Historical review and Champions

55 years of passion for the automobile ... And Adventure must go on !
Created in 1953 by the Automobile Club Dauphinois Sporting Association, the Neige & Glace Criterium rapidly became a winter classic thanks to the energy of its president Mrs Renee Guillon Wagner.

To the factory teams, it was an opportunity to make up for a bad result in the Monte Carlo or to confirm a victory from a few weeks prior ! The Neige & Glace roster is living proof of its importance in the racing calender with names such as Gerard Larousse, Bob Neyret, Jean-Claude Andruet and Jean Vinatier permanently engraved in its glorious pages. The seventies marked its pinnacle, Bruno Saby races his first Neige et Glace in a Simca 1000, then in 73 with a Group 3.

In 76 he finishes 2nd behind a certain Bernard Darniche and his Stratos. Henri Pescarolo charged through the surrounding mountains at the wheel of his Matra. Claude Laurent can count twelve editions since 1964 and admits it was always an adventure, we drove through the night, going over Mont Revard at 3 in the morning in a snow storm. Local heroes like Jean-Pierre Espitallier (5 Neige et Glace) or Franck Metiffiot remember that you were flat out all the time. And all boys from the region were there, like others played football?

The 1974 oil crisis marked the end of the Rally for modern cars of the era, but the Friends of Antiques Cars Association of Grenoble took over from there. Year after year, team of volunteers and friends managed to keep the tradition rolling, putting an emphasis on pre-war vehicles which ensured its success for over 30 years, with competitors entering from all over Europe.

Today marks a new chapter in the history of this beautiful event. Enter Patrick Zaniroli Promotion, organizers of the now famous Rallye des Princesses, regularity road rally for women. This new team set out to perpetuate the Neige & Glace tradition while giving it its sportive dimension by offering Regularity rally open for cars from pre-war to 1980 model year cars.

We will do everything in our power to ensure that the magnifient Alps, Vercors, Isere and Charteuse welcome the Neige & Glace caravan for many more years.

Now its your turn to write your name in the legend and make that the story goes on ...