The Very First Automobile Races

The Renault Team lined up before the start of the 1901 Paris-Bordeaux Race, from left: Louis Renault,
Marcel Renault, Oury and Grus.
The Very First Automobile Races
– story by Art Evans
– photos courtesy of
Art Evans Collection
propelled by an internal combustion engine money of $10,000. The legislators however,
in 1885. But in 1873, Frenchman Amédée reneged, claiming that the vehicles were
Bollée, made a number of experimental not “a cheap and practical substitute for a
steam-powered carriages. His son (of the horse.” In the end, however, the State ponied
same name) made a large steam-powered mail up $5,000.
I thought it would be interesting to look at coach as well as a smaller steam-driven car in
The 1894 race was initially planned as a
the first events that established motorsports. 1885. These were essentially motorizations of reliability run between Paris and Rouen. At
It’s rather obvious, that first had to come existing horse-drawn vehicles.
that time, there were no purpose-built race
the invention of the automobile itself. The
Benz’s idea, on the other hand, was
first motorized vehicles were steam-driven to design a then-unique complete
tractors. But the purpose of tractors is not unit from scratch whose purpose
transportation or sport, so they don’t really was to transport people. His first
qualify.
car was a three-wheeler. Power was
Although there are reservations among from a horizontal single-cylinder
some historians, it is generally held that Karl gasoline-driven water-cooled engine.
Benz designed and built the first workable car It developed ¾ horsepower. A top
speed of eight mph
was recorded during its
first trials. Presently it
resides in the Deutsches
Museum in Munich.
The first competition
for motorcars took
place in France in1894.
It’s interesting to note, The Duryea was the first commerciallyh o w e v e r, t h a t t h e available automobile made in the U.S.
first competition for
motorized vehicles for which I cars, so the event was for what we would now
have found a record took place call production or touring cars. Right from the
between two steam-driven start, however, the competitors considered the
tractors racing from Madison run to be a race. A total of 69 cars participated
to Green Bay, Wisconsin in in a 50-km preliminary “selection” event, and
1878. The winner took 33 25 made the cut for the 127-km main event.
hours and 27 minutes to cover Count Jules-Albert de Dion was first with a
The 1985 Benz is credited with being the first the 201 miles. The State of time of 6 hours and 48 minutes. He averaged
purpose-built automobile.
Wisconsin had promised prize 19 kph. Second was Georges Lemâitre
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July 2013
• Victory Lane
The roads were covered
w i t h s n o w. F r a n k
Duryea in his Duryea
won in just over 10
hours. He averaged 7.3
mph and won $2,000.
The Duryea brothers—
Charles and Frank—
were the first Americans
to build a successful
commercially-available
automobile. In addition
to the Duryea, there were
two electric cars and
three gasoline-driven
Benz cars. Although
more than 100 cars had
entered, only six actually
showed up at the start,
perhaps due to the heavy
snow. The Duryea led
off, but experienced a
broken steering arm,
which Frank was able to
A Peugeot placed second at the first automobile
fix. In the meantime, a
competition in 1894. When the first-place de Dion Benz went into the lead
was disqualified, Peugeot and Panhard were
until Evanston when
declared the winners.
Duryea regained first
place and held it until
and then Auguste Doriot was third, both in the end. The only other car to finish was a
Peugeots. René Panhard and Emile Levassor Benz driven by Oscar Mueller.
in Panhards were fourth and fifth. De Dion,
The first international series was established
however, was disqualified because his steam- by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the
driven car required a stoker, which was against New York Herald. He proposed an annual
the rules. This should have made the official event put on by automobile clubs of various
winner to be the Peugeot. The prize, however, European countries. It was called the Gordon
was awarded to both Panhard and Peugeot Bennett Cup. Entrants came from a number
when it was pointed out that the engines in the of European countries that had national teams.
Peugeots had been supplied by Panhard.
Each could enter three cars, but they had to
The first race in the U.S. took place on be made in that country. The teams were
Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1895, distinguished by colors, starting a tradition
sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald. that has continued to this day. The British were
The 54-mile course was a round-trip from green with red for Italy, white for Germany
downtown Chicago to Evanston, Illinois. and blue for France.
The de Dion steam-powered vehicle made the best time at the 1894
Paris to Rouen reliability run, but it was disqualified.
www.victorylane.com
There were a total of six Cups races over six
years. Most in those days were from city to
city. The first Cup took place on May 29, 1900
between Paris and Lyon. Fernand Charron won
in a Panhard with a time of nine hours and 23
minutes. Leonce Girardon was second some
two hours later. There had been an annual race
from Paris to Bordeaux that started in 1895, so
it was decided that the 1901 Gordon Bennett
would be run in conjunction. The race itself
was won by Henri Fournier driving a Mors.
The first Cup finisher was Leonce Girardot in
a Panhard some two hours later.
The first Gordon Bennett to cross borders
traveled the 565 miles from Paris to Innsbruck,
Austria in 1902. This time there were only six
entries, three French and three British. Two of
Leonce Girardot won the 1901
Gordon Bennett Cup in a
Panhard.
the British cars were made by Napier & Son of
London and fitted with Dunlop tires. Selwin
Edge won in a Napier.
Because a British entrant had won in 1902,
the 1903 Cup would ordinarily have been
in England. Racing, however, was illegal
on that country’s roads. So the Automobile
Club of Great Britain and Ireland selected
Ireland as a venue. There was considerable
concern, however, regarding safety. Eight
people had been killed in the 1901 Paris to
Bordeaux and the 1903 Paris to Madrid had to
be halted due to many accidents. Because of
this, some 7,000 police officers were assisted
by troops and club stewards to guard the
course. Spectators were kept off the roads and
away from corners. Competitors were started
at seven minute intervals and had to follow
bicycles through each town. The 325-mile race
was won by Camille Jenatzy in a Mercedes.
Because the 1903 Cup was won by a
Mercedes, the 1904 race was held in Germany
over a 342-mile four-lap course. Eighteen cars
started with Léon Théry of France the winner.
The 1905 and the last Gordon Bennett went
back to France and took place on a 137 km
mountainous course near Clermont-Ferrand.
Théry won again.
Victory Lane
• July 2013
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