2017 CENTO MIGLIA CLASSIC CAR ECONOMY RUN ? Sunday 23rd April

A fine, cool morning with the threat of a possible shower greeted our participants in this year?s Economy Run ? perfect atmospheric conditions for squeezing the maximum potential from each drop of petrol.  Nineteen teams took up the challenge this year, eight in the Classic category and eleven post 1992 ?Moderns?. These categories were further divided into engine capacity classes so that as far as possible, like competed against like.

The route took our participants from Warragul out through Nilma and Bona Vista to the Korrumburra Rd, before turning off at Seaview and following the Grand Ridge Road through Trida to Hallston. They then headed into Leongatha for a quick morning tea. After the break, teams toured through the foothills to Dunbalk before heading south to Meeniyan and Tarwin Lower where they skirted around Andersons Inlet on their way to Inverloch. The total distance was measured at 127km, although it appeared that several teams increased the distance by taking the odd unplanned excursion. There were reports of various driving techniques being used to save fuel. Several teams chose the slow and steady technique, others tried slip-streaming the car in front and some just drove in a more sedate manner then usual ? adding much to the pleasure of their passengers.

Mal and Celia Collins in the 1300cc Mini Deluxe were the best of the Classics with almost 57mpg (conversion to l/100km for those who think metric can be found in the results table at the bottom of this page). Mal?s Mini runs a very tall final drive ratio, 12? wheels and a big single SU carby. He also drives the thing on a feather throttle to achieve these outstanding results. David and Claire Richards came second in the small classics class in their 1100cc Mini Duluxe which runs much more economically since the jetting on the twin SUs has been sorted. Third in class were Allan and Lorraine Richards in the MG Midget which runs a similar engine to Mal?s Mini, but it?s fed by a Weber carby, tuned more for power output than economy.

Ian Maud miscalculated his required average speed and had to throw economy to the wind later in the drive to make the finish by midday. Never-the-less the super-charged MR2 still returned over 44mpg to edge out Ed and Di Denovan?s Alfa 1750 in the mid-sized classic class.

The larger engine classic car class was taken out by Trevor and June Batt in their 3.6 litre XJ6 Jaguar. The Jag returned almost 30mpg to better Geoff and Heather Miller?s 5 litre Mustang that managed 22.4mpg and Bill and Wendy Cropley?s 5.8-Litre Mustang which could only manage 11.4mpg, but was a runaway winner of the highly coveted ?Stone Motherless Last? trophy.

The Modern category was divided into under and over 2.2 litres. With a staggering 70.5mpg, Alan and Marg Humphreys? MINI Cooper won the Under 2.2 litre class as well as achieving the overall best result, but all cars in this class achieved very creditable results. In the Over 2.2 litre class it was a battle of the Boxsters with three similar cars and less than 1.5 litres of fuel separating the three of them. John and Barbara Stoker achieved the best results with almost 41.5mpg. Phil and Judy Barnard were next with 40.22 and then Rod and Lynn McLaughlin on 35.5mpg. A couple of Mercedes V8 coupes rounded out this class with Graeme and Deb Hollingsworth?s SL500 nudging out Kevin Riley?s SL55 ? 27.5mpg to 22.5.  

The event concluded with the announcement of results and presentation of trophies over a picnic lunch by the beach at Inverloch. Apart from a very brief shower whilst most teams were refuelling, the weather remained dry, but overcast.

Thankyou to all participants for their involvement, a pleasing attendance makes organising an event like this all the more worthwhile.

Steve

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