I have teamed up with my wife, Debbie, to participate in a childrens’ fund raiser for Our Military Kids in October. This fundraiser is part of the inaugural DC Annual British Reliability Run (ABRR) which is limited to 50 teams driving British cars that are at least 25 years old. We will be driving our Caterham 7.

The ABRR will run October 13-15 (Friday morning through Sunday noon), rain or shine, and covers around 750 miles of back roads touring through Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. (Yes, we are thumbing our noses at convention by starting a test of British car reliability on Friday the 13th!)

The DC ABRR website with additional information can be found at:

www.dcbritishreliability.org

THE CHILDREN'S CHARITY
Recalling that this is all about the kids, each team will have the goal of raising at least $1,000 (the more the better) for Our Military Kids, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our Military Kids (OMK), supports the needs of children, ages 5-18, of deployed National Guard and Reserve service members, as well as children of wounded warriors from all service branches.

For more info about OMK, see -
https://www.dcbritishreliability.org/our-military-kids

There are still spaces left for you to run in this event. All you need is a British car that qualifies as an antique, and three days to spend having fun with a bunch of fun, like-minded people! (at least 11 of the teams already on-board will be driving Jaguars.)

Thank you for considering supporting Our Military Kids and taking the time to read about this inaugural DC Annual British Reliability Run. I am happy to get answers for any questions you might have about this event!

--Bob Collum

 

Check out the website, and you'll see a lot of interesting cars, and some amazing people make up the teams...

https://www.dcbritishreliability.org/teams

Does it look like fun? Of course it does! Join us for three days of driving in the local countryside... And, all for a good cause.

--Bob Collum

 

.....

 

It's less than 2 weeks until the DC chapter of the America's British Reliability Run begins. Debbie and I will be driving our Caterham 7 on the ABRR route - 750 miles in 3 days, beginning Friday, October 13th. This is a charity event.

I post pictures here every weekend, and get a lot of views. I'm now asking for your help. We are still seeking donations for the charity - Our Military Kids. We very much appreciate anything you can give. Here's the link to our donations page -

https://www.razoo.com/story/Classicteamlost

Here is the link to the ABRR website, with details of the teams (some are pretty funny), and info about the charity.

https://www.dcbritishreliability.org/teams

Thanks!


Bob Collum & Debbie German

 

We finished the ABRR here in the DC area this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun! A lot of interesting British cars, and their friendly & knowledgeable owners. My wife and I drove the Seven. We had a wonderful time on the ~200-mile route on Friday. I dropped my wife off at the hotel, and went down the street to fill up with gas for the Saturday route. After filling up -- the Seven would not start. It turned out to be the fuel pump. Bad luck? Well, it was Friday the 13th, but I was happy we did not get stranded out on the road. My mechanic came over, and managed to get the car running, but we really didn't know if it would last the planned 350-mile route on Saturday, so I drove the Seven to his shop, and left it. I considered myself lucky, but was sad that I'd miss two days of the event we signed up for. I went and told the event organizer, and he told me they had planned for breakdowns, and had a Top Gear-style 'Car of Shame' available for us to use -- a Miata... automatic! (Gasp!)

We happily accepted, and drove the Miata the next two days. It was not the 'hair shirt' we had imagined - we enjoyed the car, despite driving mountain roads with the leisurely drivetrain. The Car of Shame even contributed to the event - we used it to jump-start the event organizer's XKE on Sunday!

If you hear about one of these events occurring near you, take a good look at it. It's a charity event, and always supports some children's charity. The DC event even had a dedicated flatbed tow vehicle, and mechanics available during the event. There are currently 4 ABRRs - Pennsylvania, DC, New England and Colorado. All the 2017 events have been completed. If you are interested, either in an existing event, or starting your own, you can contact the organization -

http://www.britishreliability.org/

Some of my Lotus friends from the Philadelphia area did their area's ABRR last year, and convinced me to check this out. We will do this again!

--Bob Collum

 

From so far away Bob, may I congratulate you and wife Debbie, on the tenacity with which you have promoted this event and more importantly, it's children's charitable underpinnings - and your generous sharing of great pics.

It is often a lonely trail we tread when trying to muster support, no matter how worthy the cause and how much fun you had in the event. At a time of such division and sadness among peoples, this may seem small beer to some, but I just wanted to record at a personnel level, how impressive it is to see someone stand up (or take a knee) to try to change things for the better.

Well done, mate . . . and "Cheers" to you both,

Ken

 

Thanks for the kind words, Ken. It was a very well-organized effort, by some fine people, most of whom are Jaguar owners. There’s more fun (and confidence) knowing there is a flatbed and mechanics just a phone call away. We spoke to the founder of the chosen charity, Our Military Kids, and it’s obvious she is dedicated to helping children of service members.

We are preparing for next year!

Bob Collum