THE GRAND PRIX OF SOUTH AMERICA 2026

COMPETITION/TOURING/ENDURO

October 22nd to 25th November, 2026

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

In 2018 we ran an anniversary event and are proud to say that we will run a new version in 2026 – 78 years after the original and eight years after our last event.

This time we will have a new route in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia which keeping to the incredible roads of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia that we travelled before.

This competitive event will start in Montevideo, Uruguay and then drive to Buenos Aires where Fangio’s son will flag the cars off at midnight – just as the original 1948 and 2018 events did. We drive through the night on a variety of surfaces to Rosario where we stop for the day and night, recharging the batteries and checking out the cars.

Then it’s a off to Cordoba through the plains and mountains. From Cordoba we take to the dirt roads though the high plains to San Luis. Another day with excellent dirt roads.

Our next stop is Mendoza where we also get a day off to look at the cars and prepare for the run into Chile.

Now we are really in the Andes and take on some iconic roads including the fabled Ruta 40. Today our stop is San Juan before we head north to La Rioja.

The dirt road mileage builds up as we head to Catamarca, then into Chile and the Atacama desert – one of the least light polluted areas in the world revealing the Milky Way in all its glory.

An all too brief stop to admire the stars before continuing north to the Uyuni Salt flats where we stay in the famed Hotel Palais de Sel on the edge of the flats.

Before leaving Bolivia we stop in Huatajata, then cross Lake Titicaca to Puno and the Hotel Lago Titicaca. Pushing north we have a two night stop in Cusco in the Monesteria Hotel – probably the best hotel in Peru.

Our route takes us along and through the great Andes in Peru, stopping at Ayacucho, Huancayo, Huancuo and Huaraz before dropping down to sea level in Trujillo. Mountains, stunning scenery and fine driving roads are the order of the day here.

One more town in Peru, Piura, before we enter Ecuador, our 5^th country on this rally. Our first stop is Loja, then Cuenca where we get another day off to tend to the cars. Now we are north of the Equator and halt in Quito, before leaving Ecuador behind for Colombia.

The border into Colombia takes the longest on this journey but once through we stop in Pasto. Now on the home stretch we overnight in Medellin and Monteria before our final destination, Cartagena.

In Cartagena we have our gala meal and collect the cars for shipping back home.

The History

In 1948 the Ford V8 was the car making all the running. Fangio in his Chevrolet Master was in the top five but was chasing Oscar Galvez’s Ford which was a front runner all the way swapping stage wins with his brother Juan in a similar car.

Fangio, meanwhile was heading towards disaster on Stage 7, but before that we was to win stage 5 from La Paz to Arequipa. At the same time a real Knight of the Road was emerging in the form of Eusabio Marcilla who was dubbed El Caballero del Camino for his selfless acts of rescuing competitors when they got into trouble on the road.

He was the person who came to the aid of Fangio on the 1322km Stage 7 when his car slipped off the edge and disappeared down a 200 metre drop. Marcilla was in contention all the way and would probably have had a top two or three finish if he had ignored the plight of his fellow competitors.

With Juan and Oscar Galvez now clear of their main rivals they continued to swap stages through Tumbes, Quito, Pasto, Cali, Bogota, Cucuta and Valera before the final run into Caracas.

But drama was unfolding as the cars sped towards the finishing line. Juan Galvez was involved in an accident on the last stage leaving the prize open to his brother only for him to breakdown within sight of the finishing line. As he was pushing the car towards the chequered flag a spectator joined in which resulted in this being classified as receiving outside assistance and a disqualification!

The spoils then when to the surprised Domingo Marimon, nicknamed Toscanito, because of his habit of always smoking a Tuscan cigar. He had driven a steady race and was rewarded for his cautious approach.

The rally covered nearly 10,000kms, visited Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela and attracted crowds of millions along the way.

It is still regarded as the greatest road race ever and one that deserves a re-run in cars of the period.

The Future

The 2026 Grand Prix of South America will start on the 22^nd of October – 78 years, almost to the day, of the original start – but while they raced on the roads we will confine our tests to race tracks and private roads.

It is open to all cars built before 1980 but will have a special category for the type of American cars of the period which ran in the first Buenos Aires to Caracas event.