Peking to Paris - The Ultimate Driving Adventure

By: Philip Young .

The official record of the centennial re-enactment of a great motoring milestone: the 1907 Peking to Paris race. Man and machine against the elements, driving where no car has gone before …

That was the impossible challenge of 1907 when a handful of buccaneering madcap motorists took up the idea of a Paris newspaper to prove that the car could now go anywhere by driving the huge distance between two capital cities … from Peking to Paris.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the original “Great Race”, over 100 cars set out to drive the original route used by Prince Borghese in 1907: they ranged from authentic veteran Italas, to vintage Bentleys, to classic Aston Martins and pretty much everything in-between. Drivers of 26 different nationalities came together to pit their wits and their cars by driving 40 days from the Great Wall of China, across the Gobi Desert. After the Gobi Desert came ten days of wilderness crossing Mongolia’s vast plains to Russia, then on to Moscow’s Red Square and St. Petersburg, to Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Germany. The survivors finally rolling into Paris for an amazing party.

Even though 100 years on from the original ground breaking event, today's rally enthusiasts discovered that in Mongolia, conditions of poor fuel, problems of food and water and finding their way to distant horizons remained a challenge exactly as faced by the original pioneers.

This then is the inside story of the great driving efforts and human endeavour required to complete an amazingly challenging route. With 250 photos, official maps and inside information this is a fascinating read for any motor enthusisast. The book also briefly describes the original event, including previously unpublished photographs.

Features

• This is the official book of the 100th anniversary of the first trans-continental motor-rally
• Includes previously unpublished photographs of the 1907 epic
• A Detailed daily-diary of the 40-day drive from Peking to Paris through the Gobi Desert, Outer Mongolia, and across Russia to Europe
• 130 intrepid drivers, in cars ranging from a 1903 Mercedes eight-litre, and original “Great Race” Itala, to a 1967 Aston Martin
• Splendid photographs of stunning scenery as drivers take on the challenge of one of the greatest remaining wildernesses.
• The official inside story from start to finish of the greatest rally yet devised for vintage and classic cars

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