While the 60th Anniversary of Volga GAZ-21 that took place on July 1, 2016 had been an interesting car show in its own right, it was almost overshadowed by the terrific event which took place the next day, when the motorcade of the 6th Peking to Paris Motor Challenge arrived at the city’s Victory Park, on the right bank of Volga river. No sane CC lover could miss such an opportunity to see over 100 classics built from 1915 to 1975 within one day !
The first car to arrive was this elegant Al Capone era black sedan with a crew from Switzerland (Manuel Dubs / Robi Huber) – and at first no one could figure out what the heck it is.
The grille badge with “Rockne – Made in U.S.A.” inscription was of little help in the identification (the best guess was – a custom car built by some American coach-builder).
Later on, some Googling revealed that Rockne was Studebaker’s entry-level brand, produced for two years only (1932-33), and the car was a 1932 Rockne Six 75. And an export right-hand drive version, it seems ! How many of these still exist ? How many are still capable of traveling all the way from Beijing to Paris ?..
Unfortunately, it seems that the car has some problems with camber. Which hasn’t prevented it from coming all the way from Beijing !
The Rockne was closely followed by this 1925 Bentley 3-4½, which was almost impossible to take a good picture of because of the crowd it gathered…
…and this 1929 Chrysler 75 Roadster from New Zealand (Bruce Washington / Harry Washington).
Bull skull and horns included !
As the 1967 Aston Martin DB6 (James Alexandroff / David Jones, GB) struggled with choosing the right way to go, the public attention was arrested by another exotic beast…
…The Beast, as they call it – a 1917 American LaFrance Tourer, making its way through the crowd with the roar of the monstrous 14,5 liter inline-six (Ingo Strolz / Werner Gassner, Austria). Incredibly smooth running for such a displacement, by the way.
Mercedes-Benz 250 SL “Pagoda” (Isobel Mathew / Nicola Mathew, GB), so called because of its distinctive concave roof. People asked as if it was bent in a rollover.
Chevies were arriving in the order of seniority: 1939, 1940 and 1941 model years, all in one body style. The ’41 won my personal Concours d’Elegance that day.
Some of the cars bore the scars left by road accidents, like this 1939 Plymouth (Antonio Viana-Baptista / Joao Baptista, Portugalia).
1930 Chrysler 70 Roadster (Chris Dillier / Joe Dillier, Switzerland).
1941 Buick Eight Convertible (Jan Vyskocil / Rene Kuhni, Switzerland). The straight eight seemed to be out of tune, the whole car shook and trembled at idle.
1938 Ford Coupe (John Whitelock / Dyl Thomas, GB).
1939 Dodge Business Coupe (Colin Weekley / James Weekley, GB). Teardrop shaped headlights should’ve been in vogue in the late 30s – only to be forgotten several years later.
1973 Alfa Romeo Giulia 2000 Super Berlina (Francesco Guasti / Alessandro Guasti, Italy). This car looks like a strange crossbreed between a Lada and a Moskvitch to me, but of course that’s subjective. And for sure neither Lada, nor Moskvitch ever had a 2 liter DOHC engine from factory.
1969 Ford Escort Mk I (Simon Spinks / Jim Grayson, GB). A replica of the car that won the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally. Unfortunately, the replica of another London-Mexico Rally participant, a blue Moskvitch-412, which took the Bronze medal in its class in the previous Motor Challenge, didn’t take part in the event – its crew only joined the rally for a short duration hors concours near Altai.
This red 1939 Chevy Master Coupe (Bruce Power / Jill Robilliard, Australia) at first joined the “welcoming party” of Ladas, Moskvitches and Volgas from the local classic car club, probably by mistake.
1938 British Ford V8 model 62 (Nigel Lee / Richard Turner, GB). Looks much more conservative than its American coeval.
Datsun 240Z (Chris Bury / Tjerk Bury, USA).
Various green Bentleys (sorry, I’m not much into prewar British sports cars).
1933 Rolls Royce Phantom II (Hok Kiang Sia / Eric Kuan Rong Sia, Malaysia).
1968 Ford Mustang Fastback (Peter Weigelt / Beat Hirs, Switzerland)…
…and other American ponies…
…including this 1968 AMC AMX (Jim Valentine / Jonathan Lodge, GB).
1941 Ford Super Deluxe (Barry Shelton / Marti Shelton, Australia).
Another 1939 Chevy (Mike Butler / Georgie Machell, GB)…
…and a 1940 Ford V8 Deluxe (Jan Pettersson / Jonas Kohlscheen, Sweden).
These two cars evoke an interesting comparison: a short, but relatively powerful V8 engine that could be placed completely behind the front axle without sacrificing the interior space allowed Ford to maintain the simple dependent front suspension with transverse leaf spring well into 1940s, while GM and Chrysler had to use independent suspensions with their much longer inline-six engines which had to be located further towards the front, above the front suspension beam. From the visual point, the cars look almost identical – the Ford’s massive “beak” is for the most part empty inside, with enough room for a second engine between the cooling fan and the bumper. Space efficiency was obviously not a priority back then.
1930 Ford model A (Rod Wade / Austen Ritchie, Australia). It seems that the original wire wheels gave way to those borrowed from a Lada Niva, with the same 5×5.5″ lug pattern (GAZ didn’t change it since the times of GAZ-A, the same pattern was used on all GAZ cars and UAZ light trucks until mid-1990s). God bless interchangeability !
A very rare 4-door 1955 Lancia Aurelia B12 Berline, only circa 13,000 made in 1950-56 (Bryon Fusini / Stephen Waudby, USA).
