The three-day event attracted some unusual and fascinating vehicles such as a flag-adorned ex-Czechoslovakian presidential Tatra 613S stretched limousine

Eastern Yorkshire looked more like Eastern Europe recently when the SALT 3 rally turned back the clock to the Cold War era and brought Tatras, Ladas, Trabants, Skodas, Volgas and GAZ and other Socialist superstars to the area.

The USSR cars looked perfectly at home as they visited military museums such as RAF Holmpton nuclear bunker and Fort Paull near Hull, and the Yorkshire Air Museum just outside York; so much so in fact that they were invited in to be exhibits themselves.

The three-day event attracted some unusual and fascinating vehicles such as a flag-adorned ex-Czechoslovakian presidential Tatra 613S stretched limousine (which was pulled over by local police worried there was a diplomatic visit taking place they didn’t know about), an East German GAZ 69M formerly the property of the East German army and a very imposing Volga 3102. There were also five Trabants, bringing the distinctive sounds of their popping two-stroke engines and a slight blue fog to the Yorkshire countryside.

Next year’s SALT 4 rally will take place around Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire from June 4 to 6. It’s open to any suitable classic built before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, whether NATO or Warsaw Pact. More details on www.sovietautoluxurytours.co.uk.