Starting after a gathering at the Grand Palais and travelling two thousand kilometres to the finish at La Rochelle. The event was open to cars that took part in the original Tour de France Automobile between 1951 and 1973.
The drivers at the wheels of their classics toured round the Hexagon, passing through places and race tracks that have played a huge role in the history of French motorsport.
Some of the most astonishing Ferrari’s from the Sixties and Seventies took part which included a 275 GTB, 250 GT Tour de France, 365 GTB/4 Competizione and the Group IV 308. Aston Martin was very well represented with the presence of a DB2, DB2/4, DB Mark III and DB4 GT in the race field. A tribute was paid to the late Ferdinand Alexander Porsche with a dozen plastic Porsche prototypes in the rally. Another special entrant was the breath taking Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe driven by Kenny Brack. This Cobra Daytona is one of the six originals built and one of the three that participated in the Tour de France Automobile in 1964.
The new Enzo replacement ‘LaFerrari’ was shown at the beginning of the Tour Auto before the cars headed to Le Mans. Later they passed onto Orleans, Magny-Cours, Vichy, Albi and Limoges, before ending up at the port of La Rochelle.
On the whole two thousand kilometre route, over a hundred thousand fans turned out to cheer on those taking part in the event, which this year was sponsored by Scuderia Ferrari partner, Hublot. A British crew won the Group 1 category in their Ferrari 308 which was a fantastic way to end the tour.
