The American
La France Project
The Peking to Paris Motor
Challenge owes its existence to the Italian Prince Borghese, who, in 1907 accepted a challenge of the French newspaper Le Matin “…We asked this question of car manufacturers in France and abroad: Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Paris to Peking by automobile?” Borghese accepted the challenge and drove to victory his Italia… long before the Peking spelling became Beijing. The trip took 61 days and stands as an epic feat of marathon road rallying. But the spelling of its name has retained the original style. For a further history of the race see:
www.unmuseum.org/autorace.htm
Late in 2013 Black Horse Racing decided to take up the challenge and prepare an entry for the 2016 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, hosted by the British Endurance Rally Association. We have entered two American La France Speedsters, one driven by Steve Trafton and Katherine Trafton and the other by Tim Taylor (the Black Horse Racing team manager) and Ike Trafton, one of the four Trafton brothers. See the Building the Road Rally Racing Roadster section of this website for the rebuilding details. And visit the Updates section to see our Peking to Paris race progress.
See the main site of the Endurance Rally Association and find out more details about the vehicles entered in the race along with previous races:
Peking to Paris Race