The Peking to Paris automobile race in 1907

How a front page article from 31 January 1907 in the Paris newspaper 'Le Matin' led to the creation of a monster journey from Beijing to Paris.

The article in 'Le Matin' read: "Is there anyone who dares this summer to undertake a journey by automobile from Beijing to Paris?" Most people who read this considered the idea absurd and impossible, yet within a few weeks there were ultimately 5 serious participating vehicles registered. An Italian 40HP Itala, a Dutch 15HP Spyker, 2 French vehicles of 10HP De Dion Bouton and a French 6HP Contal, a three wheeled vehicle that became stranded in the Gobi desert and was the only one not to reach the finish.

The route

A committee was formed to map out the route and to obtain the necessary permits and visas from the relevant authorities in Russia and China. It was a journey between Peking, now Beijing (China), and Paris (France), a distance of 14,994 km. The start was to be held at the French embassy in Peking on 10 June 1907. The finish was in the center of the City of Light.

The rules

There were no rules in the race, except for the provision that the specified route had to be followed by car. The team that finishes first in Paris will receive a magnum (1.5 liter bottle) of Mumm Champagne.

Fuel and spare car parts were transported in advance on camels and mules and positioned along the route. This was arranged and paid for by the participants themselves. There were also telegraph stations along the route to report on the race. Each car had a journalist as a passenger to send their stories from the telegraph stations. The route led through deserts, swamps and ravines and over paths and narrow wooden bridges where only travelers on horseback or on camels could find their way. After all, automobiles were unknown in China and Russia at that time.

The French organization of the event ('Le Matin') did not describe the tour as a race but as a distance run (raid), intended as an endurance test for both the automobile and the drivers. There were no winners or losers or penalties. In fact, the participants were supposed to stay together and help each other in case of breakdowns or emergencies. It was not about which car from which country finished first, but which cars ultimately made it to the finish in Paris.

The setback

The automobiles were shipped from Marseille to Beijing in April, and the drivers followed a month later.

The 15HP Spyker drives ashore in Beijing

According to plan, the journey was to start on the morning of 10 June 1907. However, this start threatened at the last moment not to go ahead. The automobile was unknown in China, and this made the authorities reluctant to open the gates to what they saw as a shameless Western intrusion. Despite the previously granted permission to cross China by car, the authorities tried to obstruct matters by not granting free passage for Mongolia in the passports. The drivers were furious. At one point there was even talk of postponing the event or cancelling it altogether. A narrow majority was finally able to convince the more hesitant minority to undertake the journey on 10 June 1907 as planned, visa or no visa in the passport! The Chinese yielded to this resolve and, on the eve of the race, granted free passage for Mongolia.

The participants

On the morning of June 10, the procession of 5 cars set off, led by the Itala, driven by the Italian Prince Scipione Borghese and accompanied by a mechanic and a journalist. It was followed by the Spyker driven by the Frenchman Charles Godard. Godard's only companion in his car was the 'Le Matin' journalist Jean du Taillis. Third came the small Contal three wheeler, driven by the Frenchman Auguste Pons. The last two participating cars were the De Dion Boutons, driven by the Frenchmen Georges Cormier and Victor Collignon.

Charles Godard, factory driver for Trompenburg (Spyker)

Godard had personally approached Jacobus Spijker in Amsterdam to convince him of the potential publicity value if he were to take part in the race. According to adventurer Godard, participation in the race and its costs would be covered if Jacobus would simply lend him a Spyker car and pay the entry fee. The remaining expenses, Godard said, would be paid by the organizer, 'Le Matin', which later turned out not to be the case. Jacobus Spijker, himself in financial trouble with the Trompenburg factory due to declining sales of his Spykers, considered it a reasonable proposal after some hesitation. Moreover, the worldwide publicity would be very useful to him. And so the 'free' delivery of the 15HP Spyker (model 1906) to Charles Godard became a reality. Jacobus Spijker also sent him off with a substantial number of spare parts.

Later it would turn out that Charles Godard hardly had any money. To be able to pay for the costs of the journey, such as shipping the car overseas to China and the fuel for his car, he sold the donated spare parts! It also turned out that he regularly made payments through cunning tricks or with loans based on false promises. In the photo below we see Godard in Amsterdam with his 15HP Spyker, painted in the French red white and blue, ready for transport to China for the Peking-Paris run.

The high mountains of China

The first day was difficult because of heavy rain and muddy tracks. Two cars even lost their way, but the Spyker went back to pick them up and bring them to the others. After that, there were seven days of tough terrain through the high mountains that separate China from the plains of Mongolia. The mountain paths were narrow and in some places so steep that mules and manpower from the local population were needed to get the cars over the mountain passes (see photo).

Just outside the Chinese city of Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) a camp was set up. This was the first time the participants were all together in one place. It was also the last time. After Pons was allowed to set off first that day in his Contal, the others followed and passed him one by one. Before evening fell, the leading participants stopped until Pons had caught up again. Borghese announced that he did not want to play babysitter in this race and told the group that the next morning he would set off on his own. In doing so, Borghese broke the agreement of comradeship, to stay together no matter what. Much to the annoyance of the other participants, the journey thus ultimately became a race after all.

The Gobi Desert (South Mongolia)

After crossing the mountain passes, the convoy reached the next obstacle, the fearsome Gobi Desert, located in the south of Mongolia. The water cooled engines were in fact not built to withstand the extreme heat of the desert. The radiators of the overheated engines were therefore refilled in an emergency with the riders precious drinking water. A far from harmless practice!

