Dear heroes (and heroines), who succeeded, come hell or high water, in finishing the famous race PEKING - PARIS, allow me to present an excerpt from a letter written by Prince Scipio Borghese, the winner of the Peking to Paris race back in 1907, to Luigi Barzini, a journalist and participant in that race, and author of the first book about the event:
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Isola del Garda, September 1907 Dear Barzini! There are people who say after all that - after the two months of our hardships, after our journey over rocks, across rivers, sands and forests, swamps and cliffs - and who still claim that the only thing our journey proved is this: it's impossible to go by car from Peking to Paris. But that is simply not true, and both you and me, who passed through that route, can attest to that! However, while reading your book, nobody will ever guess what enormous will power and moral strength was needed on your part to write that book. I, who was honoured and gratified to be your companion in those sustained two-months´ efforts, those strained mental endeavours amidst material hardships which now ended, I am the only one who can endorse all that. And those two months have left in me great admiration for you as well as profound feelings of friendship that will survive the test of time. Accept, dear Barzini, an expression of my friendship and respect with which I remain yours, Scipione Borghese |
I too take off my hat before your current feat and accomplishment, which I am now trying to record - also with your help and cooperation - in this emerging book on the history and the present of this greatest of all longdistance car races, a race that has linked Asia with Europe, Peking with Paris!
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Jiøí V. Èerný Motor Journal Prague, June 2007 |
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