It all started way way back in February 1908. At the time, six automobiles lined up in New York’s Times Square and had intentions of racing from New York to Paris. This was billed as the Great Automobile Race. The lead car for a good portion of the race was the now famous 1907 Thomas Flyer, Model 35, built in Buffalo, NY. The car had some 70hp coming from a stock four cylinder engine, but saddled with an extra large fuel tank, spare tires and running boards.

Right behind it was the Italian Zust, the German Protos and the Montobloc from France and a tiny Siuzaire-Naudin that actually only made it for that first day before dropping out. There were very few paved roads at this time and up to this point only nine men had ever attempted to drive across America, no less to Paris, France from The USA.

Fast forward some 102 years and word began to spread like wild fire that this fella who was the great grandson of the Thomas Flyer winning pilot, wanted to retell his relatives tale by reliving the event.  But first you must know that originally the driver of this car was a man named Montague Roberts. He had a riding mechanic along with him named George Schuster, who worked for Thomas.

With them in the same car was T. Walter Williams, A New York Times reporter. By the time the race made its way to Chicago, Williams had called it quits saying the race was 'Insanity' and bailed right there and then.

After several drivers had given up hope and quit, George Schuster took over the wheel of the Thomas Flyer. Now back to the connection I mentioned at the top of this paragraph…The great grandson of Schuster is a man named, Jeff Mahl and he began organizing a recreation of his famous relatives race to take place once again. However, after lots of hype and lots of promoting, Jeff was thwarted by the Chinese as this would interfere with the Olympics being held in Beijing and so no visas were granted and the trip was killed. Now comes a man named Jerry Price who together with Jeff Mahl put this race back on the map for 2011 and this time with no glitches to thwart the achievement.

Originally the drivers had hoped to traverse the Great Bearing Strait, but conditions made it impossible, and the cars first were shipped to Japan by boat and then on to Russia.  A few more competitors never made it any further due to the severe winter conditions and only the Protos and the Thomas finally made it to Paris. The Protos made it first, but when it was learned that they side stepped the rules a few times by taking short cuts, the Germans were penalized severely and the American car was declared the winner.

This year several teams from across America will try to do what George Schuster accomplished back in 1908. Yes, Jeff Mahl will be in the race as well and performing his wonderful story-telling rendition of his great relative as he is dressed in period clothes at various stops along the way. The cars blast off from New York City’s Times Square early early morning of April 14th and follow the following route with stops in Buffalo, NY,

Detroit, Warsaw, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno where the original Thomas Flyer that won this race in 1908 will meet them for an overnight gala, then on to San Francisco on 27 April where the cars will be loaded on board a ship bound for China. Leaving Beijing on June 3rd, the race then goes to Kazakhstan, Russia and then onto Vilnius, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany. Switzerland and France. The teams are hoping that if all goes as planned they will arrive momentus winners all in Paris on 21 July.  

The big difference between this race and the one run in 1908 or even the one planned a couple of year ago is that all these cars are running on alternative fuels to prove their sustainability and viability. The lead car will carry Jeff Mahl and car owner Jerry Price in his 2007 Chevy Corvette with abilities to burn six different types of fuel including propane, butane, ethanol, gasoline, alcohol and methanol. 

Another couple will be driving a Toyota Highlander hybrid, equipped to run only on natural gas. Other entrants include a 1929 Ford Model A Speedster, a 1967 VW Beetle, a 1935 Ford Phaeton, a Hemi-powered 1951 Chrysler New Yorker than ran in the Carrera Panamerica and a 1916 Studebaker. There will be a few more teams joining the Americans once they get to Russia and the main cities in Europe as 'go-alongs' strictly for the fun of it all. This is not an event for the poor or for those who need to be punctual for a meeting…it may take a while to get to Paris, even by today’s standards.