This year's Peking-to-Paris rally featured a raft of historic vehicles ranging from a 1907 Itala 40 to a '68 Vauxhall Viva GT, via a Bentley Le Mans, Aston Martin DB5, Alfa Romeo 6C, Tatra 87 and many others. It's testament to the tenacity and mechanical ingenuity of the competitors that 86 of the 98 entrants reached the finish line, braving extremes of weather, near-impenetrable terrain, hostile locals and all manner of automotive hiccups. This picture of a slippery Beetle sums up the spirit of it pretty nicely, I think:
The first Peking-to-Paris rally took place in 1907; five cars started, four of which managed to make it to Paris, despite having no maps of the uncharted route and, of course, no navigation or communication equipment or access to garages. The route was revisted in 1997, then again in 2007 as a centenary run. The fifth Peking-to-Paris will take place in 2013 - see
here for further info.
No comments:
Post a Comment