Welcome to Rallying Is Life — The Story Behind the Brand
There's a moment every rally fan knows. You're standing at the edge of a forest stage, the air smells of pine and hot brakes, and a howl rips through the trees a full second before you ever see the car. Your heart rate doesn't spike — it just matches the engine.
That's not a hobby. That's a lifestyle. And it's the only one we've ever known.
We're Rallying Is Life. We make premium rally-inspired clothing, gifts, and accessories for people who feel that same pull toward the special stage. This is our first proper blog post, so consider this your set of pace notes for who we are, what we do, and why we do it the way we do.
Who we are
Rallying Is Life was founded in 2023 by Dan Ellmore — a historic rally car owner, genuine motorsport obsessive, and someone who's spent the best part of 15+ years elbows-deep in both the sport and the clothing manufacturing trade that feeds it.
That last bit matters more than you'd think. We didn't start this as a merch sideline for a marketing agency. We started it because Dan kept wanting rally kit that felt like it belonged to the community — not to a boardroom — and figured the only way to get it was to make it himself.
We're UK-based, but we ship worldwide: the US, the EU, Australia, and anywhere else a rally fan happens to be reading this from. You'll find us at rallyingislife.com and on our Etsy shop.
What we do
Premium rally-inspired clothing, gifts, and accessories. That's the short version.
The slightly longer one: hoodies, T-shirts, quarter zips and sweatshirts, jackets, caps and beanies, mugs and pint glasses, cushions, stickers, baby grows, boxer shorts (yes — including the Massive Balls Boxer Shorts, because we're not above a cheap laugh and neither are you), belts, co-driver bags, rally books, and the occasional umbrella for when the Welsh weather does what Welsh weather does.
We also carry ranges that mean something. The Colin Ellmore Memorial Rally collection honours a genuine loss in the community and puts money back into grassroots motorsport. The Will Gollop Supporters Club re-release is officially licensed driver merchandise — proper stuff, made with the family's blessing. The Special Stage TV range lets you wear your love of rally coverage on your chest (we sell the merch; we leave the coverage to the people who do it best).
Why the names sound familiar
Here's the bit we're proudest of — and the reason you might have done a double-take browsing the shop.
Our product names are borrowed from the real map of world rallying: the famous stages, the legendary cars, the corners and forests and mountain passes that have written themselves into rally folklore. We don't pick names at random. We pick the stage that suits the product.
The El Condor Co-Driver Bag takes its name from El Condor, the iconic Argentine mountain stage — high, brutal, and beautiful, the sort of place where a co-driver's bag earns its keep. The Epynt Superlight Waterproof Jacket borrows from Epynt, the Welsh military ranges that have broken in more than a few rally crews (and where a waterproof is never optional). The Fafe Stealth Embroidered Cap nods to Fafe, the legendary Portuguese stage with the famous jump — the one the crowds climb the trees to watch. The Brenig Harness Belt and Kielder Rally Notebook? Brenig and Kielder are the spine of Rally GB's forest stages — proper, muddy, mid-Wales stuff. The Brattby Heated Jacket comes from Sweden's snow stages, where heated anything isn't a luxury, it's survival.
And the cars? The Lancia 037 Hoody, the Lancia Delta Integrale Hoody, the Lancia Stratos T Shirt, the Metro 6R4 Baby Grow — those names aren't decoration. They're the machines that built the legend, and they belong on kit worn by people who know the difference.
The point is this: when you buy from us, you're not just wearing a logo. You're wearing a place, a stage, a car, a memory — something that means something to anyone who's ever stood at the edge of a special stage and felt their heart match an engine.
Why we do it the way we do
Because the alternative is the boring way.
We could write corporate product descriptions. We could call a beanie "a premium knit headwear solution." We don't. We write like enthusiasts talking to fellow enthusiasts, because that's what we are. We use the insider language — special stages, pace notes, co-driver, recce — because it's our language, not because it shifts more hats. We're playful. We're a bit cheeky. We'll happily admit a rookie mistake on our own homepage rather than pretend we're above it.
Every product is shaped by direct input from the rally community — drivers, co-drivers, marshals, and the people who turn out in the rain to watch. When the community speaks, we listen, and the range changes because of it. That's why we run memorial collections. That's why we do licensed driver merch properly. That's why a chunk of what we do supports grassroots clubs and events rather than disappearing into a back pocket.
Rallying isn't a hobby. It's a lifestyle. We want every word we write and every stitch we sew to reflect that — and we want you to feel like you belong to it the moment you pull one of our hoodies on.
Come and find your stage
That's us. That's Rallying Is Life. Have a wander round the shop, find the stage or the car that means something to you, and wear it like you mean it.