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The Wild Event That Saw Drivers Race From Beijing to Paris In 1907
Nearly 10,000 miles of driving in a world not made for cars
In 1907, automobiles were a curiosity for most people. They were the playthings of the rich and famous and not something that the average person would have had access to. Indeed, large swaths of the world were still in the grips of a form of serfdom. Millions of people in China and Russia were still considered to be Medievalesque peasants. The idea of taking a car to do anything was as foreign to them as flying a rocket to work is to us today. Yet, in 1907, some of these modern peasants stood along dusty roads to catch a glimpse of fast futuristic cars racing past them in a bid for glory.
Starting in Peking (Beijing), five race teams assembled, with twelve people in total, to complete a race that would see them drive 9,000 miles to the French capital of Paris. Such an event today would be challenging and something made for television. Even with modern machines and carefully plotted routes, racing across some of the world’s emptiest regions would be a slog. Now imagine completing such an event in 1907.
The world of 1907 is completely different from the world today. Infrastructure was not made for cars. Most roads were still designed with foot traffic or horses in mind. There were no…
