How many classic car rallies have taken place in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia? Until 2018, the answer was none. But British enthusiasm for heritage motorsports is pushing into uncharted destinations, opening new driving routes, and inspiring the next generation of fans.
Car enthusiast and rally driver Zoë Whittaker launched Driving With Zoë in Georgia as part of the country’s celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia. More than a dozen classic and vintage cars took to the roads in summer 2018, following a spectacular 700 km rally route over mountain passes and through medieval towns, to cave cities and fortresses, and past idyllic vineyards.
WOMEN LEADING THE GRID
Rally driving is no longer an (old) man’s game. In fact, it’s often the women who are the driving force, literally and metaphorically speaking. Zoë Whittaker led the rally pack in a Mercedes 280 SLC. US NASCAR driver and team owner Jennifer Cobb followed on in an immaculate looking 1954 Chrysler. Other women drivers joined from Georgia, Norway, the UK, and US, giving their male counterparts a run for their money.
FOUR WHEELED STARS
In any classic car rally, it is rightly the vehicles which steal the show. In the Caucasus, you’re guaranteed to see makes and models that are unfamiliar on the conventional classic car circuits in Western Europe.
1948 OPEL KAPITAN
The German Opel Kapitan was launched in 1938; this model was one of the first out of the factory when production resumed after the war, and it was initially reserved for the occupying powers. OPL 800 is normally on display in Tbilisi Auto Museum, but it was allowed back on the road to participate in Driving With Zoë.
1963 GAS 21
Peter and Lin Baker, founders of Retro Speed, got behind the wheel of a Gaz 21, the first and most iconic Volga. One of the most luxurious vehicles produced in the Soviet Union, the V8 version was made specially for the KGB.
1942 WILLYS MB JEEP
Under any circumstances, restoring a WWII military vehicle to pristine condition is no mean feat. But imagine the challenge inside the USSR! Merab Gujabidze painstakingly rebuilt his vehicle one component at a time, sourcing parts in Russia and beyond. His magnificent jeep is a true labour of love.
STAYING IN STYLE
A classic car rally is inevitably bumpy — especially on remote, rural roads — but Driving With Zoë compensated each night with fine wines, Georgian supras (feasts), and a certain amount of luxury in the accommodation.
Georgia invented wine 8,000 years ago and sponsor Badagoni kept glasses full with their award winning vintages. Drivers relaxed in Georgia’s very best hotels, from the vineyards of Kvareli Eden and the mountain splendour of Vardzia Resort, to the Soviet kitsch of Rooms Tbilisi, one of the most exciting Design Hotels in Europe.
READY TO COMPETE?
In October 2019, dozens of cars from Bicester Heritage, as well as an eclectic selection of Soviet-built vehicles, will be participating in the second Driving With Zoë rally. Longer, harder, and definitely more ambitious, the route crosses the entirety of the Caucasus, from the Black Sea port of Batumi to Baku, the oil rich capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea.
Sign up forms will be available from Zoë Whittaker from November 2018.
If you can’t wait that long, download the Driving With Zoë app from the App Store and self drive the first rally route around Georgia.
Sophie Ibbotson is an entrepreneur, writer, and lover of wild places. She’s the author of five Bradt Guides, including the first guidebook to South Sudan, and provides tourism development consultancy through her company, Maximum Exposure.
