Daryl Demestre and Mike Callahan discuss the work they’re doing on Mike’s 1957 Volkswagen Beetle. Both said they want more comfortable seats for their upcoming 4,700-mile journey than the traditional 1957 seats.
Daryl Demestre and Mike Callahan discuss the work they’re doing on Mike’s 1957 Volkswagen Beetle.
The Alcan 5000 isn’t a race.
As Maximilian MacDonald, owner of Maximilian Motorsports in Chehalis explained, everyone prefers the term “rally” for insurance purposes.
“It’s the longest rally in North America, and it’s been around since ‘83, ‘84,” MacDonald said. “It’s called the Alcan 5000 because it does take different routes each year. Every other year is a different season, so this year is what they call the fall or summer season and next year will be the winter season, and then it just flip flops like that.”
This August, three cars will make the trek from Kirkland to the Arctic Circle over an eight-day period. The journey is a little over 4,700 miles.
“We’re building the vehicles completely, with a consideration to reliability, enhancements necessary for the rigors of off-road, or off-pavement driving, extended duration for lack of service — because the cars won’t be able to be serviced and also safety is a big thing — fuel economy, the fact that we aren’t able to stop for fuel all the time,” MacDonald said.
The Alcan Highway is also known as the Alaskan Highway, or the Alaskan-Canadian Highway. However, the route for this rally includes some significant off-roading.
“Though it’s the Alcan, don’t be lulled into thinking it’s cruising down the Alcan Highway,” MacDonald said. “Yes, that is part of it, but it’s about taking off and shifting off into the side roads. It’s mandatory to have two spare tires. It’s mandatory to have extra fuel, to have a satellite GPS tracking device and all these other things that are critical if you get lost or something happens. So it’s not a cruise down the Alcan Highway, which is a very straightforward environment.”
Each car will have two passengers. The group is also taking at least one extra person to take photos of their journey.
“For me, the objective for this whole event is making sure everyone comes back safe,” MacDonald said. “That’s it. I’m not looking to dominate it. To me, it’s a case of people getting a chance, an opportunity, of getting to do something they wouldn’t normally embark upon. And safety is all I’m looking for.”
Michael LeClair, Floyd Smith, Mike Callahan, Daryl Demestre and Larry McGee are all driving in this rally.
MacDonald said that since McGee has been so involved with the creation of the Discover! Children’s Museum, MacDonald hopes to generate some money for it using the group’s involvement in the Alcan 5000.
Demestre and Callahan are driving a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle together. They met at MacDonald’s shop a few years ago and are both interested in European cars.
“My first car was a Volkswagen,” Callahan said. “My dad in his infinite wisdom told me that I didn’t need a Chevy or a Ford, which I wanted — and that was 1960. So we bought a ‘56 Volkswagen Oval Beetle, and it was not a real fancy one. It was a standard model. So I really coveted the fancier model, the black with red interior and all nice chrome on it and everything. So the Beetle I have (now) is like that, but it’s aged.”
Callahan said he bought the Volkswagen about five or six years ago. He owns 14 cars, but this rally forced him to focus on the Volkswagen.
“One of the advantages of taking an old Volkswagen bug is it’s a very simple car,” Callahan said. “It can be rebuilt on the road, where the new cars, they’re electronic and everything else. They have to have diagnostic tools and, even though max is a mechanic (and) he can diagnose what’s going on, they’re still harder to fix than the old Volkswagen. You can do that with a screwdriver and a wrench and that’s it. That’s all you need. It’s a very simple car.”
Demestre said that he and Callahan are at the shop four or five days a week working on the Volkswagen. They spend about six hours at the shop when they go in, both to socialize and work on the car.
“All we’re worried about now is getting the vehicle reassembled after totally dismantling it,” Demestre said. “What we’re doing now is a total rebuild.”
Demestre has traveled more extreme routes in the past, and thinks their biggest challenge will be overcoming fatigue. He said he hopes to see the Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska.
“I did my living when I was 21, when I circumnavigated Australia,” Demestre said. “Traveling around Australia, we had about 12,000 miles. That 12,000-mile trip, in 1968, ‘69, best part of it, probably three-quarters of it was on unsealed surface roads. One section I remember was 3,000 miles between major population centers with various gas stations along the way, but it was pretty primitive traveling.”
Callahan said this is his first rally.
“It just seemed like a real neat thing to do,” Callahan said. “To go kind of compete with other people, to get to know other people, make new friends, do something that I’ve never done before — it’s kind of a bucket list thing. I’m 74 years old and I’m going to start living a little bit.”
