KILDARE GENERAL 26 March 2003: Vintage car enthusiasts from near and far are expected to converge on Co Kildare and neighbouring counties for the 2003 Mercedes-Benz International Gordon Bennett Centenary Rally which takes place from 4-8 June 2003.
Around 300 pre 1931 vintage cars from 14 countries (including Australia) will leave sponsors Mercedes Benz in Dublin for Kilashee House Hotel, Naas - the Head Quarters for the five days of this very special rally, organised as always by the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club.
The vehicles include over a dozen 100-year-old cars, including some electric and steam powered vehicles. The actual French car that won the 1902 Race and a 1903 entry - which previously crashed in Stradbally is now fully repaired - will both be returning for the 100th Birthday rally!
Naas has enjoyed a special association with the Gordon Bennett Rally in previous years and even hosted many of the celebrations in the days leading up to the 1903 Race.
That year, the event was scheduled to take place in England following an English victory in France in 1902. However, motorists were an unpopular lot in that country at the time, so the race was transferred to Ireland.
Irish involvement created a very important and unique piece of World Motoring History as it was the first motor race on a closed circuit ... the forerunner of today’s Grand Prix. The move also necessitated a law (The Road Closure Act) being passed here to allow for the closure of roads in Kildare, Laois and Carlow for the event.
An estimated one million people travelled to see the Race which included entries from four countries - England, France, Germany and America. They were not disappointed with speeds of up to 70mph, though the average speed was 49.5mph. Over 450 miles were raced around a 107-mile circuit which officially started and ended in Ballyshannon. It was some experience for the quiet countryside pathways of County Kildare!
The race was won by Mercedes Benz, who are sponsors of the Gordon Bennett Rally. A reporter who covered the Race for a national paper was a certain James Joyce who went on to greater literary works!
The Naas connection was outlined by a delegation from the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club to a meeting of Naas Town Council on 25 March. At their suggestion, Naas Town Council has agreed to host a civic reception for the visitors, most likely on the Thursday evening.
Plans include a re-enactment of the checking and weighing-in procedure as happened in Naas in 1903 when Naas was the centre of Race and media attention being the assembly point and official weighing station for all Race cars.
The cars were stowed and numbered in the Urban District Council yard behind Naas Town Hall and pushed down to the weigh bridge in Market Square. The weigh bridge was then transported to Ballyshannon for the end-of-race weigh-in.
Photographs taken by the late Mr Gorry (Naas Chemist) of the 1903 Race are being made available to the organisers. Members of the Gorry and Gogarty families, in business in 1903, are still resident on the Main Street in Naas. Some 200 cars were on the streets of Naas that day ... the equivalent of the number of cars in the country!
Last week’s deputation asked that the occasion be marked with a special paving stone in Market Square, soon to be pedestrianised.
The Council pledged to support the venture in every way possible with Mayor Timmy Conway saying it will be ‘a momentous occasion for Naas ... and for Ireland’.
The famous socialite after whom the rally is named, married at the age of 73. Gordon Bennett is described as an adventurer, sportsman, and the son of an Irish woman from Cork. He also sponsored balloon, yacht and car races.
He was the first newspaper owner to put news and sport on the front page, and to include weather forecasts and a real estate section in his paper. He it was who sent Henry Stanley to find Dr Livingstone in Africa!
