axle and mangled gears and a decision to sell my 300kW single-seater racing car and take on a 5.2kW 1904 Oldsmobile."
The Oldsmobile has taken Joy to the finish of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run several times – a feat she is hoping it will repeat in 2012. This year's run will be a 100km warm-up for an even longer venture as Joy plans to drive her 109-year old Oldsmobile 4550km across the USA in 2013.
She will leave Los Angeles in California on April 14 2013 to drive coast-to-coast across America Daytona Beach in Florida to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. For many years Joy's partner and co-driver in long-distance rallies was Trevor Hulks but he died in 2010.
'NEVER SAY NEVER'
Joy said: “A few months after Trevor’s death I was contacted by Gary Hoonsbeen of the CDO Club in the USA who gently suggested that at some time in the future I might consider undertaking the trip myself as a tribute to Trevor.
"My reply was something like, ‘I never say never’, but in my heart, then, I did not think that I could take on such a challenging trip without my soul mate.
"Now, after considerable soul-searching and encouragement from old and new friends, I have decided that this challenge feels like unfinished business. So I will drive my109-year-old Curved Dash Oldsmobile from Los Angeles to Daytona Beach and I would like to raise £20 000 (abour R256 000) for Cancer Research.”
WEEKEND CELEBRATION
The Oldsmobile will encounter an enormous range of conditions on its trip across America , from 2000m-high mountains to blisteringly hot deserts.
So, 116 years since it was first run, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run will have a maximum entry of 550 pre-1905 vehicles making their way from Hyde Park in London to Madeira Drive, Brighton. The event is part of a weekend celebration of motoring that includes the Future Car Challenge (for low-energy use vehicles) and the Regent Street Motor Show (celebrating the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries of motoring).
For more information visit: www.veterancarrun.com
Though a person of restricted growth, Joy has a very varied motor sport career. She campaigned a Jaguar E-type in hill-climbs before progressing to a 2.3-litre single-seater and broke several records along the way. She took part in the 2004 London to Sydney Marathon (in a Morris Minor) and the 8000km Carrera Sudamericana two years later in a V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
PUB LUNCH VIEWING
She first took part in the London-Brighton Veteran Car Run in 2001 in a 1901 Clément Voiturette loaned to her by the Haynes Motor Museum. The car didn't make it to Brighton but for the 2006 event Joy returned with 1904 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout from the USA, which she bought by selling her single-seater hill-climb car.
She said: "An invitation to a pub lunch and a viewing of the veteran resulted in me arriving home complete with the back axle and mangled gears and a decision to sell my 300kW single-seater racing car and take on a 5.2kW 1904 Oldsmobile."
The Oldsmobile has taken Joy to the finish of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run several times – a feat she is hoping it will repeat in 2012. This year's run will be a 100km warm-up for an even longer venture as Joy plans to drive her 109-year old Oldsmobile 4550km across the USA in 2013.
She will leave Los Angeles in California on April 14 2013 to drive coast-to-coast across America Daytona Beach in Florida to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. For many years Joy's partner and co-driver in long-distance rallies was Trevor Hulks but he died in 2010.
'NEVER SAY NEVER'
Joy said: “A few months after Trevor’s death I was contacted by Gary Hoonsbeen of the CDO Club in the USA who gently suggested that at some time in the future I might consider undertaking the trip myself as a tribute to Trevor.
"My reply was something like, ‘I never say never’, but in my heart, then, I did not think that I could take on such a challenging trip without my soul mate.
"Now, after considerable soul-searching and encouragement from old and new friends, I have decided that this challenge feels like unfinished business. So I will drive my109-year-old Curved Dash Oldsmobile from Los Angeles to Daytona Beach and I would like to raise £20 000 (abour R256 000) for Cancer Research.”
WEEKEND CELEBRATION
The Oldsmobile will encounter an enormous range of conditions on its trip across America , from 2000m-high mountains to blisteringly hot deserts.
So, 116 years since it was first run, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run will have a maximum entry of 550 pre-1905 vehicles making their way from Hyde Park in London to Madeira Drive, Brighton. The event is part of a weekend celebration of motoring that includes the Future Car Challenge (for low-energy use vehicles) and the Regent Street Motor Show (celebrating the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries of motoring).
For more information visit: www.veterancarrun.com
