Day two, mid-morning, outside the Palácio Nacional de Mafra, it strikes me that the Corrida das Fundadores is more than just a gentle trundle between two cities. Think of it as Portugal’s equivalent of the London-to-Brighton Run, only the start and finish points in this case are three times as far apart even by the shortest route. Participation is open to cars built by 1939, rather than 1905, although the oldest of the 30 on this event is the 1904 Mercedes Simplex Tourer driven by Albert Eberhart and Roy Sullivan, and Octane’s 1920 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is pre-dated only by that car and a 1916 Buick.
We’re at an elevation of 115m, not so high in the grand scheme of things, but the topography of the greater Lisbon area is vertiginous and, right now, we’re pretty much in the clouds. Until earlier in the week, autumn had been enjoying a late burst of summer weather, with wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures above 30ºC. Now it’s raining. Thick, wet blobs of water have been lashing us for most of the time since we left the overnight stop at Caldas da Rainha, buoyed by a breeze best described as bracing (bracing enough to blow our high-sided Rolls off course more than once).
Weather protection takes the form of a vertical fun. Hey, better a tad moist than burnt to a crisp.
