Peking to Paris

I just watched the final part of a really interesting ABC doco Peking to Paris where a group of 15 "- ten drivers and co-drivers and five support crew - set off in five 100 year-old cars on a 14,000 kilometre journey. It was to be a daring recreation of the Peking to Paris Raid and a journey that took them more than a third of the way around the globe."

In 1907, French newspaper Le Matin challenged drivers to prove that the era of the automobile had arrived by entering into a race from Peking to Paris. Remember this was in 1907. You can read more about the original in the Wikipedia article Peking to Paris.

It would have been a great time to be alive! I mean, in today's era, who would take the role of the Italian Prince who, being 14 days ahead of the rest of the racers, detoured 1,500 km to St Petersburg to attend a ball (and therefore dance with chicks) and still finished the race first!