June 20, 2007Print this page
On May 27, 135 historic vehicles – among them 11 vintage Chevrolets – left Beijing for the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. After having covered more than half of the journey, the teams are now recharging their batteries on a day off in St Petersburg. Of the 11 participating Chevrolets, all are still in the race and 3 of them early on took the 3 lead positions in the vintage category, which consists of 76 vehicles.
All teams have gone through amazing experiences during the past 24 days. They have already crossed China, Mongolia and Siberia, where they not only saw wonderful sceneries but also encountered all sorts of surprises. What a nice change it was, for instance, when policemen in China lined the streets and saluted the teams as they went by – when normally people are used to the police chasing them anything but smiling and waving.
Of course, all participants had some clichés in their minds prior to the departure and were quite surprised when actually discovering the different regions. As Michele Shapiro, who is driving a 1930 Chevrolet coupe, reports: “In Mongolia, people don’t have electricity in their homes, but they all have camera phones!” She also explained, how disappointed she was about seeing a Gucci shop in Novosibirsk when doing some shopping. She wanted to explore Siberia and buy traditional Russian clothes on her day off, but such items were nowhere to be found.
In terms of accommodation, the teams were also met with rather tough conditions: Occasionally some simple hotels but more often just tents. Under these circumstances, they were even delighted by an out-door shower in Mongolia: hot water, a curtain, a wood slat beneath their feet and blue sky above.
The dust, bad roads, long days of 12 hours or more of driving and long legs of almost 700 km a day took a toll not only on the drivers and co-drivers. The cars also had a hard time. Despite all difficulties on the road, the Chevrolet cars in general are doing well, especially on gravel roads. That is how one Chevrolet Fangio Coupe quickly gained the first position in its category as early as on day 4 and has remained in that position till now, followed by 2 other Chevrolets since day 9. From time to time, they were able to stop at Chevrolet dealers for some repairs and then continue on their journey.
All 11 Chevrolet teams are still in the race and are confident to reach Place Vendôme in Paris on the afternoon of June 30, after having covered 12 700 km from China to France.
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All teams have gone through amazing experiences during the past 24 days. They have already crossed China, Mongolia and Siberia, where they not only saw wonderful sceneries but also encountered all sorts of surprises. What a nice change it was, for instance, when policemen in China lined the streets and saluted the teams as they went by – when normally people are used to the police chasing them anything but smiling and waving.
Of course, all participants had some clichés in their minds prior to the departure and were quite surprised when actually discovering the different regions. As Michele Shapiro, who is driving a 1930 Chevrolet coupe, reports: “In Mongolia, people don’t have electricity in their homes, but they all have camera phones!” She also explained, how disappointed she was about seeing a Gucci shop in Novosibirsk when doing some shopping. She wanted to explore Siberia and buy traditional Russian clothes on her day off, but such items were nowhere to be found.
In terms of accommodation, the teams were also met with rather tough conditions: Occasionally some simple hotels but more often just tents. Under these circumstances, they were even delighted by an out-door shower in Mongolia: hot water, a curtain, a wood slat beneath their feet and blue sky above.
The dust, bad roads, long days of 12 hours or more of driving and long legs of almost 700 km a day took a toll not only on the drivers and co-drivers. The cars also had a hard time. Despite all difficulties on the road, the Chevrolet cars in general are doing well, especially on gravel roads. That is how one Chevrolet Fangio Coupe quickly gained the first position in its category as early as on day 4 and has remained in that position till now, followed by 2 other Chevrolets since day 9. From time to time, they were able to stop at Chevrolet dealers for some repairs and then continue on their journey.
All 11 Chevrolet teams are still in the race and are confident to reach Place Vendôme in Paris on the afternoon of June 30, after having covered 12 700 km from China to France.
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I would like see the car, somebody have yet a Insigia??? I want more information about car safety and other simila [...]