Coast to Coast Classic Car Rally to Criss-Cross South America in 2026
The 2026 Gaucho Trail Motor Challenge led by historic rally specialists HERO-ERA will cover 7,000 miles and six countries.
The route will run from the Atlantic coast in Uruguay to the Pacific coast in Chile, via the Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest. Staring in Montevideo the rally will take entrants through Brazil to Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile before heading back to the starting point again 28 days later.
Highlights along the way are to include Brazil’s Iguazu Falls, the Bolivian salt flats of Uyuni, and the Bio Bio region of Chile that’s famously the setting of a round of the World Rally Championship. “There’s around 3,000km of gravel,” historic rally expert Kim Bannister told Magneto, “But it includes everything from smooth asphalt to the soft sands of the Trans-Chaco, along with dirt roads, baked mud and more.”
The Gaucho Trail is open to cars made before 1976, although there are also special classes for those built prior to 1985 and classic 4x4 vehicles. A maximum of 40 cars will be permitted to take part, with the entry fee a hefty £58,400 plus the cost of shipping a car to and from Uruguay.
The event builds on previous HERO-ERA rally exploits in South America including its 2001 Inca Trail drive, La Aventura Panamericana in 2006, Vintage Cape Horn in 2013, 2016’s Rally of the Incas and Lima to Cape Horn event of 2022.
The 2026 Gaucho Trail Motor Challenge led by historic rally specialists HERO-ERA will cover 7,000 miles and six countries.