Rally cars cause a stir on unique expedition to Monaco

Cars from the past stopped off at a hotel and restaurant in Retford in North Nottinghamshire en route to Monaco.

Ye Olde Bell hosted the only UK stopover for the rally which is said to be the best yet. This year’s event combined two drives - the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique, with cars from 1955 to 1980 competing from a starting point in Scotland, across the UK onto Monte Carlo.

The Rallye Monte Carlo Classique also ran alongside and featured cars dating back to 1911. A spokesman for the organisers said: “It’s a fantastic event, with former rally drivers from across Europe taking part.”

The vehicles arrived on Wednesday night and then departed yesterday morning. The Historique class was run for the 21st year and is restricted to car models which competed in the Monte Carlo Rallies between 1955 and 1980.

It runs over eight days on open public roads with the cars and crews having undertaken a series of 14 demanding test stages in the mountains of southern France.

The Classique event is for older cars and follows the same route to Monte Carlo but does not include any test stages, the goal simply being to finish in Monte Carlo after checking in at a series of control points on the way, including Dumfries in the south of Scotland, Barnby Moor in Nottinghamshire and Banbury in Oxfordshire.

The Monte Carlo Rally is organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera. Previously, competitors would set off from all four corners of Europe and ‘rally’, or meet, in Monaco to celebrate the end of the event.