"Look, Chadwick, a tour for us."

Rally Around the Ivy League

 

Once a year we will do a fabulous four-day fundraiser, and everyone, whether they're associated with the Academy or not, is invited to participate.

 

The assignment is easy: have fun driving your vintage automobile on a classic 1,000 mile rally through scenic New England, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania visiting en route each of the eight most prestigious and gorgeous universities on the planet.

 

We'll start from the Academy in Newport, RI and then on to Brown, Harvard, and Dartmouth. Second day is Dartmouth to Cornell. Third day is Cornell to U. Penn. Fourth day is U.Penn, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, and then back around to finish at the Academy. 

 

The only qualification is: your car has to be as old as your graduation year, or twenty-five minimum. You don't have to be a student at the Academy, or an Ivy Leaguer. We think this is a fantastic way to celebrate a friendly spirit of competition, both on an individual, and university level:

 

Brown can sponsor a car to race against Harvard. Our buddies at West Point can challenge the Naval Academy. Stanford might want to enter a self-driving car and see if it can beat all the humans. Big Green vs Big Red.

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A breast cancer charity can paint an old VW pink and  race for a cure. Sponsorships can be by the mile (or for a specific car), and  spectators can follow the rally in real-time with a tracking app like Glympse. Local car clubs, vocational schools, as well as well-known brands are all welcome to bring their retro-heaps and see what it's like to live a stick-shift, top-down life for a few days.

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Keep in mind this is not in any way, shape or form a "race" but is what is called a GTA (Game-Tour-Adventure) Rally, where the whole point is just to have fun. Um, not. There will be a lot of oneupmanship and jockeying for position going on, for sure. Redemption for that D- in chemistry, perhaps? A little fast-and-loose bending of the rules to gain an edge?  Exactly. Which is why the unofficial motto of the tour is: Velocitas and not Veritas.

 

Seriously, originality and creativity will be the name of the game–daily challenges will sprinkle in some cheek and humor: take a picture in front of your freshman dorm room and get extra points. At the start of a leg we can tell you to rotate your tires before the end of the race day to receive a bonus. Who's the only Ivy Leaguer picked first in the NFL draft? Solve this equation, (Ba + 2Na =    ) first and you might win a free bottle of champagne.

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Included in the rally will be a morning of flat-out fun at Canaan Raceway outside of Dartmouth, a timed hillclimb at Mt. Equinox in Vermont, and an Official Auto Cross in Ithaca sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America.

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Live the dream.*

 

So let's enjoy a cool, quixotic adventure together – a fantastic vroom with a view; a lifetime of top-drawer memories; awesome food and (plenty to) drink, as well as meeting tons of interested and interesting people along the way. We'll surely experience some minor mechanical problems that'll add just the right amount of authenticity and spice to the sauce, all while raising money for a good cause(s).

 

We'll have a black-tie banquet upon our triumphant return, where we'll auction a car (or two) to the highest bidder, give out prizes for best costume, quirkiest couple, trophies for first (and last) across the finish line, etc. so that everyone will go home a winner.

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Hop in!

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*If you would like to enter a car (or sponsor one) in the rally we'd love to have you along for the ride. The cost is an all-inclusive $5,000. Please see our Donations Page for more details. 

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