Vintage Shamrock 2027 (Ireland)

Three nights in Ireland, a competitive touring rally of 500 miles, open only to genuine pre-war cars.

The eligibility is the whole character of the event. Every entry is pre-1946, which means a field of cars from the 1920s and 1930s on Irish back roads, and the eighth running of it suggests the formula works.

Four days and five hundred miles cover mixed surfaces: asphalt, gravel and grass, which in a car of that age is a real test of both machine and crew. County Donegal is the heart of the route, which is the right choice: the north-west of Ireland has the most dramatic coast in the country, the roads are narrow and lightly trafficked, and the weather provides the variety. This edition extends into Northern Ireland for the first time, which adds a border crossing and a different set of roads to a route the organisers have been refining for years.

The detailed inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking, along with the accommodation, the meals and the mechanical support arrangements, which on a pre-war field matter more than on most events. Eligible cars are pre-1946 only, with no exceptions implied. Late spring to early autumn gives the best of the Irish weather, such as it is. For an owner of a pre-war car looking for somewhere genuinely rewarding to use it, this is among the best-regarded events of its kind, and the eighth running means the route, the surfaces and the servicing have all been tested on cars of that age rather than guessed at.