Clelands second year with the Triple Eight team saw him back on the winners podium, taking two wins during the season. But his form never returned to that of the first half of the decade, and another lowly eighth place in the driver championship was as high as he could get. 1999 was another bad season for Cleland with no top three finishes all year. Now 47 years old, he had become very much the veteran of the series, and towards the end of the year he announced his retirement from Vauxhall and the BTCC. For his last race at Silverstone, his was saluted by his team (all dressed in tartan) to the sound of a highland piper. A fitting end to one of the great, and most popular, SuperTouring drivers.

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Once retired, Cleland was now able to concentrate his attentions towards his family and his businesses, two car dealerships titled 'Clelands of the Borders'. It is interesting to note that neither is a Vauxhall dealership! However, he was still keen to continue to race in the UK and he was seen in both the TVR championship and the British GT Championship over the following years. His name was also linked with a drive in the new ASCAR series which was being set-up in Britain.

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