What the Acropolis Rally is all about

So delightful is the translated explanation of what the 7th International Acropolis Rally is all about that we reproduce it verbatim from the official folder…

“The setting:  Rugged and beautiful spring-time scenery along the roads of Yugoslavia and Greece, stretching from Trieste to Athens through Macedonia, Thessaly, Thrace, the Peloponnese and Attica.

“The actors:  More than a hundred touring and Grand Touring cars with belching exhausts and screaming tyres shattering the peace of placid peasants in Yugoslavia, and the serenity of age-old monuments in Greece  —  the most important of which, the Acropolis,  being one of the starting points, animated for the occasion by the fluttering flags of participating countries. 

“The drama: A gruelling non-stop endurance test of man and machine over 2,000 miles of tricky and dangerous, but well-paved roads where every minute counts.

“Comic relief:  Women participants or co-drivers in slacks changing wheels, getting in the way of their male partner as he struggles with a faulty starter, or vainly trying to make up a grease and dust-smeared face before entering a town or village along the route.

“The highlights:  Five sets of full-speed special stages on roads twisting and turning, up and down hill where every second counts, and a dizzy hill-climb with hairpin bends up 4,600 ft. Mount Parnis that dominates Athens.

“The climax: A speed test with cars roaring across the macadamised prairie of Tatoi airfield, a wide plateau surrounded by pine-strewn valleys and the Royal estate.

“The finale: The drive past King Paul of the Hellenes on the hill of the Muses, with a circular background including the Acropolis, Lycabettus, Pentelicon, Hymettus, Parnis, and the blue Aegean sea, followed by prize-giving by H.M. the King.

“The postscript: The gala ball of Asteria, Glyfadha, where the ladies have cast off their slacks and appear in all their glamour.”

Joking apart, the Rally, which takes place from May 28th to May 31st, concluding with a speed test at Tatoi airfield and a hill-climb up Mount Parnis, should be a very testing one. Entries closed on April 25th, but team entries could be made up to May 27th. Details from the Organising Committee, VII R.I.A., A.T.C.G., Venizelon Ave.16,  Athens, Greece. The starting points are Athens and Trieste, and we note that 20th Century Fox will film the event.