If you missed the 2026 Cascade Classic Rally & Tour, September 11-13th, you really missed out. Registration was at Brown Maloney’s superb private collection in Sequim, WA—wonderful, carefully curated cars. We started the rally the next morning at a Cars and Coffee.

It was a tight rally, with a few “gotchas,” never veering far from Sequim (pronounced SQUIM). Lunch was hosted pizza by the bay, and the rally ended with beers at a local watering hole, then a nice awards banquet dinner next to the host hotel, where the organizer gave each team $50 in gift certificates, which pretty much covers your entire dinner cost.

The next morning did see a bit of drizzle for the tour to a picnic lunch and special awards. Roads got a bit slick in places, but everyone arrived at a museum in Port Townsend featuring unique brass-era cars, 1898-1935… each was one of a kind. Then sandwiches, special awards, and everyone heading home.

Our rally started with a persistent “misfire cyl 4” warning after our 4-hour drive from Portland to Sequim, so I changed the #4 ignition coil pack the night before the rally. Then, on the odo-check section, we got hit with a “high coolant temperature” warning, a temp gauge pegged in the red zone, and an engine misfire code. Added water, changed the coil pack back…we got to the start with less than a minute to spare.

The rally started with several loop roads and some “ONTO” traps, so cars were going everywhere. We were car #1 and managed to stay on course and on time. On the Monte Carlo stage, we weren’t quite perfect, but close enough to get some bonus (negative) points. The afternoon was tricky, and we got off time a little in places, but we held on for the win with a total score of -2 (we zeroed all the checkpoints and got 2 bonus points on the devious Monte Carlo).

See full results at Cascade Classic Rally & Tour on Facebook and BE SURE TO PLAN TO ATTEND NEXT FALL!!!!

We are now in Portugal, preparing for Historic Rally Tomar (a classic car rally) in our “classic” Subaru Impreza GL on September 26th…

From the organizer:

Our 29th anniversary of the Cascade Classic Rally & Tour has concluded, and here are the top three winners in the Classic and Modern categories. Our Spirit of the Rally award winning team is also shown. Congratulations to all the rally winners, and thank you to all the rally and tour participants!

Classic

1st Place – Sophia Breitspieler & Bentley Breithaupt, 1995 Mercedes-Benz SL500, 0 error points

2nd Place – Grace Hensley & Joe Hensley, 1968 Ford Mustang, 14 error points

3rd Place – Therese Norton & Craig Haugen, 1979 Saab 900 EMS, 26 error points

Modern

1st Place – Yulia Smolyansky & Paul Eklund, 2005 Alfa Romeo GT, -2 error points

2nd Place – Amelia Breithaupt & Wil Flores, 2007 Porsche 911 Carrera, 3 error points

3rd Place – Scott Christianson & Daniel Meacham, 2007 Ford Shelby GT500, 5 error points

Spirit of the Rally: Puff Stevens & Bob Stevens, 1972 Alfa Romeo GTV

Hard Luck Award: Douglas John Breithaupt Mitsubishi 3000GT

Photo credits to the teams of the Cascade Classic Rally & Tour Facebook page.