900-mile Ruby Run, Vauxhall Cavalier and Chevette Club
It was quite fitting that when a length-of-Britain classic Vauxhall car run got under way this week, it called in on one of the earliest established Vauxhall-linked garages in Britain.
Travelling to Durness for the start of the 900-mile Ruby Run, Vauxhall Cavalier and Chevette Club members wanted to visit Mackays of Dingwall.
Mackays of Dingwall, also known as Mackays Garage, can date its origins back to the 1920s when it was a Chevrolet dealership, a part of the General Motors Group.
With such an interesting history, when the Ruby Run organisers planned the route of their trip to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Cavalier Mk1 and the Chevette in Britain, they contacted Mackays to arrange a visit.
On Monday, three Mk 1 Cavaliers, one Mk 3 Cavalier and a 1979 Chevette L four- door, plus drivers, arrived at the Strathpeffer Road premises to much delight from management and staff.
The Ruby Run team, which includes Marilyn and Colin Scott from Kingussie, plans to stop at two or three of the UK's longest established Vauxhall dealers with Mackays of Dingwall being the first on the trip.
Mackays can trace its association with General Motors back to 1926 as can be seen in the attached photograph of the original garage on Tulloch Street, Dingwall, with the Chevrolet name clearly visible on the building.
Director Muir Mackay said: “It was an absolute pleasure to have the Cavalier and Chevette Club call in at Mackays on their Ruby Run. Their cars were in amazing condition, running as sweet as the day they were new and bear in mind these cars were getting on for 40 years old. It was really nice that they recognised Mackays long pedigree with Vauxhall Motors and we will keep our customers informed of their progress via social media such as Facebook and our website www.scottishvauxhall.co.uk”.
The Ruby Run was flagged off on Tuesday morning (30 June 2015) at Durness and is following a west-coast route to Dover, with overnight stops at Applecross, Glencoe and Moffat in Scotland and due to arrive on July 8.