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New York-to-Paris: The Great Automobile Race of 1908!

GasBuddy Blog -- It would become known as "The Great Race"; an epic test of men and machines. It was the transcontinental New York to Paris Automobile Race in 1908 sponsored by The New York Times and Le Matin, a Paris newspaper, that achieved a feat which has never been equaled more than 100 years later.

In a world class competition of automotive ingenuity, design and endurance, five drivers representing France, Italy, Germany and one driver from the U.S. traveled across three continents over 22,000 miles in 169 days. (And remember, this was at a time when horses were considered a much more reliable form of transportation.)

It began on February 12, 1908 under a sunny, clear sky in New York City where the temperature was near freezing...

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Submitted Apr 12, 2012 By: PD

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DESandman99 Rookie Author Wilmington Posts:14 Points:502,405 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: Apr 16, 2012 11:09:45 AM Ignore DESandman99 Report Abuse Good story - thanks for posting
honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,632 Points:1,610,495 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Apr 16, 2012 4:52:47 AM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse dave: It's not an article, it's one of GB gods sharing their thoughts.
dave27johnson Champion Author Chicago Posts:1,790 Points:410,260 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 11:33:44 AM Ignore dave27johnson Report Abuse An interesting article.
honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,632 Points:1,610,495 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 6:50:42 AM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse Bud: they swam? After all, no airplane use yet...
OriginalBudman Champion Author Barrie Posts:11,083 Points:2,250,395 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Apr 14, 2012 6:40:41 PM Ignore OriginalBudman Report Abuse I wanna know how they got the cars from San Francisco to Japan, and then Japan to the mainland of Asia. The article never said.
GOBUTLER Champion Author Indianapolis Posts:1,425 Points:390,585 Joined:Dec 2011	Message Posted: Apr 14, 2012 7:13:54 AM Ignore GOBUTLER Report Abuse Interesting...
OriginalBudman Champion Author Barrie Posts:11,083 Points:2,250,395 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:45:03 PM Ignore OriginalBudman Report Abuse What!
sonic_cd33 Champion Author Illinois Posts:2,186 Points:555,845 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 6:20:57 PM Ignore sonic_cd33 Report Abuse great article
CDMAuto Champion Author Connecticut Posts:3,798 Points:755,640 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 5:55:12 PM Ignore CDMAuto Report Abuse Ok gas was cheap back then
EMoe57 Champion Author Jacksonville Posts:4,622 Points:1,017,015 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 12:24:15 PM Ignore EMoe57 Report Abuse Interesting blog post but I don't see the relevance to gas prices
sparky808 Champion Author Honolulu Posts:3,008 Points:599,685 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 12:16:06 PM Ignore sparky808 Report Abuse Gas prices?
DanMtz Champion Author Oakland Posts:3,360 Points:1,244,300 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 11:27:31 AM Ignore DanMtz Report Abuse Crossing the Pacific must have been a bear.
portlandcat Champion Author Tennessee Posts:1,918 Points:346,210 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 10:01:18 AM Ignore portlandcat Report Abuse fun bit of trivia
Bhmf4 Champion Author Alabama Posts:2,014 Points:1,234,520 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:30:17 AM Ignore Bhmf4 Report Abuse If we want gas prices down then we need to change the White House occupant next November.
mattymattmatt All-Star Author Scranton Posts:890 Points:366,110 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:21:28 AM Ignore mattymattmatt Report Abuse I'm tired of seeing "epic" being used as an adjective for everything. It's made anything that was note-worthy or special seem common place and dull. Wow, I need to get off the computer a little bit.
dieselfiendSC Champion Author South Carolina Posts:2,191 Points:847,805 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:20:22 AM Ignore dieselfiendSC Report Abuse Great story.
Black Wagon Champion Author Illinois Posts:7,317 Points:1,803,745 Joined:Mar 2004	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:17:34 AM Ignore Black Wagon Report Abuse And just think that gas prices weren't over $4.00 than either.
wt0826 Champion Author Ontario Posts:3,731 Points:837,125 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:17:25 AM Ignore wt0826 Report Abuse Wow, what a great race
Martillo Champion Author Dallas Posts:1,604 Points:731,110 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:16:55 AM Ignore Martillo Report Abuse What an adventure.
TXGasPriceSpy Champion Author Fort Worth Posts:7,815 Points:1,473,250 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:16:45 AM Ignore TXGasPriceSpy Report Abuse The Great Race was a great race.
chvytruk All-Star Author Kentucky Posts:771 Points:377,785 Joined:Sep 2006	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:15:57 AM Ignore chvytruk Report Abuse Ah, for the good ol' days............
