JEC Grampian Region - RW Thomson Memorial Rally 2026

Sunday the 28th of June 2026 was the 57th running of the RW Thomson (inventor of the pneumatic tyre) Memorial Rally, held at the Mineralwell Park in Stonehaven. Whilst this is a multi marque, multi club type of event, it was also chosen as the location of the 70th anniversary celebration day for the Jaguar Drivers’ Club in Scotland, and members of the Grampian Region JEC were invited along to help celebrate the milestone.

With nearly 60 Jaguars on display from all decades; from the fifties to the present day, including a good sprinkling of the Modern XK models, which themselves are celebrating anniversaries in 2026 – 30 years since the introduction of the X-100 and 20 years since the introduction of the X-150, there was a great turnout of Jaguars for the general public and fellow enthusiasts to admire.

With wall-to-wall sunshine all day, this free to enter event had something for everyone. There were vintage tractors on display – Stonehaven is right in the middle of Grassic Gibbon country – light commercials, HGV trucks, classic car clubs, motorcycle clubs and individuals who brought along their pride and joy to celebrate the passion for transport that exists in the Northeast. In all, there were over 600 vehicles on the field to wander around and admire.

Stalls aplenty along with kids tug o’ war and soccer games, a playful pet dog show, demonstrations and a road run kept the visitors fully entertained all day.

Although many people wrongly associate the pneumatic tyre with later inventors, it was Stonehaven’s own Robert William Thomson, born in 1822, who first introduced the idea that changed travel across the globe in 1845 when he patented the very first pneumatic tyre.