Map of the route travelled

The winner, Prince Scipione Borghese (left) with journalist Luigi Barzini sr (right) during their Peking to Paris rally.

The Peking to Paris motor race was a race held in 1907 for automobiles between Peking (now Beijing), China and Paris, France, a distance of nearly 12,000 miles. Car redirects here. ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; Postal System Pinyin: Peking), is the capital city of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, as viewed from the Trocadéro This article is about the capital and largest city in France. ...

The idea for the race came from a challenge published in the Paris newspaper Le Matin on 31 January 1907, that Le Matin is a daily newspaper published by Edipresse in Lausanne, Switzerland. ...

"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?"

There were forty entrants in the race, but only five teams ended up going ahead with shipping the cars to Peking. The race was held despite the race committee cancelling the race.

There were no rules in the race, except that the first car to Paris would win the prize of a magnum of Mumm champagne. The race went without any assistance through country where there was no roads, or road-maps. For the race, camels carrying fuel left Peking and set up at stations along the route to give fuel to the racers. The race followed a telegraph route so that the race was well covered in newspapers at the time. Each car had one journalist as a passenger, with the journalists sending stories from the telegraph stations regularly through the race. The word Champagne can have one of several meanings when stated alone. ... For other uses, see Camel (disambiguation). ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ...

It was held during a time when cars were fairly new, and went through remote areas of Asia where people were not familiar with motor travel. The route between Peking and Lake Baikal had only previously been attempted on horseback. The race was won by Italian Prince Scipione Borghese of the Borghese family, accompanied by the journalist Luigi Barzini, Sr.. He was confident and had even taken a detour from Moscow to St Petersburg for a dinner which was held for the team, and afterwards headed back to Moscow and rejoined the race. The event was not intended to be a race or competition, but quickly became one due to the pioneering nature of it and the technical superiority of the Italians' car, a 7433 cc 35/45hp model Itala. World map showing the location of Asia. ... Lake Baikal The Yenisei River basin, Lake Baikal, and the cities of Dikson, Dudinka, Turukhansk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk Lake Baikal is the largest (by volume), deepest and oldest freshwater lake in the world. ... Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian noble and papal background, originating in Siena where they came to prominence in the 13th century holding official offices under the commune. ... Government Russia District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuri Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Itala Itala Itala was a exotic car manufacturer in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. ...

Hazards of the road: Borghese & Barzini's Itala having fallen through a bridge

Second in the race was Charles Goddard in the Spyker, who had no money and had to ask others for petrol, and borrowed his car for the race. He was arrested for fraud near the end of the race. Some of the other cars had difficulties in going up ravines, across mud, quicksand and bridges across rivers not designed for vehicles. The Contal cycle car bogged down in the Gobi desert and was not recovered, with the crew lucky to be found alive by locals. Barzini published the book Peking to Paris in 1908, filled with hundreds of pictures. Itala Itala Itala was a exotic car manufacturer in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. ... The Gobi (Mongolian Говь, Chinese 戈壁; pinyin gē bì) is a large desert region in northern China and southern Mongolia. ...

Teams

• Italian 7 litre Itala (1st) driven by Prince Scipione Borghese
• 3 wheeler Contal Cyclecar (2nd) driven by Auguste Pons
• Dutch Spyker driven by Charles Godard with Jean du Taillis
• DeDion driven by Georges Cormier
• DeDion driven by Victor Collignon

Itala Itala Itala was a exotic car manufacturer in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. ... Cyclecars were small, generally inexpensive cars manufactured mainly between 1910 and 1923. ... Spyker was a Dutch car manufacturer, started in 1880 by coach builders Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker, but to be able to market the brand better in foreign countries, the ij was changed in 1903 into y. The were originally based in Hilversum but in 1898 moved to Trompenburg, Amsterdam. ... de Dion-Bouton was a successful French automobile manufacturer at the beginning of the 20th century. ... de Dion-Bouton was a successful French automobile manufacturer at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

Re-enactments

The Itala being pulled across unnavigable terrain

Several races have been held to re-enact the event, including the Great Auto Race of 1908 which raced from New York west to Paris (by sea for part of the way). During most of the twentieth century other re-enactments could not be held because of the establishment of the USSR after the 1917 Russian Revolution until glasnost in the early 1990s racers were again allowed on this race. Russian Revolution can refer to the following events in the history of Russia: The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a series of strikes and anti-government violence against Tsar Nicholas II The Russian Revolution of 1917, which included: February Revolution, which resulted in the abdication of Nicholas II of Russia... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In 1990 the London To Peking Motor Challenge was held, which raced in the opposite direction as the original race, from London to Beijing. In 1997 there was the "The Second Peking to Paris Motor Challenge" made from 94 vintage cars which went a more southern route through Tibet, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece and Italy, which was won by British Phil Surtees and John Bayliss driving a 1942 Willys Jeep. The London to Peking Motor Challenge was a one-time car rally organized by the Jules Verne Society in the Spring of 1990. ...

On May 15, 2005 four cars departed Beijing for Paris retracing the original route with very similar cars to the originals; a Spyker, 1907 and 1912 De Dion-Bouton, 1907 Itala and a Contal Cycle-car replica. This journey was televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in a four-part documentary series entitled Peking to Paris. The show was hosted by Warren Brown, one of two drivers on the Itala and a cartoonist with Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph. Spyker was a Dutch car manufacturer, started in 1880 by coach builders Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker, but to be able to market the brand better in foreign countries, the ij was changed in 1903 into y. The were originally based in Hilversum but in 1898 moved to Trompenburg, Amsterdam. ... de Dion-Bouton was a successful French automobile manufacturer at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Itala Itala Itala was a exotic car manufacturer in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australias national non-commercial public broadcaster. ... The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, and since its opening it has become an international symbol of Sydney Sydney (pronounced ) is the state capital of New South Wales, located on the east coast of Australia. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ...

A race in 2007 is planned on the 100th anniversary of the race, called Peking to Paris 2007 – "A Stupendous Challenge"

The Spyker D12 SUV introduced in 2006 is named the "Peking-to-Paris" after the race.

External links

• Pekingparis2005.com
• Popular Mechanics The Great Race
• Peking to Paris 2007 – "A Stupendous Challenge"
• ABC tv Peking to Paris