Pons, by now at the back of the convoy, soon found himself stranded in the desert without fuel with his Contal three wheeler. The 6HP engine also turned out to be too weak for the loose sand. Pons and his companion decided to walk back to inhabited territory. The road was long and their supply of drinking water quickly ran out. Fortunately, they were found still alive by riders of a passing camel caravan. Realizing that he and his companion had escaped death, August Pons decided to give up the race and leave the Contal to rest in the desert forever. There were now only 4 cars left in the running.

Mongolia

Borghese in his Itala was far in the lead in the wilderness of Siberia. A few days behind followed Godard in central Mongolia. He tried to keep the Spyker ahead of the two De Dion Boutons. However, after some time, due to a shortage of petrol, he had to leave the route and the two Dions passed him without stopping. Cormier called out to Godard that he would send him fuel from Ude, but the fuel never arrived. Charles Godard and the journalist Jean du Taillis were left alone in the wilderness. Two days later, after falling into a delirium and having survived with Taillis on a few sips of water and concentrated soup, Godard went out to scout. He returned with a few tribesmen on horseback whom he had persuaded to fetch fuel in Ude in exchange for some silverware. Godard and Taillis, weakened and dehydrated, drank some water from the Spyker radiator and could do nothing but wait. After a day and a half, when hope was almost gone, the tribesmen appeared in the distance, triumphantly waving and carrying a tank of fuel. Within a few minutes the two had recovered somewhat and had resumed the journey with renewed enthusiasm.

In Urga, present day Ulaan Baatar and capital of Mongolia, Cormier and Collignon were overcome with intense feelings of guilt and decided not to continue without having heard from Godard and Taillis. Borghese, who felt no such remorse at all, cheerfully carried on. While he was battling mud and quicksand in Siberia in his Itala, Godard arrived in Urga. There, Charles Godard celebrated a small reunion party with his French comrades from the two De Dion Boutons.

Siberia (Russia)

From Urga to the Ural Mountains in Russia, the drivers were plagued by rain and muddy tracks. The trip nearly ended for Borghese's team. Under the heavy weight of the Itala, the planks of a wooden bridge broke and the Itala toppled backwards into the riverbed (see photo).

Borghese and his two companions miraculously escaped without injury. The damage to the car was limited because it landed on the two spare wheels and luggage placed in the back. With the help of passersby, the Itala was put back on its four wheels within three hours and the journey could be continued.

After arriving in Siberia, Godard experienced his first trouble due to a technical problem. It concerned a faulty ignition magneto. To repair it, he had to take the Spyker to Tomsk (near Novosibirsk) and took the train for this. In Tomsk there was the Polytechnic Institute, which was the only suitable place nearby to repair the ignition magneto. After the repair, the Spyker was brought back by train to the place where it had broken down, a few hundred kilometers back. Godard knew he had to do this to avoid being disqualified. The 'Le Matin' journalist Taillis, who traveled with Godard, consistently stated under questioning that Godard had acted honestly. Despite these statements, the truth about this part of the Peking-Paris run remains contradictory and vague for some. As proof of his visits to the various cities, Godard regularly sent a stamped photograph as a postcard, as he did on 20 July 1907 from Tomsk (see photo below).

To make up the huge backlog on the 2 De Dion Boutons and stay in the race, Godard began a day and night marathon on July 25. Completely taken by surprise, Cormier and Collignon were woken in their hotel in Kazan at 4 a.m. on August 8 by a loud clatter and rumbling at their window. Startled, they discovered the Spyker and a Godard who looked almost unrecognizable from sheer exhaustion. He was reunited with his French comrades once more! In 14 days he had driven almost 6000 km, a distance that had taken the others nearly 30 days.

The final stage to the finish

The journey from Moscow to Berlin went over better roads and this made it possible to maintain a higher cruising speed. Borghese in his Itala was meanwhile already quickly on his way toward Paris. The Spyker and also the 2 De Dion Boutons drove from Moscow toward Berlin. When Jacobus Spyker learned of this, and knew that victory was near, he decided to wait for Godard and his companion Taillis at the Russian German border. Upon arrival at the border with Germany, Godard was, to his great surprise, also met by 2 detectives, who arrested him on charges of defrauding the Dutch Consulate in China. After being questioned in Berlin, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He therefore could not complete the journey to Paris himself.

In the meantime, Jacobus Spijker had a driver from the Trompenburg factory brought over to Berlin to at least ensure the Spyker would arrive in Paris. The Spyker drove to Paris without any problems, followed by the two De Dion Boutons. The cars were received with great celebration.

Borghese, with his Itala, arrived in Paris after 61 days as the first to finish, on 10 August 1907. The teams with the Spyker and the 2 De Dion Boutons arrived after 81 days as second, third and fourth on 30 August 1907, 20 days later than the Itala. Borghese ultimately won but did not receive the honor he had counted on. That was reserved for the remaining riders Charles Godard of the Spyker and Georges Cormier and Victor Collignon of the 2 De Dion Boutons.

Because of Godards legal problems, Jacobus Spijker was reluctant to give much publicity to the success in the Peking to Paris run. The car was exhibited a few times and occasionally appeared in Spyker sales brochures.

The 1907 Peking to Paris run is generally regarded as the longest and toughest endurance trial for the automobile ever. There have been a few runs that also crossed China and Russia, but they followed a (partly) different route and used improved roads. In 2007, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 1907 Peking to Paris race, the journey was rerun along the original route for the only time.

The Louwman Museum owns the largest collection of Spyker automobiles, including a 15/22 HP Spyker like the one described in this article. Unfortunately, the original 15 HP Spyker from the 1907 Peking to Paris run was dismantled and lost to future generations. The original Itala, which was the first car to arrive in Paris, still exists and regularly appears at classic car shows.

Alfred Koeten