Image: 1975 Lancia Stratos HF © Seb Perez
The inaugural Rewind Tour Britain, taking place from 27 to 30 May 2027, is taking shape. Following the unveiling of the route earlier this summer, Motor Racing Legends and the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) have now confirmed an initial selection of 43 accepted cars. Representing just over half of the anticipated 80-car field, this first announcement leaves plenty of room for further high-quality entries and historically significant machines to join the event.
Variety will be the hallmark of the first Rewind Tour Britain:
Variety in its scenery, first and foremost, with a route that will take competitors from the picturesque villages of the Cotswolds to the wide-open landscapes of the Welsh uplands, via outstanding country estates.
Variety, too, in the nature of the timed sections. Participants will compete at Thruxton, Silverstone and Castle Combe circuits, as well as the hill climbs at Prescott and Shelsley Walsh, not forgetting the special stages at the stunning Bowood House and Blenheim Palace, the raw challenge of the Epynt Ranges, and Caerwent’s “ghost town”.
Variety, finally, in the entry itself. Three months after entries opened, the selection committee has accepted 43 cars from 15 manufacturers, spanning 33 models built between 1924 and 1987.
A limited number of places are still available via the MRL App or through the web portal. All entry forms for eligible vehicles will be reviewed by the selection committee, and the final entry list will be revealed in January
ENTRY LIST #1 Click here
Focus on Five Iconic Models
1930 Bentley Blower
Vintage cars, running at the head of the event
Watching a pre-war car compete in a historic circuit race is not a particularly authentic experience, given how different modern tracks are from those of the period. Back then, circuits were generally narrower and often featured uneven or even unpaved surfaces, making them far more akin to rally stages than the permanent venues we know today.
The Rewind Tour Britain will offer exactly that rare spectacle: pre-war competition cars from the 1920s and 1930s, including three Bentleys, being driven at speed on special stages such as Caerwent, Epynt and Blenheim Palace. Adding to the show will be Stuart Morley, widely regarded as one of the fastest pre-war car drivers in the world. The fourth generation of his family to race Bentleys in competition, Stuart will be at the wheel of a 4½ Litre Supercharged "Blower", a car he knows particularly well. He played a major role in Bentley’s recent official continuation programme, which saw twelve exact recreations of this legendary model built to the original specification.
Selected 1950s sports racing cars
Better known by its original registration number, “VMF 65”, this car boasts an exceptional history. Built as one of three works DB2s entered for the 1950 season, it was due to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the hands of Eric Thompson and Jack Fairman. However, it never reached the start line after being involved in a road accident while en route to La Sarthe. Quickly rebuilt at Aston Martin’s Feltham factory, it reappeared at Silverstone during the summer of 1950 before shining at the Dundrod Tourist Trophy, where George Abecassis drove it to an impressive fifth-place finish. It also contested the Daily Express 1000 Miles Rally with Stirling Moss and Lance Macklin, demonstrating its versatility on Britain’s major road events. In the spring of 1951, it was sold to Rob Walker, heir to the famous Johnnie Walker whisky dynasty and future owner of one of the most celebrated private teams in British motorsport history.
From a technical standpoint, the DB2 combined a lightweight chassis with a 2.6-litre twin-cam straight-six derived from the Lagonda engines developed by W.O. Bentley. At the Rewind Tour Britain, it will be driven by Jonathan Lupton and Darren Turner, a former Aston Martin works driver and GT1 class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 2007 and 2008.
2-wheel-drive touring and rally cars pre-’86
Won by Ari Vatanen in a Ford Escort RS 2000, the 1976 Tour of Britain is remembered not only for the Finn’s victory, but also for the impressive performance of the Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300s of Willy Sparrow and Gerry Marshall, which finished third and fourth overall. The following year, Gerry Marshall, partnered by Peter Brock, secured the British coupé’s finest international result with second place in the Spa 24 Hours. These achievements were all the more remarkable because they were not the result of an official General Motors programme, but of a private effort run by a group of London-based dealers under the Dealer Team Vauxhall (DTV) banner.
Entered in the 2027 Rewind Tour Britain by Brian Watts, the car carrying the registration “TJE 535K” boasts a particularly rich history. Built by DTV in 1972, it was initially raced by Gerry Marshall in the British Saloon Car Championship before being converted for rallying and entrusted to Willy Sparrow. At the wheel, Sparrow achieved an impressive ninth-place finish on the 1975 RAC Rally. The car still wears the legendary silver, green and red DTV livery.
Highly competitive on fast circuits thanks to its power, the Firenza is nevertheless renowned for being more demanding to drive on twisty special stages, where its weight becomes a disadvantage. The battle with the Ford Escorts promises to be a fascinating one. Just as it was in 1976.
Despite claiming 17 victories in the World Rally Championship, the Lancia Stratos never managed to win the RAC Rally. The reason lay in its exceptionally short wheelbase (2.18m), which made it notoriously twitchy at 150km/h on the fast forest roads of Scotland and Wales. Its heavily raked, curved windscreen did little to help either, with visibility becoming particularly challenging at night when the car was coated in layers of mud. Sandro Munari nevertheless finished third in 1974 and fourth in 1976. Yet these results are not what stayed with Cesare Fiorio. Speaking to DirtFish in 2023, the former Lancia team manager recalled: “Kielder forest, I never forget. You could hear the car from miles away, it was very, very special. That engine was fantastic.”
And it still is today. Spectators at the Rewind Tour Britain will be able to hear the Ferrari 24-valve V6 screaming to 10,500rpm. They will also be able to admire the iconic lines of Marcello Gandini’s design, along with its Alitalia-inspired livery. Completely rebuilt on three separate occasions over the past fifteen years, the car driven by Seb Perez claimed victory at the 2024 Mallorca Rally. Will a second victory come at the Rewind Tour Britain 2027?
Nicknamed “Erwin” because of its registration number, the MG Maestro 2.0 EFI “D200 ERW” was built in 1987 as part of a joint programme between Austin Rover and Company Car magazine. It was entrusted to journalists Michael Paul and John Blauth, who chronicled their competition exploits in the publication’s pages. Destroyed in an accident on the Cork 20 International Rally in September 1987, the car was rebuilt to its original specification in just six weeks. Entered in the 1987 RAC Rally, it enabled the Michael-Blauth crew to reach the finish of what was then regarded as the most demanding event on the World Rally Championship calendar.
After continuing its career in the 1989 and 1990 Maestro Challenge under Brecon Motors colours, and subsequently passing through the hands of several owners, the car was rediscovered in 2020 by Jonathan Williams. A meticulous six-year restoration has since returned it to its exact 1987 specification.
