END OF AN ERA?

The Our classics equipe saddled up in early July for a final pilgrimage to the brilliant Le Mans Classic in its biennial form, before the entry splits for annual outings from next year

- MARTIN PORT

It has been a few years since we deviated from our usual route from Portsmouth to Caen for the Reader Run to the Le Mans Classic, but as we sailed into the quiet port of St-Malo, memories were jogged and the first off the ferry - Martin Port's Land-Rover - immediately headed for a familiar assembly point overlooking the harbour.

Little did he realise that art man Damon Cogman's recently acquired Saab 99 had stalled and was refusing to start, but, just as plans were being made for a rescue mission, the Swedish saloon bumped into life with a backfire that had Brittany Ferries deckhands running for cover.

With the Saab sounding more like a works rally weapon, Damon, doing his best Erik Carlsson, made it to the muster point where several dived underneath to investigate his "slight exhaust blow" before realising that the engine-burp had blown a huge hole in the silencer.

Apart from the significantly raised decibel level, everything appeared fine and our eclectic convoy set off towards Le Mans. Following the Saab and Land-Rover were Charlie Calderwood's Toyota MR2, Ryan Standen's Reliant Scimitar SE6 and Sam Read's Fiat X1/9. Sam last joined the Our classics team in 2022 when he co-piloted Alastair Clements' MG Magnette, but that experience motivated him to buy a classic of his own and, with the editor's driving capacity limited by a knee injury, the little mid-engined Fiat was a willing super-sub.

There had been varying levels of pre-tour maintenance: the X1/9 had been well and truly fettled; Ryan had replaced the Scimitar's oil pump; Charlie had given the MR2 a new clutch slave cylinder; Damon had made sure fuel stayed in the tank and Martin had refilled a leaking rear diff, so the happy group was soon eating up the miles in the direction of Fougères.