This year's Carolina Relic Run was an outstanding success thanks in large part to all those that volunteered, our generous sponsors and our new friends at the Uwharrie Off Road Training Center. Of course it didn't hurt to have the break in the rain just in time for the weekend and the excellent catered dinner Saturday night. Having the event end up on television was an added bonus.
The (somewhat) official numbers reflect that we had 68 registered relic drivers and 20 "spectators" driving their newer Land Cruisers. Including passengers and kids, the total number of registered attendees was 150. I'm still blown away by the distances traveled by many of those in attendance.
Below is a list of the prizes and prize winners. Note "fka" is short for formerly known as.
1. Land Cougar (fka Oldest Land Cruiser) - It was incredibly close with two brass-tag 1965 FJ45s, but HenDog with his FJ45 SWB lost out to Larry Bolt who showed up in his somewhat recently acquired 1965 FJ45 LWB. I particularly love the looks of these early trucks, with their bib lights, round turn signals and dash mounted lever for the vacuum actuated 4WD shifter.
2. Oldest Pink Slip (fka Longest Continuous Ownership) - For the second year in a row, the winner was Dean Campbell (
@Kayaker), who is the original owner of his 1972 FJ40 which he received from his father as a graduation present.
3. The Hanger Queen (fka Best Overall Condition) - Back in January 2010, Jon Mabe (
@S4Cruiser) practically stole a 1970 FJ40 and started a thread in the Olde North State Cruisers clubhouse called "Project - Not so Nice" (
Project - Not so Nice). Well, despite his intentions, Jon's OCD got the better of him. The fruit of his years of patience and labor is an amazingly well sorted out and beautiful Audi Nardo Grey FJ40 which made its debut at this year's CRR. She is a real head-turner and I'm hoping to ride shotgun on the trails in her someday soon.
4. The Iron Butt - There were 16 vehicles that traveled more than 400 miles to celebrate these classic vehicles alongside people who enjoy them as much as they do. This award was well-earned by Michael Blake (
@76 FJ40) who drove his HJ45 pick up 575 miles to the event from Huntsville, AL.
4.5 Most Miles Traveled - I want to give a shout-out to Todd Blosser (
@RumBum) who surely had a sore bum after towing his 1982 FJ40 a whopping 728 miles to attend this year's Carolina Relic Run. Rumor has it there is a GoFundMe account to help him pay off the balance on his gas card.
5. The Barn Find (fka Best Patina) - If my notes are correct, then Larry Bolt also took home this award. I'm not sure that his 1965 FJ45 LWB was sporting it's original paint, but it had patina for days!
5.5 Most Rust - Now let's not confuse patina with ordinary rust. The differences are becoming well known within our circles. We brought this award out of retirement and awarded it to Kevin Montgomery (
@Monty231) for his 1976 FJ40.
6. Straight Outta Toyota City (fka Most Original) - This award goes to Patrick Johnson (
@iptman) whose yellow 1977 FJ40 was in amazing original condition and tastefully sporting dealer installed pinstripes.
7. Farthest from Factory (fka Most Unoriginal/Modified) - This award was well deserved by Deo Klein (
@cruiserjunktion) whose truck was a Frankenklein (see what I did there) combination of a 1974 FJ55 body sitting on a 1996 80 series chassis running a 100 series drivetrain. This amazing combination went anywhere it wanted to on the URE trails and I was even more impressed by his handiwork after riding shotgun with Deo on a short ride Sunday morning (glad I brought that extra change of underwear!). Want to learn more about it? Check it out here:
The 1974 Surf Wagon...
8. Most White Gas Used (fka Best Overall Vintage Camping Equipment) - If you didn't venture over to see Travis Smith's (
@Comet) campsite, you missed out. To say it was well-appointed is an understatement. Here's a sampling:
- Camp Chuck box from 1968 built by Travis' father-in-law
- Coleman dual fuel lantern circa 1986
- Coleman two burner white gas stove circa 1973
- Coleman green metal cooler
- Enamel Coffee percolator circa 1960's
- Wagner cast iron skillets (#5, #8, & #14)
- Food prep field table circa 1977
- Mountain cookware (nesting pots, plates) US Military circa 1954
- Spatula and utensils (chocked full o' lead paint) 1960-80's vintage
- Aluminum folding chair with 'Merican red white and blue webbing.
- Canvas A-Frame BSA tent with hemp rope guidelines via the 70's
- Wooden and canvas cot via BSA
9. Most Convincing Time Traveler (fka Best Dressed) - I think everyone would agree that there were some great contestants again this year. I thought the crowd would have a hard time making their decision until I saw Alex's (
@AlexFJ40) son, Luke, in his jumpsuit. Thanks to everyone that raided the thrift stores and participated in one of my favorite competitions for the weekend.
10. By the People, For The People (fka Fan Favorite) - See number 3 above. Clearly, the judges and those in attendance were clearly enamored with Jon's (
@S4Cruiser) FJ40.
I encourage attendees to post pics of the prize winning trucks. Unfortunately, I was too busy to snap many decent photos.
@Green Hell Mustang hopes to have edited photos available in about the time it takes a tuner to wire in a piggyback ECU (just ask
@jamesurq and he'll tell you that's two weeks).
All registered drivers and spectators should have received an email from the ONSC club President, Eric Rymer which includes a link to 10-question survey. If you haven't already, please take the time to respond thoughtfully to this survey as we do rely on your feedback to continuously improve the event.
Thanks again to everyone that came out. Please patronize our sponsors when planning for your next project and when you place your orders, please thank them for their support of our event.
We hope to see you and your friends at next year's event! Once the board nails down a date and reserves group camp, I'll push them to update this thread so you can mark your calendars.
