Photos: Paris vintage car parade celebrates 120 years
Vintage cars have lined up in the streets of Paris for this year’s Mondial de l’Auto motor show, for a parade celebrating 120 years since the first event.
The celebratory parade took place yesterday (Sunday September 30), with vehicles assembling in La Place de la Concorde before driving past some of the capital’s most symbolic sites, including la Place des Invalides, the Quai Branly, the Pont d’Iéna and the Avenue des Champs Elysées.
There was also an extra display of 10 cars that were selected for the “120 Years of Passion” competition.
Click through the gallery below to see more photos of the event
Following up on the parade, the motor show itself will take place at the Porte de Versailles from October 4 to 14. Well over 1 million people are expected to attend the event, building on the official figure of 1,072,697 visitors in 2016.
Most of the cars are owned by vintage vehicle collectors, who must register to take part. Members of the public were able to watch the parade and were also welcomed by the collectors to view the cars on display.
The first Mondial de l’Auto show took place in the Jardin des Tuileries in 1898. That year, all cars on display had to prove that it could accomplish “a ride from Paris to Versailles and back, using its own means”.
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Later, the exhibition would move to the Grand Palais until the Second World War, when it was forced to take a break. In 1946, almost 810,000 people attended the show in 10 days.
By 1950, the show was taking place at the Porte de Versailles as well as the Grand Palais, and by 1954, attendance had reached one million people. General Charles de Gaulle attended in 1962, by which time the global influence of the event had been established.
