For the first time, a children's retro rally took place in Yekaterinburg. At Plotinka near the Time Machine exhibition pavilion, little racers drove pedal cars from the 1970s and 1990s. The race cars were delivered to the start from the UMMC Automotive Technology Museum.
First baby the retro rally was held according to the "adult" rules. Cars with a muscular drive of a reciprocating type at least 30 years old were admitted to the race. The competition program, as in large retro rallies, involved a series of tests. In addition to speed races, it included a demonstration of the elements of figured driving. It should be noted that there were so many wishing to compete that the organizers carried out two additional races.
Four-year-old Dima Stasyuk did the best with a car eight times older than the driver, he reached the finish line faster than others in his race, and then beat the competition in the final.
“Parents of kids who have ridden in pedal cars today remember how they rode such cars in parks when they were very young,” said Stanislav Churkin, director of the Museum of Automotive Technology, at the celebration. - Today, adults can feel nostalgic, and children can learn more about the childhood of their dads and moms. Thus, we preserve and pass on to the younger generation the history of the automotive industry in our country. This is one of the main tasks of our Museum.
After the competition and the awarding of prizes, the children who came to cheer for their peers also took a ride in cars that looked like real cars. Soviet designers tried to bring a children's car as close as possible to an adult analogue: they were made of thin sheet steel and painted in bright colors. Solid rubber narrow wheels were completed with chrome caps. The weight of such a toy reaches 13 kg, so to accelerate the children's Moskvich up to its maximum speed - 8 km /h - growing drivers required a lot of effort. The price of the car in 1975 was 25-27 rubles - a fairly large amount for a Soviet family with an average income. Many parents could not buy it for their child, but had the opportunity to rent it at the recreation park.
The first children's retro rally is one of the events of the In Motion festival, which is held in Yekaterinburg on the eve of the Ural Cup retro rally (stage of the Russian Automobile Federation Cup). A large-scale race on older cars starts on July 13 from the UMMC Automotive Museum. Drivers from abroad, the best Russian crews and representatives of the local retro community are invited to participate.
