Johanna betermi
"El Comercio on Wheels" has been the name given this year, during the 3-4-5 October, to the traditional rally organized annually by the Veteran Car Club of Spain under the patronage of the Community of Madrid.
The appointment has only had one qualifier: "Success." A ten for the fans, inhabitants and authorities of Aranjuez, the center of the event; Navalcarnero, a town that welcomed the participants on Saturday in its beautiful cobbled streets; and Chinchón, with its magnificent and traditional plaza, which these days served as a bullring and which also gave shelter to the singular caravan.
The participating vehicles were 25, all manufactured before 1950 and the majority prior to 1940. They completed the three days of travel without problems with only one loss on the last day and a couple of "anecdotes" -not breakdowns- in the course of the route.
Come from everywhere
Participants came from populations as distant as La Coruña, Córdoba, Burgos, Guadalajara and, of course, Madrid. The frames were varied: Aston Martin, Cord, Hispano Suiza, Rolls, DKW, Packard, Ford, Mercedes, Dodge, Bentley, Berliet, etc, all of them generally in impeccable magazine condition.
Saturday 4 a large group of participants dressed, that they did not disguise, with suits according to the vehicles they were driving. Lovers of mechanics could enjoy hearing and seeing vehicles with two, four, six, and eight cylinder engines in motion, with pieces as exclusive as the two 6-cylinder Rolls Royce Phantom II Springfield, with side valves, or the most mundane. 2-cylinder two-stroke from a 1930 DKW, among others.
With the cars parked in a circle in the aforementioned Chinchón square, and eating in one of the typical restaurants with caves in the town, this edition of “El Comercio sobre Ruedas” was concluded, an appointment that will undoubtedly be repeated on next year.
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