Premiere in the Holy Land: BMW Group Classic supports classic car rally through Israel.

Munich. BMW Group Classic is expanding its international involvement in show events and rallies for historic vehicles. One such gathering it is supporting as a partner is the inaugural Holy Land 1000 Tour through Israel. This globally unique event bringing together automotive heritage and cultural history promises to capture the imagination of participants and spectators in equal measure. The reliability trial for sports cars and racers at least 50 years old will take place from 22 – 27 March 2015 over a historically fascinating route stretching for roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) through the stunning landscapes of the Holy Land. For the tour, BMW Group Classic has selected three vehicles from its own collection that represent milestones in the history of the BMW brand. Spearheading the triumvirate will be a BMW 507 piloted by BMW Group Classic ambassador H.R.H. The Prince of Bavaria .

The Holy Land 1000 Tour was dreamt up by a group of Israeli vintage car aficionados. After spending many years participating in high-calibre classic car meets and rallies across the globe, they will be hosting a reliability run for historic cars in their home country for the first time. The inaugural Holy Land event highlights the burgeoning enthusiasm for historic vehicles in Israel, as elsewhere. The rally is being run as a charity event, with proceeds helping to fund various projects, including numerous youth and educational initiatives in some of the towns the tour will visit this year.

The event organisers liaised closely with national government agencies, local authorities and the police to draw up a route which would paint a picture of modern Israel as well as providing participants with an intense experience of the country’s unparalleled history. The scenery en route will be similarly rich in variety. The topographical backdrop for the 60 classic cars taking part in the Holy Land 1000 Tour ranges from the spectacular spring blooms on the fringes of the Negev desert to the snow-capped Golan Heights and from the Mediterranean coastline between Haifa and Tel Aviv to the shores of the Dead Sea.

BMW Group Classic is involved as a partner of the event and has dispatched three captivating sports cars from the company’s own collection to take their places on the start line. Of the trio, the BMW 507 Roadster with H.R.H. The Prince of Bavaria at the wheel would be particularly worthy of the title “legend on wheels”. Created by young designer Albrecht Graf Goertz, the two-seater was the highlight of the 1955 Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). With its 150 hp eight-cylinder engine, it remains a supreme long-distance sporting machine to this day.

It will be accompanied on the Holy Land 1000 Tour by a BMW 503 Coupé and a BMW 3200 CS. The BMW 503 Coupé, likewise unveiled in 1955, sports a 140 hp version of the then unique aluminium V8 engine. Its successor, the BMW 3200 CS, came onto the market in 1962 and wrote another new chapter in the brand’s history of elegant luxury coupés powered by eight-cylinder engines.

The start and finish line for the Holy Land 1000 Tour will be in the Mediterranean port city of Tel Aviv. Over the course of five days, participants will also visit the historic cities of Nazareth, Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva and Jerusalem as well as the Sea of Galilee and the lowest point of dry land on earth on the shoreline of the Dead Sea. It all adds up to a voyage taking in 1,000 miles of driving and 3,000 years of history.