PEKING TO PARIS

This has to be the greatest motor race in the world with the grandest of cars!

From 10th September - 16th October 2010, the 100th anniversary of the Peking to Paris Rally will be run. The route for 2010 drives from China, through Mongolia, then briefly into Russia before turning south west into Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. This is the historic Silk Route where there are days off in such fabled cities as Almaty and Samarkand. All the cars entered are vintage 1930 - 1960s cars with some exceptions (support vehicles), the images above are just some of the 300 competitors. In 1907 the first-ever trans-Continental motor-rally between Peking and Paris became an epic challenge between a Prince and a Pauper. Prince Borghese had the best funded entry and carefully researched the conditions of setting out on a journey where the first 5,000 miles saw no roads, at all, so, no maps and no garages. His chief rival was a fair-ground worker who until he read news of the race in a Paris newspaper, Le Matin, picked up blowing in the wind, had never even sat in a motor-car, so had no idea how to drive one.

Five cars set out from Peking, four made it to Paris to a tumultuous welcome and world-wide fame and hence began the annual Peking to Paris rally drive. For more information please visit http://www.pekingparis.com/index.html