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Rally Monte Carlo 1928 - In reverse gear to a double victory

Name: Fiat 509 1928
Brand: Fiat

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Created on January 20, 2011

Text:

Bernhard Brägger

Photos:

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Rally Monte Carlo 1928 - Laroque with 1.4-liter La Licorne at the Col des Braus

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Summary

In 1928, the Monte Carlo Rally was won by Jacques Bignan in a small Fiat 509; he covered part of the route in reverse gear.

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Jacques Bignan from Bucharest and E.P. Malaret from Königsberg on their weak-chested Fiats 509 are the lucky winners. And Madame Charlotte Versigny started on Talbot in Bucharest? With victory already in sight, railroad workers near Sospel blocked her passage for a long time. The Bugatti racer's dream of victory over the men's company at what had become the most famous rally, the Automobile Monte Carlo, was over. Sophisticated Monaco welcomes the participants with "southern splendor and glorious colors" and listens eagerly to the rally and robbery stories of the drivers. Bignan's Fiat alone, with defective brakes, dents on the mudguards and holes in the oil sump and radiator patched up in a makeshift manner, speaks volumes. And Bignan himself? He can hardly believe his victory and says to the journalists: "Unbelievable victory, as we had to cover almost half the distance in reverse gear and the customs officer at the Yugoslavian border simply went to sleep".

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