1971 Holden HQ Monaro LS (Jan Sinclair / Anne Sinclair, Australia). Looks very much like its American counterparts built by General Motors, but on a smaller scale.
Perhaps the rarest among the post-war cars present at the show was this aluminum-bodied Bristol 403 – one of less than 300 built (Paul Hickman / Sebastian Gross, Australia).
Polished aluminum definitely fits Bristol’s history as an aircraft builder, but the “kidney” grille also tells us that there was a BMW behind this model.
Teardrop-shaped tail calls for aircraft analogies as well.
It is almost impossible to believe that this low, sleek 1966 VW Karmann-Ghia (Patrick Sommer / Christine Sommer, Belgium) is built on a mundane VW Beetle chassis.
1927 Nash Roadster (Lloyd Reddington / Treacy Reddington, Canada).
After the short stay at the Victory Park, the participants of the Motor Challenge proceeded to the Lower part of the city, on the opposite bank of the river. On Lenin square near the Nizhny Novgorod Fair they could take some rest and make the necessary repairs. In Part II will will follow them.
P.S.: in addition to my own photographs, I used some photos taken by my friend Iliya Panov, you can see him on the first photo of the Ford Escort.
Wow! Thank you for this treat! A great write-up of an amazing group of cars doing the coolest thing I can imagine. I feel like a puppy chasing his tail trying to choose the one I would pick for that adventure. I’m going to be day dreaming for the rest of the day about this….
8510 miles according to their website. 36 days. That’s quite a trip.
Wow, what a selection.
If we had the resources and time we could field a CC team at this event. Jason’s Galaxie and the VW team of Ed and I, with Paul’s truck to carry more spares.
Unfortunately my VW is still tottering around the block with braking issues, so 8510 miles seems rather out of the question.
Great idea! I’d also add Robert Kim’s former 86 Custom Cruiser wagon.
This event was actually part of the chain of thought that led to me buy that Olds Custom Cruiser wagon. I have been interested in the Peking to Paris for many years, and looking for a low-buck way to have a similar experience led me to find out about the Mongol Rally, then to the Banjul Challenge, and I chose the latter because it offered an opportunity to use an old “Yank Tank” (the Mongol Rally allowed only tiny 1.3 liter or smaller subcompacts — not a pleasant way to drive from London to Ulaan Bator).
A big old American wagon would be a good vehicle for this road trip, but I would be most interested in doing it in a Ford Model A or a 1940s sedan. To me, it’s an elemental driving experience that seems to call for a more elemental car.
Most impressive. Love that polished alloy Bristol.
You’re right about space efficiency: That Ford largely had the same chassis as the original V8 in 1932; styling added all of that enveloping body work in the front (and other places).
Swoon.
The cars and the trip speak to quite loudly and longingly. I wish them safe and happy travels on such an awesome trip.
That Rockne is a real sweetie and a really fine catch.
The Kiwi 29 Chrysler won its class, so I heard and those Fangio Chevs as they are apprently known are quite interesting I spent some time at my Jaguar rebuilding doctors surgery recently reading an article about long distance endurance rally prepping Fangio Chevs, GMC powered for the most part toughened undercarriage while retaining the exterior made famous by Juan in his early career, I see the Holden has a LS Monaro or Premier front panel with four lights but has vented GTS guards and could be had with a 350 Chev engine. Aside from that anomaly and the missing standard vinyl top it looks factory stock even the colour is stock.
That Ford transverse front suspension was not remotely independent, Sydney Allard sawed Ford front axles in half on his cars to create a crude independent set up Henry Ford did not.
I kept scrolling down…waiting to see a Model A. Bingo! They are THE BEST!
Awesome!! I am busy imagining this in 20 years with some 80s and 90s cars sprinkled in… First gen Explorer, Pathfinder, 4Runner, GM B Body or Ford Panther, maybe a Tahoe or Suburban, seem to be the way to go. I wonder if a rather tough FWD unibody car, such as a GM H Body or Toyota Avalon could make it. I should start prepping…
The Rockne was built by Studebaker in the early 1930’s and was named for South Bend, Indiana University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne
I was wondering if that was the source of the name, being local and all. Very cool find.
Great report! That 1940 Chevy with the ‘Balcarce’ inscription is from Argentina. Balcarce is the city where Juan Manuel Fango was born. He was a renowned Formula 1 driver.
This Chevy is probably a replica of the ‘cupecitas’ that were used to compete in the Turismo Carretera category. Very exciting races that resembled today’s rally
You’re being modest for Fangio here, Gaspar
“Renowned Formula 1 Driver” – almost certainly and universally considered the best grand prix driver, ever.
That Monaro is sharp, it looks like Holden took the best styling cues from early 70 GM worldwide and rolled them into one sweet package. Makes me want to watch Mad Max again tonight (The Mel Gibson episodes).
“I am the Night Riderrrrrrr!!!!”
Congratulations to Colin Weekley for his fourth place finish in the 1939 Dodge coupe. I love that car!
Congratulations also to Bruce Power Jill Robillard and their 1939 Chevy coupe for a sixth place finish. I followed their progress for the whole rally every day on the internet.
It was a shame the 1941 Buick Super 8 had mechanical problems. If it had been properly prepared for this grueling rally I think it would have done much better.
What an incredible experience this would be! Interestingly there were 3 American La France’s entered but two retired. I bet every crew has an interesting story, I know a guy who ran a prewar MG sedan a few years back and he raved about it and is trying to run again.
What a fascinating group of cars! I presume that American LaFrance was cut down from a fire truck? Or did they make other vehicles early on?
Think the BRG Bentley tourer would be my favorite.