It may come as a surprise to many of you but the much anticipated return of the prestigious Scout Car Grand Prix could very much be just around the corner with the help of a few very successful and dedicated former Penang Free School scouts.
The Scout Car Grand Prix has not been organised for many years now and has been widely thought never to make a comeback anymore. A few years ago, an event dubiously dubbed "the first ever pedal car racing in Malaysia" was organised with corporate backing. However, it did not have the feel which only the Scout Car Grand Prix could provide. We've not heard of the event ever since although the prestige of the Scout Car Grand Prix lives on till today.
Ever since the first Scout Soap Box Derby was held at the City Stadium in 1969, Penang Free School scouts have shown its ingenuity in this exciting field. The former scouts acknowledged that scouting and the Scout Car Grand Prix in particular had contributed a lot to their success today. With interest in scouting dwindling over the years, it is hoped that the revival of the Scout Car Grand Prix will be able to reignite students' interest in scouting.
Some had likened the attempt to revive the Scout Car Grand Prix to Malaysia's revival of the Lotus F1 Racing team. One of the former scouts admitted they did get some inspiration from Tony Fernandes' efforts. During the recent 95th anniversary of the oldest scouting group in Malaysia, the last members of former scouts were convinced to participate in this revival. With cooperation from former scouts of all three troops, they hope to successfully pull off the event.
Details are still sketchy but plans are afoot to hold it at the Esplanade hopefully with the backing of the state government. Something similar to the recently concluded GO Penang International: Go-Kart event, the Scout Car Grand Prix will form part of the state's tourism attraction and will remain as an annual tourism event. The Scout Car Grand Prix was part of Pesta Pulau Pinang during its heydays.
There has been suggestions to use the Heritage Trail as the racing circuit. Also, it has been suggested that the scout cars may be used like trishaws for tourists to ride around the Heritage Trail after the race. Efforts to recover the challenge trophies are also underway as momentum picks up to organise this amazing event.
If you would like to know more about the efforts to revive the Scout Car Grand Prix, please visit here.
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