Paris-Amsterdam

Destination for the Automobile Club de France’s major race of 1898 was Amsterdam. The epic six day test, with an additional rest day in the Dutch capital before the return leg, was a head-to-head duel between Panhard’s leading two drivers. Léonce Girardot led before the final stage when incessant rain turned the roads to mud. However, a series of punctures wiped that advantage out and handed victory by half-an-hour to his team-mate Fernand Charron. An overly zealous Paris police engineer excluded several competitors who lacked the certificats de réception required to drive in Paris on the eve of the event, so the start and finish were moved out of his jurisdiction to Villiers-sur-Marne and Montgeron respectively. The winning Panhard was fitted with a steering wheel rather than lever for the first time.