Economy Runs Part 2

After Mobil’s withdrawal from UK economy runs, the Hants & Berks fought hard to find an alternative sponsor; the event had become firmly established in the Club calendar and had proved itself to be invaluable among car manufacturers.

In 1975 Total became the events new sponsor with the newly named Total Economy Drive running successfully on a similar format. After Total, the Club secured a one-year deal with BP, the BP Stretching Run, followed by Redex in 1983.

However, by the 1980s it was becoming increasingly more difficult to secure suitable sponsors; budgets began shrinking which consequently affected resources and distance. An event sponsored by Memorex Audio-Video in 1985 had a budget of £5000 and was designed more like a scatter.

In 1987 the Club teamed up with the Caravan Club to organise a low-cost event of 500 miles incorporating both towing and non-towing sections. This however was to become the Hants & Berks final economy run event, with sponsorship becoming less certain and costs reaching a record high for organisation and equipment storage the Club decided it had little choice but to end its 30-year involvement.

The following shows a selection of images from some of our organised events from 1967 to 1987.