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Welcome to the 2005 B.E.A.T. web site
(British Euro Auto Tour)
A WEEKEND ADVENTURE
ON THE
BRITISH EURO AUTO
TOUR FOR 2005
Excitement was in the air as 110
cars gathered for the 8th annual B.E.A.T. driving event.
Drivers & navigators were eager to sign their registration forms, get
their “goody bags”, attach their official license plate to the front of
their sports car and then place and secure the magnetic B.E.A.T. logo sign on
their doors. With a few special driving instructions and “rules of the road”
suggestions, our group was ready for their first of many special activities of
the weekend. First stop was
Wickenburg and special street parking under the steady gaze of a long horn
steer. Thanks to Greg Meyer for a number of special camera shots that he is so
professional at capturing. From Wickenburg our tour headed for the wayward back
roads and canyon lands of Kirkland and Skull Valley on our way to enter Prescott
from the west. Many consider this
part of the drive almost as exciting as the climb over Mingus Mountains into
Jerome. Take a look at the photography in the “somewhere on the road” icon
at the top of this page to view the magnificent scenery of Arizona.
Entering Prescott, we are greeted with police secured special parking
only for our group on “Whiskey Row”. Lunch
in Prescott with “BEAT Bucks” to help pay for lunch gets us ready for the
mountain climb through Jerome into Clarkdale and our next stop – Cottonwood.
A special guest awaits our tour as we enter the Riverfront Park in
Cottonwood. Arizona’s Governor, Janet Napolitano, is ready with her
staff to present to Janice and I with a special plaque designating the B.E.A.T.
event as an “Arizona Treasure”. With
an exchange of Arizona Treasure t-shirts for a B.E.A.T. t-shirt, a walking,
greeting tour of the vehicles and drivers was presented to the Governor.
This was an opportunity for many members of our tour to chat with the
Governor and express their thanks to Her for supporting new vehicle emissions
legislation. While this walking
tour was going on, additional activities were taking place.
Thanks to Rob Lester & Deta Hampsch – they were busy taking
individual pictures of cars and their owners.
Also, busy at work were Joe Frischknecht & Stephen Golde who had the
task of recording and deciding which vehicle had the “best sounding exhaust”
note. That’s right, an exhaust contest to determine the best sounding sports
car, and it was a close contest. The
winner turned out to be Matt Williams, the official B.E.A.T. webmaster, in his
2004, R-32, AWD Volkswagen. A very
close event where Matt had to outscore a specially prepared, 1949 XK-120
completion Jaguar driven by Doc & Margaret Scadron.
While all of this was going on, the unique team of Len Wheeler & Bob
Louis had the special assignment of reviewing all the cars on the tour and
making a decision to determine the “most
desirable” vehicle award. Again,
Doc & Margaret’s stunning Jaguar was being scrutinized but when the
decision was finally made, Arvin Bernstein, driving a beautiful 1986 Morgan +8
won the event. Leaving Cottonwood,
our group tried out the new route to take us through Sedona & or Cornville
on our way for an overnight stay in Flagstaff at the Little America Inn.
And who was that guy directing traffic on the new route through
Cottonwood? None other than Mike
Beveridge helping out. Thanks Mike.
Did anyone notice the special driving directions in the rally book –
very different this year than in previous years. A big thank you goes out to
Lance Johnson for rewriting & driving the route prior to the event to make
sure the directions were “spot on”. Arriving
in Flagstaff in time for happy hour and appetizers, TV sets were set up to show
digital pictures taken during the day, which stimulated a lot of conversation on
the day’s drive. Sunday morning
found snow covering all of our cars but an even more exciting time was being
enjoyed during our group breakfast to get ready for the door prizes giveaway.
Over 75 items were given out to those lucky drivers with the right ticket
stubs. Again this year one of the
most sought after items was a 12 volt jump starter / air compressor. Ten were
given away along with gift certificates, gift cards and a number of items from
sponsoring vendors. While Janice
& I continue with the B.E.A.T. tradition, started by Roger Guzowski, we
could not put on this event without help from a number of supporting friends –
Al & Jan Zagerman, Frank & Judy Summers to mention only a few.
Photography from Greg Meyer, Doc Scadron, Ken Schmidt, Dick North, Mark
Osier, Rob Lester, Bill Solan, Julie & Steve Gram to name a few who supplied
pictures for this site. And a
special thanks to Bob “English Bob” Branton
& Doc Scadron for their help & assistance with the chase vehicle
and trailer support. If I forgot
anyone, my apologies. So, click on
the icons at the top of this page to enjoy our tour and plan on joining us April
22-23, 2006 for another adventure through the back roads of Arizona.