1895: The Grande Launch of One of the Earliest Motorcar Races

June 11, 1895

One of the first major multi-day motorcar races began in France’s capital city. There were 30 entrants altogether in this round-trip race, which involved driving motor vehicles between Paris in the northern central part of France and the city of Bordeaux in the southwestern area of the country. The total distance covered in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris Trail race of June 1895 was approximately 732 miles (1,178 kilometers). This event was organized by the Automobile Club of France (ACF).

French engineer and automotive pioneer Émile Levassor (1843-1897), driving one of the Panhard et Levassor vehicles that he had helped develop, finished first in the race. He took only 48 hours and 48 minutes to make it back to Paris. This was nearly six hours before French engineer Louis Rigoulot (1844-1913), driving a Peugeot Quadricycle, became the runner-up when he likewise returned to the City of Light.

Five hours and 13 minutes later, French industrialist Paul Koechlin (1852-1907) crossed the finish line in Paris in a Peugeot-Daimler Type 7 Phaéton. (The attached photo of Koechlin in that car – along with three passengers – was taken during the race.)

Ultimately, it was Koechlin who was declared the official winner of the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris Trail race. This was because the formal rules for the race called for only four-seater motor vehicles. While the car driven by Koechlin met this requirement, the vehicles operated by both Levassor and Rigoulot were actually two-seaters. This outcome for the race led to strong protests that, by virtue of this first-place finish, Levassor should have been declared the winner instead.

As a result of these protests, the ACF revised the rules so that the fastest finisher for the following year’s Paris-Marseille-Paris race would be declared the winner. The winner of that 1896 competition was French automotive trailblazer Émile Mayade (1853-1898), who finished the race in 67 hours, 42 minutes, and 58 seconds while driving a Panhard et Levassor vehicle.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on early major motorcar races, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorsport_before_1906