Review by Phil Patton for The New York Times, June 2008
Circulation: 1,500,000
Sand and dust, sand and dust: you may be tempted to wash your hands by the end of this heavily visual account of the re-enactment last year of the 1907 road rally from Peking to Paris. A hundred years ago, there were but five entrants. Last year, the delightfully miscellaneous lot included several vintage Italas, a 1903 Mercedes, a LaSalle and a bullet-nose Studebaker.
The book’s organization is simple: a diary of the event, from the departure at the Great Wall to the finish at the Place Vendôme, is followed by a descriptive catalog of the cars. But the meat of the sandwich is the color images, lively, anecdotal and exciting, conveying the feel of a Discovery Channel documentary, hi-def version. (An earlier re-enactment, in 2005, was the subject of an Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary.)
The original adventure was based on a noble rationale. The organizers hoped it would make a mockery of national borders, leading to better understanding and peace. Last year, gates were literally unlocked; this year, they may well have been locked again.
The Flying Lady, May 2008
US magazine
Circulation: unknown
Since joining the Daily Mail's news desk and driving their entry in the 1977 London-Sydney Marathon, Young has driven 12 international rallies and organized over 50 events. Despite this undeniable accomplishment, he is not universally beloved – certainly not as an organizer – by participants. Either maligned or misunderstood, he has finally written his own account of the 2007 Peking-Paris, and, to remove any doubt as to his intentions, subtitled it 'The Official Book of the Centenary Event.'
Of the several books published about this epic event, this one really is the most comprehensive, touching upon many details only the organizing team would know. The individual accounts in recent years were rather narrow in that the writers – traveling alone or in small groups and seeing their fellow travelers as competitors – simply had no way, or inclination, to describe the event in an all-inclusive manner.
Unlike the previous run in 1997, this 100 Year Commemoration Rally followed the original route as closely as modern geographic realities allow. Starting with a synopsis of the 1907 event (accompanied by previously unpublished photos and newspaper clippings) and the 90th anniversary run, the book gives a chronological, diary-like account brimming with (mostly) Gerard Brown's excellent photos of the cars, people, and landscapes. The tables of results at the back of the book are preceded by a section of comments by each of the individual competitors accompanying a photo and description of their cars. Remarkably, of 124 starters (6 RR, 21 B) only nine failed (4 Bentleys) to complete the 35-day journey.
Words can go only so far in describing a sporting event of such visceral a nature; the photos help a great deal in conveying the hardships and triumphs – they will have you twitching in your armchair, and either resolve to do it one day yourself (the next run is in 2010) or capitulate in the face of enormous cost and risk to man and machine. Index (of people only).
Sports Car Market, May 2008
US magazine
Five cars took off from Peking in 1907, heading for Paris. There were no roads for the first 5,000 miles. Let’s just say it was a grand adventure and nobody died. Hey, I’ve got an idea – let’s do it again! Flash forward 100 years, bring together 134 cars, enough logistical support to keep the cars and competitors all running, fueled, and fed and do it all over again. The 2007 field included everything from a 1907 Itala 40 (the same model entered in the original race by Prince Borghese) to a 1969 Aston Martin DB6. 'Peking to Paris' documents the completely loony journey as the cars retraced the original route through China, Mongolia, Siberia, the Baltic states and then Poland, Germany, and finally Paris. Let’s just call it what it was: a 35-day long Sunday drive for the truly mad.
Provenance: *****
A short recounting of the 1907 event at the beginning of the book will drag you inevitably into a delightful, long evening of reading, poring over photos and serious forehead slapping incredulity. Great fun.
Fit and finish: ****
It’s full of lovely photos, well reproduced in a large format. Be warned, there are times you might be tempted to wear sand goggles or rain gear as you flip the pages.
Drivability: ***
While the photos are fun, the text can be a bit like reading club notes from someone else’s vacation, but take your time and find the nuggets, the amazing stories of breakdowns, repairs, and true grit.
Praeclarum, April 2008
Review by David Neely
The National Journal of the Rolls-Royce Owner's Club of Australia
A Paris newspaper, 'Le Matin' announced, now famously, on 31 January, 1907, "A Stupendous Challenge: Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Paris to Peking, by automobile?" The Peking to Paris Great Race of 1907 resulted. This book, which throws fresh light on the original achievement, is the official record of the centennial re-enactment of this great motoring milestone. Over 100 cars set out to drive the original route used by Prince Borghese in 1907. The event took place over 35 days in May to June 2007.
