Its slipways launched the QE2 and the Royal Yacht Britannia and it housed the biggest sewing machine factory in the world in its industrial heyday.
Now the town of Clydebank, undergoing a major renaissance, will play host to around 100 glamorous classic cars in January, with the 2012 Monte Carlo Classic Rally starting on the north bank of the Clyde.
At a press conference at Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre today(wed), it was announced that classic Lancias, Triumphs and Porsches will start from Clydebank on January 29th on their 2000km journey to Monte Carlo.
Clydebank joins Barcelona, Oslo, Turin, Reims and Warsaw as the 2012 official starting locations for the rally, which is one of the most famous motor sport events in the world.
It is hoped the occasion, which attracted over 6000 spectators in Glasgow in January this year, will net around £1 million for the local economy, as Clydebank undergoes broad scale regeneration.
The 2012 Monte Carlo Classic Rally will begin in the shadow of the famous A-listed Titan Crane thanks to a partnership between The 2012 Monte Start Committee and West Dunbartonshire Council.
A special period Monte Carlo Show will be located on the site of the former John Brown shipyard and Monte cars will leave the start ramp in front of the £33 million Clydebank College campus.
Securing the rally is a coup for West Dunbartonshire Council as Clydebank celebrates 125 years of Burgh status.
West Dunbartonshire Provost Denis Agnew said: “We promote events that will bring added value to the area and this is a prestigious event for Clydebank.
“It will benefit Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, the west of Scotland and the country itself. We have a great heritage in this area. What was built at John Brown’s, and other shipyards on the Clyde, went worldwide, and we can never forget that.
“This is now about using who we are, it is about the rally and what it stands for and it also links us with Europe.
“January 29th will be a great day for this area. We hope everyone comes out to see it and we wish the competitors every success.”
The Monte Carlo Classic Rally was brought back to Scotland in January this year in its Centenary following an absence of 38 years.
Organisers Automobile Club de Monaco had no hesitation in granting hosting rights again for the 2012 edition.
The event started at Blythswood Square in Glasgow and was hailed, universally, as a major success with a tangible spin-off for local businesses and hotels.
However, locating the rally there again in 2012 proved problematic- as it attracted too many spectators!
“The rally, in many ways, was a victim of its success last time. A huge number of people turned out to see the cars going off but there were issues with public parking so we had to look for a site which was good for us but also allowed the public, in such numbers, to see the cars heading off on their journey,” said Jonathan Lord of the 2012 Monte Start Committee.
“We are delighted, therefore, with what the site at Clydebank offers and also to be working with West Dunbartonshire Council.”
The Monte Carlo classic rally was started in 1911 by Prince Albert 1 of Monaco. Cars and crews start at different European start points, roughly equidistant from Monte Carlo. They then make their way to the Principality, over the snow-capped French Alps in winter, before emerging into the sunshine of Monte Carlo.
Cars leaving Clydebank will depart on January 29th and drive through the night to Dover and over the English Channel.
They will finish the event, if successful, on February 4th with a grand ceremony after participating in the famous concentration runs in the mountains above Monaco.
The man who brought the Monte back to Scotland last year, Douglas Anderson, is set to travel to Monte Carlo again in 2012, to deliver a bottle of local Auchentoshan whisky to Prince Albert from the people of Clydebank.
“We are really looking forward to the 2012 event and joining in the great story Clydebank has to tell,” said Anderson of the 2012 Monte Start Committee.
Cars from America and Italy have entered the event, as has the crew of Speed Scotland, the team behind the world land speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last year.
The Lesmahagow-based team will attempt to win the Monte Carlo rally in a 1979 Porsche before making another land speed record attempt in Utah later in 2012 with its streamliner, ‘Flower of Scotland’.
“Like breaking records, the Monte Carlo Classic rally is about boyhood dreams,” said team boss, Derek Palmer, who was pictured with the team’s Porsche and ‘The Flower of Scotland’ at yesterday’s conference.
“I remember seeing the cars going off with my dad when I was young and wishing I would, one day, take part. Now that is happening. It it a big year for us but what we are doing with the land speed attempt and also with the Monte is about celebrating Scotland. We have so much to offer in this country.”
