{"id":13229,"date":"2023-11-15T06:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T06:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=13229"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:04:19","slug":"peking-to-paris-car-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/peking-to-paris-car-race\/","title":{"rendered":"A new book examines a quirky 1907 Peking to Paris car race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kassia St Clair\u2019s The Race to the Future<\/em> (John Murray, 2023) might just be the perfect read for the China history buff and\/or \u201cPetrol Head\u201d in your life, telling the incredible story of the 1907 Peking to Paris car race<\/h2>\n

In 1907, some very, very optimistic Europeans \u2014 including an Italian Prince, a French racing driver, and a conman or two \u2013 gathered in the French Embassy in Beijing to start their long journey across the Gobi, into Mongolia, across the vastness of Russia into Europe and finally down to Paris. Bandits, wolves, angry locals and petrol thieves all added to their problems, as well as cars that were, to say the least, not always totally reliable.<\/p>\n

But The Race to the Future<\/em> is not just about a car race, it\u2019s about a changing world, from one we wouldn\u2019t recognise to one we most certainly do. And it\u2019s about China\u2019s introduction to that now long ubiquitous invention of the modern age \u2013 the combustion engine. Paul French caught up with the book\u2019s author Kassia St Clair to talk cars, China and modernity\u2026but not to give away who won the race!<\/p>\n

\"Launchpad<\/a><\/p>\n

First of all, the race itself. Who had the idea, what were the rules and why on earth start in Peking of all places where cars were virtually unknown and roads basic to say the least in 1907?<\/h4>\n

The idea came from the Parisian newspaper Le Matin, possibly in collaboration with the owner of the De Dion Bouton car brand, who was brilliant at marketing his vehicles and always keen to make a splash. It was organised in a hurry, and the planning phase was short and a bit chaotic. The result was that there were few concrete rules, and because these shifted over time, drivers were unsure about them. For example, they didn\u2019t really know how long they were expected to stick together as a team and where and when it went from \u2018group endeavour\u2019 to \u2018race\u2019. The route was something of a classic: it had been done by other writers previously on horseback or using the train. People of that time liked the alliteration and the idea that they were travelling from the \u2018capital\u2019 or \u2018heart\u2019 of the East to that of the West.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Who were the competitors, and did any car brands we might still recognise today take part?<\/h4>\n

The competitors were a mixed bunch. The best-known was an Italian prince from the Borghese family. This was one of the most prestigious families in Italy: the Borghese gardens in Rome are named after them, and one ancestor had been a pope. Car enthusiasts, particularly those interested in the early days, would recognise the De Dion-Bouton name; this was one of the best-known car brands of this time (a 1907 De Dion-Bouton car is featured in the lead image of this article). The Itala was also very prestigious; it was an Itala vehicle that was used to open the Brooklands track that same year. The others \u2013 the Contal and the Spyker \u2013 were more obscure.<\/p>\n

Had anyone in China actually seen a car yet in 1907?<\/h4>\n

Yes! Although the journalists and the drivers flattered their readers back home in France, Britain and Italy by suggesting that theirs were the very first vehicles in China, we know that wasn\u2019t the case. Articles about car parades and letters complaining about reckless drivers in Shanghai and other large cities were being sent to newspapers in the years before the race. We also know that Empress Dowager Cixi owned an early American Duryea vehicle.<\/p>\n