The cars ranged from authentic Italas and WO Bentleys, to classic Aston Martins. Among the line up were three Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, a 20hp, a 20/25hp and a 25/30hp. There were four Derby Bentleys, a MkVI and an R-Type. The detailed nature of this account enables the reader to follow the overall event each day and see the individual results for each of the entrants and their cars. In the Pioneer category for pre-1920 model types the Silver Ghosts of Frederick Brown (USA) / Thomas Stevenson (CAN) and Neville Jordan (NZ) / Bruce McIlroy (NZ) came first and second out of 19 entrants. They both won gold medals and the Ghost of Albert and Monique Eberhard (PT) won a bronze medal.
The text and photographs capture superbly the monumental challenges of organizing and participating in such an exhilarating event. The competitive stages were relentless and taxing as crews scrambled to stay in the running for a gold medal. To qualify for a gold medal you needed to re-start every morning, clock in every night, and go through a number of checkpoints and time trials, which were designated medal controls. By Day 14 there were four gold medal contenders in the Pioneer category, two Ghosts and two Italas, 17 contenders in the Vintagents category for 1921 to 1940 model types and eight in the Classics category for 1941 to 1961 model types. This turned out to be a good predictor of the final outcome when three gold medals were awarded in the Pioneer category, 16 in the Vintagents category and eight in the Classics category.
The author has an extensive journalistic background and after joining the 'Daily Mail's' news desk he drove the 'Daily Mail's' entry in the 1977 London to Sydney Marathon. Philip Young has driven twelve international rallies, including the Paris Dakar and six Himalayan Rallies, is co-founder of the Historic Rally Car Register and the Endurance Rally Association, and has organized over fifty major events.
This book makes a great contribution to documenting veteran, vintage and classic car rallying and this event in particular. In this respect, it joins the marvelous personal account by RROCA member Jeanne Eve of the 1997 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, 'Rallying in A Royal Rolls-Royce', when with John Matheson they drove the 1967 Rolls-Royce Phantom V, which is now in The Sir Henry Royce Foundation's collection. It also brings to mind the more recent book of 2005 and the ABC TV series, 'The Great Peking to Paris Expedition' by Warren Brown, Mick Matheson and Lang Kidby.
If all this armchair rallying tempts you to try the real thing, the next Peking to Paris Motor Challenge is scheduled for 2010!
Cars & Parts magazine, August 2008
US magazine
This stunning book begins with the story of the first transcontinental motor rally held in 1907. Adding depth to the story and setting the stage for the second chapter are historic photographs, many never before published. The remainder of the book is a detailed, lavishly illustrated daily diary of the 100th anniversary rally, a 40-day adventure from Peking to Paris. Through concise entries and photography that captures the trials and triumphs of the 130 participating teams, the reader has a front row seat to every mile through the Gobi Desert, across Outer Mongolia, Russia, and Europe. I have wandered through this book time and again drawn to pictures of a 1907 Itala muddied and filthy, on a stark plain of gravel with a background of snow-covered peaks. I read with amazement that playing catch-up for the team of the 1903 Mercedes meant covering more than 700 kilometers in a 24-hour period. I stared in disbelief at the towering rooster tails of sand as the 1950 Studebaker flew across the sands of the Gobi Desert. To say this book is a must for every enthusiast of vintage automotive rallying would be a gross understatement.
"... this is a fascinating read for any motor enthusiast." – Mercedes Owner
The official record of the centenial re-enactment of a great motoring milestone: the 1907 Peking to Paris race. Man and machine against the elements, driving where no car has gone before; That was the impossible challenge of 1907 when a handful of buccaneering madcap motorists took up the idea of a Paris newspaper to prove that the car could now go anywhere by driving the huge distance between two capital cities - from Peking to Paris. To mark the 100th anniversary of the original "Great Race", over 100 cars set out to drive the original route used in 1907. With 250 photos, official maps and inside information from the event organizer, this is a fascinating read for every red-blooded motoring enthusiast.
