The Race from Paris to Amsterdam in 1898 - Part 1

In July it will be 120 years ago that the Paris-Amsterdam race was held, to be exact between July 7 and 13, 1898. It was the first international race organized by the then only 3 years old Automobile Club de France (ACF). Another first was that it was combined with a tourist section, which was allowed four days extra for the whole distance. The reason for the choice of Amsterdam was that at that time in The Netherlands the automobile was still an almost unknown phenomenon: when it was decided that the race would head to Amsterdam, The Netherlands counted only 10 vehicles. At the time of the race, this number had doubled to 20, which was still far lower than in Belgium, having even a smaller population. Estimates for Belgium in 1898 were at least a few hundred cars (registration started only in 1900 when 715 cars were counted), whereas also a small car industry already had developed. It was clear that The Netherlands needed a little push! Therefore, the ACF wanted to have as many cars as possible in the contest, which would be exhibited in Amsterdam in the Palace of Industry during the rest day halfway the race.

From April 25 to 28, a commemoration run will be held organized by the renowned ClassicEvents, which runs from Paris via Nijmegen to the castle De Haar in Haarzuijlens (near Utrecht). No, not to Amsterdam because of the too dense traffic nowadays, but the castle is historical as well, as it was owned by the family of Étienne de Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, founder, and president of the ACF. He had married Hélène de Rothschild (member of the famous banker's family) and both were participants in the contest, though in the tourist section: they had registered under the pseudonyms Escargot resp. Snail.

One of the 81 participants during the 2018 commemoration run will be an 1899 Amédée Bollée with a full PreWarCar-team. This car is by far the oldest of all and in speed, if compared to the other participants, probably like the earlier mentioned pseudonyms...

In a series of posts, you will read more about the race in 1898 and about what happened to some of the drivers and their cars then. Moreover, the PreWarCar-team will tell you all about the preparation of their car, which will have to perform at its best to keep in pace with the other participants and to arrive in time each night to have at least a few hours sleep before moving on the next day.

The photos show the Panhard & Levassor of the eventual winner Charron at the start in Paris. The 2(1).jpg driver of the Panhard with nr.2 was Gilles Hourgières.

You can read more about the 2018 run and its participants on www.parijsamsterdam.nl.

Words by Ariejan Bos.

Published:

Tuesday April 3rd, 2018

Fons Alkemade

08 April 2018, 12:06

Ariejan,
I am still wondering why the ACF decided to choose Amsterdam for this first international race. From your explanation above, I understand that the ACF wanted to promote automobilism in The Netherlands. But why would the ACF care about the popularity of cars in this country? Did the ACF members related to the industry feel that there were big opportunities in Holland? If so, I think they have been quite disappointed... My guess is that the choice of Amsterdam was quite simple: Baron Etienne van Zuylen knew about the situation of the roads and traffic in Belgium and The Netherlands and felt that this situation was good enough to have a successful 'race'. And he managed to persuade the other members of the board of the ACF.

Politi

06 April 2018, 18:23

YOU FINALLY DID IT PreWarCar, I am totally confused and do not even know what day it is. This race was a "ROUND TRIP" from Paris to Amsterdam(with stay-overs for racers half way in Amsterdam). The DISTANCE from Paris to Amsterdam is 312 miles, so times two(2) equals "624 miles", BUT records indicated that the race distance was 1431km or 890 miles.
(Were those EXTRA 166 miles dealership trade-in handicaps?).

M. Edwards

03 April 2018, 11:11

Ariejan, I like the article. Do you know how many tricycles took part, how many finished, and who was the fastest - I have not been able to find these details. Michael

Ariejan Bos

03 April 2018, 17:05

Hi Michael, although in one of the following articles some attention will be given to the tricycle section, I'll give already a complete overview of the tricycle results below.
The racing section Class B series counted ten tricycles at the start, of which nine were De Dion and one a Phébus. Four of the De Dions would make it to the finish, but Marcellin on the Phébus was faster and thus the winner. The tourist section Class B series 1 counted six participating tricycles: two De Dion, two Créanche, a Marot-Gardon and a Berthaume. Griet on the Berthaume was the only one making it to the finish and thus automatically the winner.
Two Léon Bollée tricycles were in the Class B series 3 of the racing section. One of these would make it to the finish, but that section was won by Corbière on a Decauville. NB. The classes were weight-based, so that's why the four-wheeled Decauville was in the same class as the three-wheeled Léon Bollée.
In the touring section Class 3 two Léon Bollées were the only participants. Both made it to the finish with Piet-Lataudrie becoming first.
If you'd like to have more information, please ask for my mail-address at PreWarCar.com.

The Race from Paris to Amsterdam in 1898 - Part 1

Comments

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.