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Friday, August 12, 2011
1908 New York to Paris great race entry, the Protos finally shows up online to show me wth that car was
0 comments Posted by st at 8:19 PMLabels: Factory race car, Great Race, historical, New York to Paris race, Protos
Sunday, July 10, 2011
the Italia that won the race is here: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/08/winner-of-1907-paris-to-peking.html
The challenge to drive from Peking, China (modern day Beijing) to Paris, France in 1907, using totally untested automobiles, was taken up by five men:
- Prince Scipione Borghese, accompanied by his mechanic Ettore Guizzardi. They were further accompanied by Italian journalist Luigi Barzini, Sr.
- Charles Goddard, accompanied by journalist Jean du Taillis.
- Auguste Pons and Octave Foucault, his mechanic.
- Georges Cormier.
- Victor Collignon.
On the 30th of August, twenty days later, the Spyker, followed by the two De Dions, arrived in Paris. Charles Goddard wasn’t behind the wheel of the Spyker; due to money-troubles, he wasn’t able to finish the race! But his car won second place and that was probably good enoughfound on http://scheong.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/peking-to-paris-the-original-amazing-race/
Labels: brass era, Factory race car, Great Race, historical, Paris to Peking race, race, race cars, rare, Spyker, unusual
Monday, June 20, 2011
A 1911 Velie won this years great race from Tennesssee to Vermont
0 comments Posted by st at 8:17 PM Read about it at http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/06/20/100-year-old-velie-wins-the-2011-great-race/
William Lamb Velie, the grandson of John Deere, started the Velie Carriage Company in 1902 in Moline, Illinois. By 1909, he switched to automobiles and incorporated the Velie Motor Vehicle Company. While the Velie used supplied engines in its first two model years, the company switched to its own four-cylinder engine in 1911, the same year a Velie driven by Howard Hall entered the inaugural Indianapolis 500. The company continued to build automobiles – including a six-cylinder and an eight-cylinder – through 1928.
Labels: Great Race, Velie
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Not based on a real car, but what the makers could approximate as a 1936 Indy 500 roadster race car http://www.beerster8.com/
Labels: beautiful engine, carbs, Great Race, innovative, unique, unusual
Sunday, August 29, 2010

The 9,300 mile race was kicked off by a challenge by a newspaper "What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"
It was held during a time when cars were fairly new, and went through remote areas of Asia where people were not familiar with motor travel. The route between Peking and Lake Baikal had only previously been attempted on horseback. The race was won by Italian Prince Scipione Borghese of the Borghese family, accompanied by the journalist Luigi Barzini, Sr. He was confident and had even taken a detour from Moscow to St Petersburg for a dinner which was held for the team, and afterwards headed back to Moscow and rejoined the race. The event was not intended to be a race or competition, but quickly became one due to its pioneering nature and the technical superiority of the Italians' car driven by Count Scipione Borghese, winning by three weeks. These sporting successes helped sales dramatically, the company continued to grow. The company experimented with a range of novel engines such as variable stroke, sleeve valve, and "Avalve" rotary types
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_to_Paris and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itala
Labels: brass era, Great Race, historical, Italian, race