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Rally Show debut for Vision Roadshow

The Colin McRae Roadshow made its debut at this year’s Chatsworth Rally Show in what was arguably the wettest show in the events history. The recently completed mobile retail unit stocked with Colin McRae Sport clothing and popular footwear made a welcome shelter for the brave spectators. Fans enjoyed seeing action from some of the 14 DVD titles on sale featuring Colin right from the early days through to his amazing WRC career. It was a number of firsts for the Vision over the weekend, as the new mainstream Colin McRae Vision branded clothing went on sale. The range consists of Polo shirts, T-shirts, hats and jackets. With some items selling out on the first day, it looks like we have a winning collection. The umbrellas that will go on sale soon would have been the most popular item. They will be available in a few weeks, just in time for the height of the British summer. Visitors were treated to a preview of two newly commissioned Jim Bamber models of Colin’s Subaru Impreza and Ford Focus WRC cars. They will be available later in the year and will make ideal gifts for all McRae fans. New products will be added throughout the summer in time for the on-line shop opening later in the year.

The retail unit is only part of the roadshow. We intend to bring along one of Colin’s cars to each event and Chatsworth was no exception. Fans young and old enjoyed seeing the two times British Championship winning Legacy now fully restored to original condition. Everyone has their own special memories of this piece of rallying history and we all enjoyed hearing stories about McRae on maximum attack.

Even though the weather was against us, the crowds gathered on Saturday afternoon when Jimmy and Margaret McRae visited the stand. Jimmy was delighted to chat to fans, sign autographs and have a few photo calls. Other visitors on the day included MSport boss Malcolm Wilson and his wife Elaine. We missed an opportunity to sell Malcolm a pair of McRae shoes - but we’ll get you next time Malcolm! Sunday didn’t see any improvement in the weather with many of the stands packing up by mid morning, but we “boys” at the Vision are made of sterner stuff and stuck it out until the bitter end. Visitors on Sunday included Colin McRae Vision Charity Ambassador and IRC leader Kris Meeke along with co-driver Paul Nagle, fresh from a hat-trick of victories in Brazil, the Azores and Barbados. Kris and Paul were at Chatsworth on official Peugeot duty, entertaining the crowds out on the stage in the super 2000 car. Kris is a very enthusiastic ambassador for the Vision and recently spent time with the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship Juniors. Both Kris and Paul wear the Vision logo with pride on their racing suits and helmets and will feature in many of the Vision initiatives in the future.

All in all it was a good first outing for the new roadshow. We met lots of old friends and made lots of new ones. Our next adventure is at The Goodwood Festival of Speed at the beginning of July, when we will have lots more new products and guests at the show. Make sure you pop in and say hello. Thanks to the good people at Chatsworth for providing the space and to our many visitors and fans for their fantastic support.

Colin McRae Vision Display Unit

The Colin McRae Vision exhibition stand debuted at this year’s Knockhill Motorfair on 9th/10th May and also attended the Jim Clark Rally on 23rd May, where we were located in the traders area in the Border’s town of Duns.

The stand included a static display of Colin’s 1991/2 British Rally Championship winning Subaru Legacy and a selection of memorabilia including books, clothing, dvd’s and posters for sale.

The Legacy which was recently fully restored to pristine condition by Autosportif, proved to be a great crowd puller and many fans used the opportunity to have their pictures taken alongside this iconic car.

They were also keen to talk to us about Colin’s rallying history, memories of meeting him or times when they saw him in action behind the wheel.

There were also enquiries about whether the R4 would be on display at future events and we are delighted to confirm that this will indeed be the case. We will decide which of Colin’s cars we will take to each event on an individual basis and try to vary this as much as possible.

It was the first time much of the Colin McRae merchandise had bee on display and sale direct to the public and this was met with much interest and enthusiasm.

The merchandise got a lot of attention and items such as the caps and t-shirts proving very popular items with the fans.

The response has been overwhelming and gives us great encouragement for the future as the fans have shown that they want Colin’s legacy to be kept very much in the limelight.

Our attendance at these shows also enables members of the public to see and understand a bit more about the charity that has been set up, the Colin McRae Vision and we are keen to engage more with the public on this subject and will be issuing regular updates as to our fundraising and how the family wish these to be distributed to good causes.

In summary, we have been greatly encouraged by the reception we have received at these initial 2 events and plan to roll out our ‘Vision’ display unit at more motorsport events over the course of the summer to enable fans across the country to see Colin’s cars and buy his merchandise.

The provisional list of events we are intending to be present at is as undernoted.

Colin McRae Vision Roadshow – Provisional Dates 2009

Motorfair - Knockhill - 9/10th May - more information
Jim Clark Rally - Kelso/Duns - 22/23/24th May - more information
The Rally Show - Chatsworth - 6/7th June - more information
Northern Big One - Lightwater Valley - 28th June - more information
Festival of Speed - Goodwood - 3/4/5th July - more information
Classic Speedfair - Knockhill - 19th July - more information
McRae Gathering cheque presentation - Chester - 9th August - more information
Touring Cars - Knockhill - 15/16th August - more information
Rallyday - Castle Combe - 19th September - more information
Colin McRae Forest Stages - Perth - 2/3rd October - more information
Rally of Scotland – Stirling - 19/20/21st November - more information

Colin McRae Vision

The Colin McRae Vision Charity will be much in evidence at Motorsport Events throughout 2009. The ‘Vision’ display stand will be present at high profile events such as the Rally Show at Chatsworth, Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Rallyday at Castle Combe to name but a few.

We will have unique ‘Colin McRae’ merchandise available for purchase, including branded clothing, books, DVD’s and various other memorabilia.

We also hope to have some gaming units on site, where you can test your skills on the Colin McRae ‘DIRT’ game with ‘money can’t buy prizes’ on offer to the winners.

At each event we will also be bringing along at least one of the cars from the family collection of the vehicles Colin used during his illustrious career. At selected events these cars will not only be on static display but will be demonstrated ‘on track’ by Jimmy McRae.

Throughout all this activity, we will not allow ourselves to lose sight of the objective of raising money to benefit charitable causes for children, funding road safety initiatives for young drivers and encouraging grass roots participation in motorsport.

Full details of the venues and dates where the ‘Vision’ will be in attendance, will be posted on the website as soon as the list is finalised.