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History of rally car racing

Rally car racing, or rallying, is a sport that has a history that's longer than you might expect. The idea of racing off the designated tracks is certainly nothing spectacularly creative – but you may not realize that rally racing has a history almost as old as cars themselves.

Cars were invented in the late 1800s (and exactly when depends on exactly what you count as the first car) and the first rally car race took place in the early 1900s. The most likely “first official rally car racing” would be traced back to the Monte Carlo Rally, which took place in 1911. We can thank the French for popularizing the idea, however. They had a race called the “horseless carriage” race, which was so popular that it inspired a series of city-to-city races throughout Europe.

In the early 1900s, racing had already decided it wanted to go for the track concept (similar to horse derby races) and those who had already taken to rally racing were none too pleased. Gratefully, rally car racing could take place on private roads or back-roads – even dirt roads, if needs be – and so the sport was not truly damaged by the decisions of the rest of the racing world. The Monte Carlo Rally was also a sport which continued to have popularity.

Only a few things could successfully interfere with the passion of the rally car racers. One was the Great War – more commonly known as World War I – which caused a lull in the sport. The sport launched back into its fanaticism in 1924, however, and would continue in to gain popularity into the 21st century.