Paris-Madrid: start to finish in 110 years

The  original 1903 Paris-Madrid race arguably is one of the most epic of motoring history… in part due to the many casualties that occurred, including Marcel Renault. The race was ended in Bordeaux, long before the finish. Past weekend saw the reenactment of Paris-Madris after 110 years: with an amazing set of vintage machinery (see the 1903 Mercedes above) and this time without accidents. The race followed the original route as much as possible in a three-day event covering 1300  km (815 miles). The first day started at the fabulous palace of Versailles and finished in Angouleme. From here the race continued towards Spain. The first two days rain and wind banged the participants, who reached Pamplona with most of the cars covered with mud, as you can see in the attached photos. Finally the third day was a pleasant drive to Madrid under good weather conditions and drivers and passengers dressing up in appropriate clothing for the pre-war period. Most of the entries finished this hard trip (although we don´t know about the dissassembled Invicta in photo 5), giving proof to the fact that the old machinery originally was not designed for use in museums or “concours d´elegance”.

(Special thanks to photographers Unai Ona, Jose Antonio González and Ignacio Najarro)