Put
it into third gear. While most of us eagerly await cheap airline
tickets from Tel-Aviv to London, some innovative souls will be driving
all the way from England to Israel
this upcoming May —and in vintage luxury cars at that.
This unique antique car rally is a unique project celebrating
Israel’s 60th Independence Day, and the participating vehicles will be
proudly displayed at the Knesset in Jerusalem. The rally is sponsored
by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a large charitable organization in
England which raises funds for Israel.
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The drivers are expected to cross the Mediterranean Sea in
a ferry or with the aid of a cargo plane. Several prominent Jewish
businessmen from the United States, Switzerland, and Ireland are also
expected to join this special delegation, and have already brought
their cars to England to that very end.
Some participants in this rally will not be returning to
England. With the support of the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization they plan
to utilize this rally as a unique opportunity to make aliyah to Israel
in style. Who needs a crowded plane when you can take the scenic route
in an antique car?
Participating in this rally comes at a rather hefty cost
of roughly NIS 130,000 (about $35,534) per participant. The lucky
participant who receives the honor of leading this motorized convoy and
driving through the Knesset gates first, will have to pay three
times that amount.
The
vehicles which will take place in this rally also carry a whopping
price-tag, and are hardly your run of the mill cars. Taking part in
this convoy will be vintage Porsches, Aston Martins, Jaguars and Rolls
Royces.
Some of the older cars participating in this rally are a 1942
Cadillac and a 1948 Rolls Royce which will be turning 60 right along
with the State of Israel. All in all, the vehicles taking part in the
rally have a reported value of some NIS 30 million ($82 million).
“We will probably be able to raise over 250,000 British pounds
($496,000) for residents of the Negev as part of this event,” said
Abraham Kellman, the JNF’s representative in Israel, who recently
enlisted the support of Knesset Director-General Avi Balashnikov for
the rally.
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik is also expected to greet rally participants as they enter the Knesset gates.
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