In 1907The Automotive world was a completely different place. If you were traveling somewhere, you wouldn’t have even thought about driving if it wasn’t you rich. Huge portions of the world’s population had never moved faster than the speed of a human Horseand that Ford Model T should still change the world. And yet in 1907 five cars and twelve drivers or passengers left there Beijing – now Beijing, China – for an 8,000-mile journey to Paris, France.
That premise alone sounds incredible, but it’s a true story that’s revealed in a new book by author Kassia St. Clair called ” The Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris – The Adventure That Accelerated the 20th Century.
By 1907, city-to-city distance races were a fairly regular event in Europe. These events were intended to push young automotive machines to their limits and reward wealthy or inventive drivers with awards, and the competitions inevitably contributed to the development of young automotive technology. But the Beijing to Paris race should be more than just a race; it should be a adventure.
Organized by the Paris newspaper The morning In an attempt to sell papers, the Beijing-Paris race would be unlike anything ever seen before in an automobile. Drivers and their crews drove through China, Siberia, Russia and Europe, sometimes themselves, but more often pushing their vehicles out of some muddy puzzle. They drove through the Gobi Desert and over the Ural Mountains, making ruthless repairs and trying not to starve. All but one of the vehicles had a journalist as a crew member; These journalists were tasked with telegraphing back live updates The morning whenever they could.
The machinery of the challenge was as diverse as the ideologies about motorsport technology at the time. At one end of the spectrum was the three-wheeled, six horsepower Contal Mototri, a light and maneuverable vehicle that was believed to easily overcome any obstacles in its path but would be slower on paved roads. At the other end was an Itala with an output of between 35 and 45 hp; Many experts assumed that this heavier car would only be successful on the asphalt portions of the race, while it would struggle in the mud. Between these power poles were two 10hp De Dion Boutons, representing the pride of France, and a 15hp Spyker from the Netherlands.
To truly understand the significance of the Beijing-Paris race, one must understand the state of the world at the time. One of my favorite parts of Race into the future was that author St. Clair devotes every other chapter to this all-important context. For example, before you even read about the start of the race, St. Clair takes you through the birth of the automobile. As the drivers send their first telegrams, St. Clair helps you understand how important the invention of the telegraph was. As the riders trek through rural Siberia, St. Clair talks about the horse’s long history as a mode of transportation and why we switched to something new. In another chapter, she equally artfully explores why gasoline became the de facto power source for automobiles as people used everything from alcohol to electricity to power cars at the turn of the 20th century.
All of this is beautifully tied into the Beijing-Paris story itself, which is inherently fascinating. Since the race was organized by a French newspaper, it was a travesty that an Italian car led the field for most of the race. One participant claimed to have achieved an astonishingly quick feat – only for St. Clair to reveal this must I took the train instead, which every other writer on this topic seems to have missed. One team almost died in the Gobi Desert, another failed to get much further than the walls of Beijing. One competitor was a European royal, while another was exposed as a serial fraudster.
The Beijing-Paris race was certainly less of a “race” and more of an adventure – but that doesn’t make it any less a compelling story, and Kassia St. Clair is the perfect person to bring it to life. I enjoyed reading it so much that I would call it fun, but I don’t want to diminish the wealth of knowledge by doing so The race into the future brings. If you’ve ever been interested in anything automotive, this is a perfect little sampling of what the history of the automobile has to offer.
The Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris – The Adventure That Accelerated the 20th Century will officially go on sale in the US on May 14, 2024 – but you can pre-order your copy now.