On a quiet Saturday morning Varna was shaken by the roar of powerful engines as the Classical Old Cars gathered at the central part of the city. Fifteen cars parked close to the Black Sea Hotel, creating quite a fuss among the citizens and people working in the pedestrian area, all of these cars had come to take part in a competition held for retro automobiles.
Among the most interesting specimens was a ‘Berlie’ car produced in 1928 in France, whose owner acquired it from a museum and spent two years repairing it and supplying all original parts including a authentic Berlie engine. There also were several Volkswagens from different years and countries beautifully painted and supplied with original parts. But much more interesting for the local public turned out to be an old Russian Volga GAZ 21 M, produced in 1962 and equipped with an original Philips phonograph together with authentic small size 45 rpm records. After creating a lot of excitement in the city the retro cars drove to the near by resort of
Efsinovgrad where the royal summer residence used to be. There specialists in the field of old classical restored cars started checking on engines, estimating the authentity of the parts used and judging the profile of the cars as a whole. At the end of the day the winners were announced: in the category ‘Cars produced until 1946’ first prize went to the fine Berlie; in the category ‘Cars produced until 1961’ the winner was a Mercedes 180, produced in 1954; in the category ‘Cars produced until 1972’ first prize was for the extravagant Volga GAZ 21 M; in the category ‘Cars produced until 1979’ the winner was a Fiat 128 Bertone X 1/9, produced in 1977.
