About this event
GBC 2025 - “Gopher Broke”
Proudly supported by the Calgary Sports Car Club
Date: August 23-24, 2024
Route:
Day 1: Calgary, AB - Wainwright, AB (approx. 443km)
Day 2: Wainwright, AB - Calgary, AB (approx. 477km)
Goal:
Adventure trip with unlikely beater cars, trucks, and vans. Points awarded for creativity, ridiculousness, and misfortune. This is NOT a race, and any illegal road behavior is punishable by law, and not condoned by the organizers.
Entrants may be solo, or in teams to help split costs.
Budget:
$999 CDN to buy, repair, and modify a vehicle. (Foreigners use current exchange rates)
YES!! In light of inflation of the Canadian Dollar, the GBC has increased the budget this year!
Safety items such as tires and brakes, as well as fluids and filters do NOT count toward budget.
A Safety item can be considered as something which would make the vehicle safe to operate, without adding to the reliability of the vehicle. Any questions regarding whether an item is safety or not, please see our FAQ page.
Proof of purchase price (bill of sale), and receipts to prove total spent on vehicle must be presented. Please provide a copy of the original ad if you can as well.
Any parts obtained for free, traded for, or pulled out of personal collections are counted at junkyard prices toward your budget. (You can use the Pick N Pull website to look up part values.)
Any cars obtained via trade or free, are valued at a fair market value (on the cheap side). Any questions regarding the value of a vehicle, please send me an email.
Teams can attempt to sell parts off their cars to gain money back toward the budget, up to a maximum of 50% the original purchase price.
Vehicles which run over budget can still enter, however will receive a penalty of -3pts per $1 over budget.
Entry fee:
$60, if paid before July 19th, 2025. Late entry fee for after this date is $100.
These funds go to cover the event insurance, expenses, awards, decals for competitors, and any remaining money is donated directly to our chosen charity.
Camping:
TBD - Near Wainwright, AB
Charity:
TBD
All funds raised from the event will be donated to our charity post event. We encourage teams to donate on their own accord and help to show what a generous group the car community can be.
Eligibility:
Any street legal (insured and registered) vehicle. Temporary “In Transit” permits are OK.
Due to event insurance regulations, Teams will need to provide a completed copy of the ASN Self-Tech Declaration, indicating that you declare your vehicle to be road worthy. We will provide a link to entrants to print and sign these forms prior to the event.
We will also require you to sign an Event waiver at the start location. This must be signed by all participants, and passengers. A minor waiver will be provided for the parent/guardian of underage passengers to sign.
Link to sign waiver: https://calgarysportscc.speedwaiver.com/zxukw
Scoring:
Competitors will be scored based on multiple categories. Scoring takes place at the start of the event based on vehicle and team entry, and again at the finish based on pictures taken/challenges achieved on the trip.
Age of vehicle:
+50 for 1990s
+100 for 1980s
+150 for 1970s
+200 for 1960s
+250 for 1950s
+300 for pre-1950
Make of Vehicle:
+-0 for Japanese, American, German
+50 for Korean, Swedish
+200 for Italian
+225 for English
+250 for French, or Chinese
+100 for a defunct automaker, and +50 for every decade past 1990 the automaker has been out of business
Judge’s Decision:
+0-250 for Costumes, Theme, Vehicle Modifications
+0-250 for General condition of vehicle/likeliness to fail
On the Road:
+50 for finishing the day’s route
+10 and up, for optional checkpoints and challenges en route
Other:
+1 per km traveled in your beater, greater than 100km to get to the start of the event (up to a limit of 300pts)
+100 for vehicle purchased without the help of the internet, ie bought from a newspaper classified or supermarket community board (save a copy of the ad!)
+100 for a vehicle rescued from a field (photo proof please!)
+20 if the ad for your car contained the phrases “Ran when Parked”, “I know what I have”, or “Needs TLC”
+100 if you compete in a sanctioned motorsport event with your beater prior to the event (ie. Autocross, drag racing, rallycross, ice racing, TSD rally, etc) - You can find out about all of these events thorugh the Calgary Sports Car Club facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/cscc1
+50 for a special edition vehicle
+100 for a factory convertible with the soft or hard top removed
+200 pts for outfitting vehicle with sleeping accommodations, and subsequently camping in.
+??? May be awarded at random by organizers…
Special points:
+50 pts for Canadian-built cars. (Look for a ‘2’ as the first letter on the VIN)
+100 pts for an upgraded and functional junkyard sound system
+150 pts for coffee cans implemented into the exhaust system
+100 pts for fender flares made from crazy carpets
+50 pts if entire team is wearing flannel
+250 pts for a team member in a gopher costume
Feature Car:
This is a car that would usually not be a high scoring car, or something a bit obscure, that we will issue bonus points to a team which runs one in the event.
Nissan Altima +200 (plus an extra 50pts if it is equipped with Nissan’s renowned Xtronic CVT Transmission)
The legendary Nissan Altima, or any Altima sub-model. Ie Smalltima, Talltima, Yalltima, Geritroltima, etc. - The Nissan car company has certainly fallen on hard financial times in the past few years. Over the years, plenty of failed car experiments (Nissan Cross Cabriolet anyone?), a fugitive ex-CEO that embezzled much of the company’s funds for his own benefit, and a failed merger with Honda motor company have all taken its toll on Nissan. Nissan never even managed to buy the Domain of nissan.com, instead having to resort to using nissanusa.com for their official US website. It is about time for the GBC to celebrate Nissan’s achievements, by showcasing the car that established “Big Altima Energy” (BAE) and ‘truly’ put Nissan on the map through the eyes of meme enthusiasts, and a car that has surly proven it’s rough-and-tumble character, and its ability to seemingly accomplish anything!
Start: Calgary Sports Car Club Clubhouse, 4215 80 Ave NE
Start schedule:
Meet @ 8am sharp for initial judging/ worst car show in the world
9:30am Driver’s meeting
10:00 Start
Finish: TBD Calgary, AB
Scoring, awards, and sharing stories! We will try to have everyone in by late afternoon/supper time.
We look forward to seeing you all! Please check out our Frequently Asked Questions page if you have further questions
Event requirements
All participants (including each team member) will be required to electronically sign a liability waiver and a self-tech form prior to the event, via speedwaiver. Details will be shared with entrants closer to the event.
Speedwaiver link: https://calgarysportscc.speedwaiver.com/zxukw
Any teams with minors travelling along will also need to fill and sign a parental consent waiver.