Vintage cars going "to meet 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg"

A member of the British royal family - Prince Michael of Kent - will head the auto run of vintage cars To Meet the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg which is starting in Yekaterinburg (the Ural area) on May 20.

Prince Michael of Kent, the fourth son of King George V, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and a grandnephew of last Russian emperor Nicholas II, is a worldwide known figure in the charity sphere who patronizes quite a number of charity funds in Russia and in the world. In his opinion, holding the rally opens up a fine opportunity for establishing closer cooperation between the countries and for learning more about the history and culture of Russia.

The choice of Yekaterinburg as the initial point of the auto run is not coincidence. The point is that this city is of great importance in Russia's history because the family of the last Russian monarch tragically perished there in 1918.

Over the 15 days of the run its participants must cover more than 2,500 km.

The Bentley cars of the models of the 1920s-1930s, a Vauxhall (1926) and a Cadillac (1936) will participate in the auto run. All the 14 cars will be brought to Yekaterinburg from Great Britain by an Antonov heavy-duty aircraft. The vintage cars will be driven by drivers from Great Britain, the USA, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and France.

Popularisation of Russian cities which are little known abroad so far, specifically from the point of view of tourist business, will be a major purpose of the auto run. Prince Michael hopes that the auto run will serve to boost tourism and to establish mutual investment links between the regions of Russia through which the auto run will pass, and of Great Britain.

During the auto run it is planned to raise funds for charity programmes in Russia which are patronized by Prince Michael of Kent.