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Added on the 05/02/2020 08:25:50 - Copyright : Auto Moto EN
Exhausted after thousands of kilometers behind the wheel of a historic car, almost dizzy from the effort while savoring the honeys of triumph, because reaching the finish line, even if it is reluctantly, is a victory.This is how Iván Vicario, one of the pilots of the SEAT 127, a journalist expert in historic cars who excited and grateful in equal parts, hugged each other endlessly celebrating the success of having reached the goal while veteran 127 was still snorting on the podium with an overheated engine and a good beating of kilometers. "I'm in a cloud," he told us with a huge smile and his eyes irritated by the long hours without sleep and the excitement of having completed a mythical rally such as Monte-Carlo. “I still don't believe it, but Jesus Bonilla and I have done it. It's hard to say how I feel. It has been very difficult and we have not stopped learning with every kilometer of the race. If I started again right now, I would be delighted, I think our result could improve a lot. Regularity Rallyes are not easy, but this is a very intense, very beautiful experience, so much so that I would dare to give the ten keys or advice that I would give to those who would like to sign up for the next year to run this rally.
This historic “Monte” will be remembered for many things, as always for its hardness, for the best anecdote of the final winner and for many other reasons, but certainly not for the amount of snow on its route. Not at least for now, because there is not, which does not mean that the SEAT Historical team is prepared in case the snow or ice become protagonists.Mía Bardolet is enjoying the experience: it is her first Monte-Carlo and she never thought she would do it with a luxurious rear-wheel-drive saloon of just over a thousand kilos manufactured there by 1953. She does not feel disappointed at all, but in addition to much suffering they assured her a lot of snow ... "I have come very motivated and well prepared, including gloves, hat and shoes for extreme cold, but at the moment there is hardly any snow, although that is not why it seems like an easy rally," Bardolet explains. “For a rally driver to keep the whole test at a restricted average speed is not easy, but it is true that although the average speed is low, it is sometimes impossible to keep up because the roads are several kilometers with linked first-speed curves . So every now and then you have to run a lot. I have come well prepared and thanks to SEAT we could also do a test rally such as Andorra, in which I took the SEAT 1400 to the 7th place.
In the magical and famous ship A122 of SEAT, the ship of dreams and prestige where all the SEATs of history are stored, preserved and remade, there are a handful of SEAT 1400; the origin of the brand, which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary. Among them there is a competition unit baptized as 1400 B “Monte-Carlo”. It is a very special car.Years ago this project was in the minds of those responsible for Historic SEAT. Not all brands have a car of its origins that competed in the mythical rally. The project was one of those that Isidre López, head of SEAT Históricos, was especially excited about and is now a reality. It is one of the jewels of the collection. "We bought it seven years ago" Isidre points out. “This is one of the first units of the 1400 that we bought and the original idea was to do it as standard, but then we could value other things, the bodywork had to be done completely and as this was an eligible car to compete in the Monte-Carlo Rallye Historic (only those cars that competed at the time can be registered), we started working on the project. The truth is that we had fun doing a rally version of a car that on paper is so anti rally, because it is a large and heavy saloon, with a rather small engine ... but the days went by and the car surprised us "
In the magical and famous ship A122 of SEAT, the ship of dreams and prestige where all the SEATs of history are stored, preserved and remade, there are a handful of SEAT 1400; the origin of the brand, which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary. Among them there is a competition unit baptized as 1400 B “Monte-Carlo”. It is a very special car.Years ago this project was in the minds of those responsible for Historic SEAT. Not all brands have a car of its origins that competed in the mythical rally. The project was one of those that Isidre López, head of SEAT Históricos, was especially excited about and is now a reality. It is one of the jewels of the collection. "We bought it seven years ago" Isidre points out. “This is one of the first units of the 1400 that we bought and the original idea was to do it as standard, but then we could value other things, the bodywork had to be done completely and as this was an eligible car to compete in the Monte-Carlo Rallye Historic (only those cars that competed at the time can be registered), we started working on the project. The truth is that we had fun doing a rally version of a car that on paper is so anti rally, because it is a large and heavy saloon, with a rather small engine ... but the days went by and the car surprised us "
The Monte Carlo Rally, which is as famous as it is demanding, was first held in 1911 to attract tourists even during the cold winter months to the Principality of Monaco. Zdeněk Pohl and Jaroslav Hausman took part in the fifteenth run, which took place from 25 January to 2 February 1936, with the ŠKODA POPULAR SPORT and impressively held their own against the competition.Since the length and difficulty of the route from the official starting point were also decisive for success in the Monte Carlo Rally, Pohl and Hausman set off from Athens and travelled via the Riviera to Monaco. Other possible starting points included Bucharest, Palermo, Stavanger or Tallinn. Within 17 hours, the pair had covered 850 kilometres from Prague to the ferry in Trieste in their ŠKODA POPULAR SPORT. After arriving in the Greek metropolis of Athens, Zdeněk Pohl and Jaroslav Hausman had four days to recover and prepare their vehicle technically for the rally – without the assistance of a mechanic or professionally equipped service vehicle.