Seattle Area Couple Wins Vintage Cape Horn Automobile Rally

From a field of 40 vintage and classic cars, Chuck and Pam Lyford of Medina, Washington, have claimed the overall victory in the inaugural Vintage Cape Horn Rally. The Lyfords raced their 1938 Chevrolet Fangio coupe 6,000 kilometers from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia at the southern tip of South America, while competing against such other rare makes as Bentley, Alvis and Lagonda. At the rally’s end, the margin of victory was a scant 62 seconds. The rally route wound through Argentina and Chile on both tarmac and gravel, over mountain passes as high as 3,200 meters above sea level, and featured timed special stages on country roads, as well as local race tracks. The 22-day race began on November 15 in over-100-degree weather, and ended December 4 in a snowstorm. The car was prepared by vintage racing specialists T-Zero Racing in Preston, Washington, and departed for Argentina via container ship on September 4.