Mud Coast Rally (1st Annual??)

The guys over at Road Rally Charities have put together quite a list of automotive events for the summer and they’ve officially kicked it all off with their first (hopefully annual) Mud Coast Rally.  These are the guys that organize the Mid Coast Rally (formally known as 20/30 Road Rally) in September, so they’re not rookies and they didn’t disappoint.

As I mentioned in the previous post, this rally has been on the table for a while, but to be scheduled with only 48 hours notice.  As the name indicates, the event takes place on rural level B roads and the organizers were trying to schedule the event for the optimum weather and road conditions, hence the 48 hours notice.  Well, I would guess they aren’t very happy with the local meteorologists because the weather hasn’t turned out anything like predicted and it was looking like we’d see more dust than mud.  I do hope they aren’t too disappointed because it was still a blast, and several vehicles still ended up helplessly mired in the southern Iowa muck.  Follow the jump for more pics and to read about the day…

There’s a road rally this weekend, and it’s gonna get dirty!

I’ve got 3 words to describe it…  rally, mud, and free!  The Road Rally Charities group has just announced the date for their Mud Coast Rally event.  This is a FREE road rally that they’ve been talking about for some time now.  It will start and finish in Des Moines, but it sounds like the majority of the rally will live up to it’s name.  Participants will be touring the level B roads of rural Iowa and completely pissing off the locals in probably several counties.  They’re meeting up at the Waveland Cafe near the fair grounds and heading out at 10:30AM.  And the fun begins….

There are a few things to keep in mind when doing things like this.  You and your vehicle are going to get dirty! Don’t whine if/when you get stuck.  In fact, expect to get stuck and if you don’t it’ll be a nice surprise.  Bring shitty clothes, a tow rope, a flash light, jumper cables,  boots, gloves,  a full tank of gas, and your balls if you have some.  Please keep in mind that these are my personal recommendations and not those of the group organizing this event. 

They’re also giving away a few prizes…  Things like the “No Prayer to Finish” and “Dirtiest Vehicle” awards.  These guys put on some cool events and I would definitely recommend attending this one.  I’m not sure if I will make it or not, but I’m certainly going to try.  This kind of thing doesn’t come up very often and it sounds like a ton of fun.  So, check out their website, sign-up online, prepare for a sweet event, and polish up the rig…  or not.

More Iowa Automotive Events For 2009!

It’s time to update the calender (and the events page).  I decided to go with the classic VW bus calender in memory of a family member’s recent passing.  

 

The events page for this year is getting quite long.  Only time will tell how many of these I actually attend and even then, how many I write about here.   Intentions are high.  We’ll see how far those get me.

Regardless of of that, there are a few new events posted and they’re all worth looking into.  Among the recently added is a car show at the Jordan Creek Hy-Vee on May 2nd,  which sounds interesting.   The late models and super trucks will be at the Iowa Speedway on May 16th, and it’s always a good time over there.   June 6th is the Mid-Iowa Brit/Euro Classic.  It’s a bit of a mouthful to say, but this is one that definitly should not be missed by any real car enthusiest.  I know of some of the guys invovled and I’m sure they will have a great show.   The only reason you might have to miss that Brit/Euro show is if you’re a die-hard Mopar fan, because there’s also a show called Mopars On Review in Johnston that day.  Personally, I think it’s worth making a day of it and attending both.  Last (for today) but not least is the Cornball Run coming up June 13th.  It’s a road rally through rural Iowa and is open to any car and any driver.  You can register online here before the entry fees go up.  Of all things on this summer’s “to-do” list, this should definitly be on top.   I do have to say that my opinion might be slightly biased, since I’m one of the organizers for the Cornball…  Maybe.

If  you know of any other events that I didn’t mention or don’t have listed on the events page, please let me know and I’ll get them posted asap.  Thanks.   jared.j.austin@gmail.com

Local Events for 2009

You probably haven’t noticed, but we haven’t posted anything new on TrunkSpace in the last couple months.  There are a few reasons for that, but mainly it’s because there’s not a lot going on in the local automotive world.  Sure there are big name local dealerships taking cash loans to pay their bills and possibly signing over ownership as collateral.  There are new dealerships with crappy names, swap meets here and there, and there’s always the taxi-cab monopoly in DM,  but nothing I’m particularly interested in writing about.

The good news is that it’s only February and were already putting together a calender of events to cover for 2009.  Several car clubs and organizers are already announcing the dates for their big ticket items.  We’ve got racing, road rallies, car shows, cruises,  autocrossing, and more.  I’m not finished researching, but I think you’ll see on the events page that it’s going to be a busy summer!

So try not to forget about us during these winter months and please feel free to let us know about any local autmotive events.

Warranty scam targets Iowans among others.

Sometime last week I was taking in my daily dose of Autoblog and read something in paticular that caught my attention.  It was a post about phone scams and expired warranties, which isn’t really that interesting, until I read that Iowans were among those targeted for these scams.  It’s fairly rare that Iowa is mentioned on Autoblog, so the post stuck in my head.

I don’t think it was two days later when I was eating dinner with a few guys before a meeting, and my friend Randy’s phone rings.