The first cars, participating in the International Rally Beijing-Paris, began to arrive to Lviv on June 22. And on the morning of June 23 with plenty of souvenirs and positive impression of Ukrainian hospitality the participants of the rally headed for the Ukrainian-Slovak border. Riflemen from Lviv Trigger Society, dressed in Cossack costumes, saluted the launch of the rally heading from Lviv to Slovakia from the ancient Cossack firearms. Especially for the ceremonial start the Lviv Theater of Historical Miniatures “Mrs. Courage” prepared retro costumes of the time, when the cars, participating in rally, were produced. The crew of No. 89 Shubun Kitami (JP) / Hirofumi Igarashi (JP) riding Bentley MkVI (produced in 1951) received, perhaps, the greatest pleasure from communicating with the Ukrainian Cossacks. Mr. Shubun told that he came from an ancient samurai family and with curiosity eyed the Cossack saber…
The rally Beijing-Paris brought together 96 crews from 26 countries. Automobilists started the rally from the Great China Wall on May 28 and in 32 days have to drive across eight countries. The mandatory requirement for participation in the rally is the age of a car, which must be at least 30 years of age. The oldest car of the rally this year is the centenary Ford Model T. Being a participant of this rally is both prestigious and rather expensive. The entry fee is 40,000 British pounds. Currently, there is no Ukrainian crew in the race. Of all the former Soviet Union countries there is only one team No. 61 riding Moskvich-412.
Rally Beijing-Paris is held once every three years. This year the route of vintage cars went through Ukraine for the first time.
