THE GREAT RACE 1908
New York City to Paris
The first around-the-world automobile race began with six entrants ...
starting on 43rd Street in New York City.
Their destination was Paris.
THE WINNER
Out Of 6
An American entry driven by George Schuster
That AMERICAN CAN DO SPRIT
Culled from:
On February 12, 1908 . . .
The first around-the-world automobile race began with six entrants, starting on 43rd Street in New York City.
Their destination was Paris.
The first car crossed the finish line on July 18, but its team was penalised 15 days for using railroad transport to meet a critical North American deadline (meeting the other surviving racers to catch a ship to Russia).
They lost to the American entry driven by George Schuster, which arrived on July 22. At least three books, written by members of the three teams that finished the race, have documented this event:
The Longest Auto Race (pub. 1966) by George Shuster, the co-driver of the (winning) US entry
Il giro del mondo in automobile (pub. 1910) by Antonio Scarfoglio the driver for the Italian team
Im Auto um die Welt (pub. 1909) by the German driver, Koeppen
The Greatest Auto Race of 1908 will also be commemorated on its 100th Anniversary by Great Race, the cross-country rally race for classic cars, held in the U.S., every summer.
Great Race 2008 - New York to Paris will start on May 30, 2008 in New York City and will finish at the base of the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, France, on August 2, 2008.
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