For the second year running the Classic Car Challenge got underway last Saturday at 10.30 am in China. The event started at the Great Wall of China in Beijing and promises to be an interesting occasion.

This has, once gain, proved to be a very popular event with in excess of 50 classic cars taking part. The cars will be travelling a huge distance so let us hope that they are all up to the task and have been well maintained and equipped prior to departure.

The journey is over a length of about 1,800 kilometres so could take some time to complete. In fact, it is estimated that it will take around 6 days to complete the fantastic journey. There are drivers from all over the world with in excess of 20 countries taking part.

It is interesting that this is not a competitive event so this enables those taking part to relax, enjoy and go at their own pace taking in the delightful scenery on the way. The route will involve driving those classic cars through various parts of north and east China including taking in the coast with the ultimate destination being Shanghai. The vintage cars will pass through places likes Qingdao and Tianjin.

There will be a variety of classic cars taking part including a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle, a Russian jeep plus a Mercedes.

Apparently, there is an increasing amount of interest in China for classic cars but they can no doubt only be purchased by the better off in the country. Obviously, China is growing in wealth so there will no doubt be more and more local people able to afford the outlay required to buy and restore a classic car. This event will be witnessed by many thousands of Chinese people so this should increase the interest in classic cars in the country.