by Robin Bird.

WIRRAL Skoda Rally star Mark Cowell of Thingwall is competing in the Skoda Trophy, and has to be up early to take part in such events. Early birds like me have a much more leisurely time, who enjoyed a breakfast time feast of classic cars at Chester on Sunday when the AXA car insurance 1999 Classic Car Run was held.

Some cars started in Edinburgh on Friday covering 210 miles while Chester was one of the Sunday starts ending at the Millbrook speed bowl.

Driving from Chester, Peter Dawson, from Oxton, Wirral, in the family owned 1964 Vauxhall Victor, registration ACM 1, one of the more unusual classics in the rally dominated by MG, Jaguar, and Triumph sports.

However, at Chester, there were many different cars besides the Vauxhall driven by Peter and navigated by daughter Emma.

They included the early Lotus Elite, of Simon Davies, the Honda S800 driven solo by Tony Sighe, and the Turner of Don Grant.

Harrogate starters stopped the night at Chester and joined Sunday's start bringing classics like an Aston Martin, Volvo P1800, Sunbeam Venezia, Sunbeam Tiger, AC Cobra.

The AXA Chester start to the rally was a spectacle to watch for those up early after reading about it in last week's Globe.

Chester Vintage Enthusiasts staged its annual concours show last night (Tuesday) and the 40 anniversary Ruby Run on Sunday, July 25, starting at the Royal Oak, Little Neston.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.