Flying Scotsman 2026  

In just a few days’ time, one of the world’s great motoring events will be taking place, the Flying Scotsman rally. The name itself is enough to summon goose bumps upon the arms of even the burliest of men, as it stirs memories and visions of that famous Locomotive, the green Gresley Pacific that was the first locomotive to achieve speeds in three figures. The cars that will rally in its name won’t quite be doing the ton (though many of those cars are capable of remarkable top speeds), but these vintage machines are all capable of capturing the public imagination in a similar fashion to the loco, they all have that X-factor. 

The event is billed as Britain’s Premier Vintage Rally, and open only to pre-war cars, and this 16th edition of the event conceived by Philip Young will feature 69 vintage machines, including 9 centenarians and some cars so rare, that only a handful were ever built. These are just some of the reasons that ‘Scotsman is so special, as these museum piece cars will be pitted against each other, and against the clock in 3 day, 600-mile competitive rally. 

This year’s event will differ slightly from previous iterations, as the route loops to and from Gleneagles, with two overnight stays in the Granite City of Aberdeen, allowing the event to push further north into Scotland, and enjoy some of the fabulous rallying roads that are often out of reach, a concept that route planner and HERO-ERA Head of Competition James Philips is excited to see in action. “We’re always trying to evolve and make the event better” he tells me, “We’ve done similar things on other events, like the Scottish Malts where it’s been well received and it puts new roads and venues within reach.” James also points out some other advantages that the vintage crews should enjoy, like not having to pack everything into their cars for the second day of the rally, which is an event in itself for some of these machines! 

The rally begins with the traditional Thursday evening prologue, with a short loop featuring a single test and regularity, offering an opportunity to blow out the cobwebs and perhaps discover and fix any gremlins before the first proper day of competition. Over the 600-mile route there will be 19 regularities and 12 tests in all, on roads that feature some of Scotland’s finest scenery, heading through the Cairngorms National Park, over mountain roads and through the forests in this wonderfully picturesque part of the world. “The regs this year will be short and sharp on a lot of occasions”, James tells me, “As route planner on this one it’s important to try and consider what it’s like driving a vintage car, so we’ve done our best to avoid lots of junctions and too many uphill starts on the regularities. The competitive element is there, but we really want people to enjoy the drive.” 

The ‘competitive element’ certainly will be there, with an entry that is always full of those who want to win, and this year see’s the return of Theo Hunt and Jimmy Galliver, two young men who came so close to victory two years ago in the Frazer Nash, before the heartbreak of a mechanical retirement. Pushing them for top honours will be a host of others, including Theo’s father Martin, competing with regular navigator Bob Mannix in his Frazer Nash BMW, who finished second in 2022, and last year’s third place finishers John Lomas and Pete Johnson, driving a Riley Sprite. All of these crews are competing in machines with smaller engines and could perhaps break the Bentley winning streak of recent years, though the bigger machines will be chasing the smaller cars hard and no doubt using their powerful engines to their advantage on some of the climbs.