Peking To Paris

History Of The Peking To Paris Rally

In 1907 a Parisian newspaper issued a challenge

“What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"

So started the Peking to Paris motor race.

Only five motorists managed to make the start in vehicles ranging from a three wheeled Contal cycle car to a 7 Litre Itala. The race followed a telegraph route which allowed the journalist travelling as a passenger in each car to wire their reports to the newspapers. This enabled the public in Europe and America to keep abreast of the race while it was being run.

The race was won by Prince Scipione Borghese in his Itala. The Prince was so confident of his chances of winning that he took a detour from Moscow to St Petersburg to attend a dinner held in his honour, before re-joining the race in Moscow.

To celebrate this early pioneering motoring event The Endurance Rally Association has organised a re-enactment of the race to be held in 2007. A total of 134 cars will set out from Beijing (formerly Peking) on May 27th to follow the 1907 route as closely as possible (even making the detour from Moscow to St Petersburg).

One of these cars has been prepared for the race in our workshops and will be driven by owner Jean-Pierre Muller and William Medcalf. Extensive work has been undertaken to ensure the car can endure the harsh conditions of China, Mongolia, the Gobi Dessert and the poor roads of Eastern Europe.

Invitations were first given out in 2004 for people to take part in the P-P. In October 2006 Jean-Pierre decided that he wanted to take part in the rally and asked us to not only prepare the car, but for William to join him on the adventure. This gave us only 7 months to ensure the car was rally ready. Even though the car was in very good condition throughout, and totally reliable, a painstaking inspection was carried out on all components.

Extra fuel tanks were fitted and fuel pumps added with double filtration systems to ensure the Mongolian 70 octane fuel would not get the better of them. We re-designed the carburation to enable the engine to run as efficiently as possible making use of modern air filters to keep sand out! An exhaust system was specially developed to run outside the chassis and over the rear axle. This will ensure the car can negotiate the many river crossings without flooding the exhaust. These are but a few examples of the many modifications made to the car.