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Royersford, PA--If you've ever met Cathy Calhoun, owner of Calhoun Jewelers, then it's not a stretch to imagine she can talk her way out of a traffic ticket. And she has. (At left, Calhoun and her new Jaguar, currently her favorite car.) What else would you expect from a jeweler who lives in a converted bank that's been featured on HGTV, and whose private sales rooms and offices on the lower level of her store are decorated in leopard spots?

It's only fitting that Calhoun would have a store decorated like a leopard--or, more appropriately, cheetah, the fastest animal on earth. She regularly participates in road rallies and has been a road rally advocate since 1972. "I participate in time/speed/distance rallies," she says. "We use a map, there are 60-100 cars, and they are always held on a Sunday. It's takes the day to run the race." Her last one ran from 9am to 4pm and covered three states: Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. 

Calhoun travels back roads often during a rally, here in her Avanti, the car she uses in about 1/3 of her races. "The easy ones," she says.

Calhoun has had the same rally partner since 1972, former boyfriend Eric Jurgensen. They have remained friends and rallying partners over the years. It was he who started Calhoun on the rallying path, although she admits to always being interested in cars.

Even in 1972, pictured here with Jurgensen, Calhoun obviously loved jewelry!

"I'm the better driver; he agrees with that," says Calhoun of Jurgensen. "He's a CPA, very analytical, very good with numbers and figuring out time/speed during a race. If you're following your map and make a wrong turn or traffic has slowed you down (for instance), he can calculate on the spot the speed you need to go to make up for the lost time." The two switch on and off for driving and navigation.

Rallies are not as common today as they once were and are harder to organize, as they crisscross both city streets and rural back roads. Calhoun participated in three this year and four the year before.
So what is Calhoun's favorite part of the race? "When you lose time and have to backtrack and go really fast!" she reports. "Sometimes we have to speed on the back roads -- 100 mph to make up for lost time. That's the fun part!"

Rallying has impacted Calhoun's jewelry business. "I'll do an event and have everyone stop at the store," she said. Recently she offered a quickie breakfast before the rally began. "It's lots of the same people, new ones come and go, but they all will stop in the store."

A few more gems from Calhoun's collection of cars, below: Top row, the red Pantera, left, and Porsche 928, right. Bottom row, a 1972 Lotus Europa (brown).

But the "real Rally car" that Calhoun and Jurgensen own together is an old Volvo P1800. "It's equipped with electronics in place of a dashboard," she says. Here it is:

So, what about talking her way out of a ticket? Rally partner Jurgensen snapped this photo of Calhoun talking with a state police officer who stopped them for speeding. "It's a Road Rally! You have to be able to speed!" she argued. Happily, the officer agreed. That's good, because Calhoun enjoys and expects to continue rallying with all its ups and downs. "No plans to stop, NONE!" she says happily.