Words by Vijay Sankar; Photos by Arnaud Lemaitre
The early morning rays of the sun penetrating through the formations in Monument Valley gave way to wide-open expanses of the Utah landscape. As the bright red Viper carved through the winding path with its brutish V10 on song, the blue Lancia Stratos stayed within touching distance, navigating through the billowing dust. On its heels, just around the rocky hills were air-cooled 911s, 944s, GTIs, Datsuns and even a Citroën SM having the time of their lives. The JDM Subarus, an off-road ready Ur-Quattro, an R31 Skyline and even a humble old truck were in hot pursuit. Lines blurred between value propositions, rarity, historic significance and pecking order to bring together an eclectic collection of cars reliving their glory days. In this moment, the joy they all experienced was in parity.
The Overcrest Rally is an application-only rally that brings people to little traveled places and roads. From the creators of the rally: It’s all about seeing and exploring from a new perspective, and how analogue driving in metal boxes put together decades ago can enrich your life. This is a rally emphasizing camaraderie, and the joy of driving, focusing on the journey rather than speed, encouraging participants to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. This year’s rally covered around 700 miles through Utah’s diverse landscapes, starting near Monument Valley, passing through Capitol Reef National Park, and ending at a drive-in cinema in Mount Pleasant.
There was a variety of cars this year totaling a hundred, most of them at least 20-25 years old. Some of the passionate participants flocked in from the east coast, Calgary, Rhode Island, NY, Washington, NC etc. covering between 2500 and 6000 miles over the entire journey. Day 1 took the caravan from Monument Valley to Escalante over 300 miles. Day 2 had 400 miles of driving climbing up to 9600 ft in snow-capped Bryce Canyon, and ended at Mount Pleasant – a campground to watch a drive-in movie.
Given the breadth of Utah’s landscape, this two-day rally sampled the choicest slices of backroads, deserts, remote wastelands, idyllic rocky corridors, with a side of gravel and dust stretches, and sprawling valleys. You climbed, descended, switched back, rowed through gears, and got to explore the meat of your car’s character. Segments like the Hogback ridge with no guard rails left you in awe, and mentally transplanted you to a romantic era with routes untouched by the march of progress.
Some parts were so remote with no phone signal that you had to stick together with groups of cars. The spirit of teamwork was on display given that almost all the cars that started managed to cross the finish line, with many instances of on-the-fly mechanical fixes needed – a fuel pump failure, brakes issues etc.
The rally encouraged you to see the world around you, slow down, hang out, and even do a little searching on your own to culminate in a truly memorable experience.
Photos by Arnaud Lemaitre
More about the Overcrest Rally here.
One response to “Grit, Guts and Glory: Overcrest Rally Takes the Road Less Traveled”
This was my first Overcrest rally, and I certainly hope it will not be my last. It was truly epic.