Taking care of the future

On 12 February 1908, six cars gathered in Times Square, New York, surrounded by more than 250,000 spectators, for the start of the New York to Paris automobile race. Rather than being shipped across the Atlantic, these cars were going the long way round - west across the United States, transported on a ship to Japan and then Russia, before driving almost the entire width of Eurasia. Seven cars had withdrawn before the start, and three more pulled out during the race. Travelling much of the way without roads, the cars were forced to drive cross-country through half-frozen Siberian mud or along railways, with the drivers conducting running repairs along the route.