The Peking to Paris Rally celebrates the remarkable achievements of more than a 100 years ago, when five cars set out from Peking. Four made it to Paris to a tumultuous welcome and world-wide fame – they had set out to prove that man and machine could now go anywhere, they hoped it would make borders between countries redundant. They had left Peking with no passports – these had been confiscated by Chinese authorities who suspected they were spies, and had no interest in seeing the success of the motor-car having just invested in shares in the trans-Siberian railway.

The second Peking to Paris was not held until the summer of 1997, when on the 90th anniversary, The Endurnace Rally Association (http://www.endurorally.com/ & http://www.pekigparis.com/) staged the first-ever rally for classic and vintage cars to cross China, and Tibet through Nepal and on to Paris.