In 1940, the great Juan Manuel Fangio started his legendary career by winning the grueling Gran Premio del Norte from Buenos Aires in Argentina over the Andes to Lima in Peru.
In 2006, for about the cost of that boring new minivan your spouse has been bugging you to buy, you and a co-pilot could be running flat on the floorboards like Fangio through beautiful South America for three solid weeks in the Carrera Sudamerica.
The entry fee for the race is just a home equity loan away at $22,000 and that includes a twin room with dinner every night of the event, personal accident and medical insurance for two crew members, two tickets to the welcome dinner in Buenos Aires and for the awards dinner in Quito, two packs of event clothing, route books, rally plates, maps and a whole lot more, according to the race organizer, Trans World Events.
There are three categories open to participants:
Rally – For modern 2-liter rally-prepared cars as well as classic cars up to the 1977 model year;
Challenge – A time, speed, distance event for SUVs and classics up to 1977;
Touring – For anyone wanting to follow along the route at their own pace.
Carrera Sudamerica kicks off in swinging Buenos Aires on May 6, 2006, heads north through Argentina into the Andes–climbing to the world’s highest capital city, La Paz in Bolivia at 12,000 feet. It then winds across Lake Titticaca, the world’s deepest and highest lake, over the roof of the Andes to Lima in Peru. The race continues north, ending in Quito, Ecquador, the second highest capital city in the world, on May 25, 2006.
For more info about this blatant display of historic automotive hedonism pilot your Web browser to www.twerally.co.uk
(This post originally appeared in the July 21, 2005, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)