DerTaubman Champion Author Detroit Posts:7,318 Points:1,530,995 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:15:39 AM Ignore DerTaubman Report Abuse Why not re-enact this race, with modern automobiles?
CAD69 Champion Author Milwaukee Posts:3,211 Points:847,215 Joined:Nov 2010	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:14:04 AM Ignore CAD69 Report Abuse Cool!
wingryder92 Champion Author British Columbia Posts:5,687 Points:559,955 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:13:31 AM Ignore wingryder92 Report Abuse That is really cool with no pavement too.
DimitrisIL Champion Author Chicago Posts:1,505 Points:524,655 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:12:45 AM Ignore DimitrisIL Report Abuse Nice. Paris-Dakar is another interesting endurance race as well as the 24 hours of LeMans.
FocusGuy Champion Author Seattle Posts:7,062 Points:1,413,730 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:12:18 AM Ignore FocusGuy Report Abuse HUH?
dianna1225 Rookie Author Michigan Posts:80 Points:9,465 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:11:40 AM Ignore dianna1225 Report Abuse k
dlzastera Champion Author Minnesota Posts:4,515 Points:1,024,320 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:10:50 AM Ignore dlzastera Report Abuse The Titanic 100 years later too.
Sethyl Champion Author Miami Posts:1,758 Points:378,440 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:08:32 AM Ignore Sethyl Report Abuse Yeah!
htd2007 Veteran Author Twin Cities Posts:476 Points:135,185 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:07:16 AM Ignore htd2007 Report Abuse I wasn't born
mysub Champion Author Las Vegas Posts:8,916 Points:2,331,440 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:07:08 AM Ignore mysub Report Abuse That was quite an accomplishment for those days.
jay93LA Champion Author New Orleans Posts:2,454 Points:600,685 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:06:16 AM Ignore jay93LA Report Abuse thanks
SSchmidty Champion Author Illinois Posts:9,353 Points:1,778,180 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:06:14 AM Ignore SSchmidty Report Abuse Is there any purpose is looking back at something that is clearly seen its glory days... I'm talking about pig-oil folks, not cars!
arnerator Champion Author Seattle Posts:8,189 Points:1,619,115 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:05:15 AM Ignore arnerator Report Abuse Good job for those early years.
GasholeMI Champion Author Lansing Posts:10,149 Points:1,719,790 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:04:43 AM Ignore GasholeMI Report Abuse Hard to imagine.
Senrac Champion Author Lincoln Posts:1,594 Points:305,635 Joined:Mar 2010	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:03:31 AM Ignore Senrac Report Abuse same story yesterday
mitchells Champion Author Montreal Posts:3,866 Points:1,126,085 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:03:03 AM Ignore mitchells Report Abuse I think any automobile crossing of even just USA in 1908 would be a major accomplishment, since there were no roads linking towns, or even maps to help plan the trip.
Hi1 Champion Author Ontario Posts:4,860 Points:1,725,585 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:02:26 AM Ignore Hi1 Report Abuse They should try that again.
maske_2222 Champion Author Manitoba Posts:7,422 Points:1,500,005 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:00:34 AM Ignore maske_2222 Report Abuse Nice......
PrepHermit Champion Author New Jersey Posts:8,106 Points:1,645,155 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 9:00:34 AM Ignore PrepHermit Report Abuse Seriously - what is this doing in the gas and oil price blog?
indyjim Champion Author Indianapolis Posts:10,101 Points:2,320,405 Joined:Jul 2006	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:59:49 AM Ignore indyjim Report Abuse Yeah, but what kind of gas mileage did they get?
ntass1 Champion Author Edmonton Posts:3,800 Points:729,000 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:59:21 AM Ignore ntass1 Report Abuse ok
JCS Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:4,033 Points:1,314,765 Joined:Apr 2002	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:59:07 AM Ignore JCS Report Abuse OK
lonewolfhead Champion Author Texas Posts:1,652 Points:562,810 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:58:38 AM Ignore lonewolfhead Report Abuse OK
JXD Champion Author Kitchener-Waterloo Posts:1,284 Points:1,060,735 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:57:49 AM Ignore JXD Report Abuse Interesting article!
HawaiianGuy Champion Author Idaho Posts:9,533 Points:3,080,675 Joined:May 2003	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:57:44 AM Ignore HawaiianGuy Report Abuse Must be a slow day in the newsroom...
Marson Champion Author Scranton Posts:8,952 Points:2,079,135 Joined:Oct 2006	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:55:03 AM Ignore Marson Report Abuse 22,000 miles was quite a feat for cars of that vintage under those conditions!
29louieson Veteran Author Phoenix Posts:310 Points:151,600 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:54:41 AM Ignore 29louieson Report Abuse Thx for the history lesson .
charlieVA Rookie Author Virginia Posts:7 Points:4,090 Joined:Apr 2012	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:52:47 AM Ignore charlieVA Report Abuse mmm?"?"?"?"
JDisNo1 Sophomore Author Twin Cities Posts:129 Points:89,120 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Apr 13, 2012 8:52:24 AM Ignore JDisNo1 Report Abuse I want to race!