The 19 Monte Carlo Rally crews who elected to start from Scheveningen, near The Hague, drove off at one minute intervals, Jan 18. Five of the crews are Dutch, six German, six English, one Belgian and one Irish.

Although the countryside was snow-covered, driving conditions were fairly good and it was Holland's first frost-free night for several weeks.

The 2,200 mile route will take the cars through Liege, Luxembourg, Boulogne, Blois, Mauriac, St. claude, Chambery and then Monte Carlo, where the first car is due at 11.34 hours, GMT, Jan 21.

There were over 320 starters from nine points - Glasgow, Stockholm, The Hague, Paris, Warsaw (for the first time), Munich, Lisbon, Rome and Athens. After zig-zagging across Europe for three days, those that arrive within the specified period will be faced with a 270 mile final Classification test.

The Rally was first run in 1911, organized by Anthony Noghes. Then twenty-two cars took part with starting points at Paris, Boulogne, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva, Lisbon and St. Petersburg, Russia. The following year eighty-six cars started. There wasn't another Rally until 1924. Year by year the number of entries increased until after the second world war the organizers introduced a selection system, limiting the number to 360.