Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

326 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. FLORAL TRIBUTES EN ROUTE DURING THE PARIS-BORDEAUX RACE, 1901. would be a lessening of power and a gradual diminution in the size of the cars ; but, on the contrary, the vehicles of 1902 were more powerful than any yet made, and in addition possessed many innovations which can only be attributed to the new weight regulation. The Paris-Vienna race of that year passed through Switzerland, the stages being Paris- Belfort, Belfort-Bregenz (this stage was neu- tralized, as the Swiss disapproved of the rac- ing), Bregenz-Salzburg, and Salzburg-Vienna. Between Bregenz and Salz- The Paris- burg the cars had to pass over Vienna Race, Arlberg, a remarkable J9°2. mountain climb which was full of trials for the cars and the men in charge. In the course of the 60-mile climb the road rose about 5,000 feet, and for the greater part was fringed by precipices, with nothing but small boundary-stones between the car and the drop. It is surprising that accidents were confined to a number of minor mishaps, but nothing serious. Marcel Renault, on a light car of his own construction, made the fastest time between Paris and Vienna, and the fact that his little 16 horse-power machine beat all the bigger racers is an eloquent testimony to the advantage of lightness on a hilly and rough road. The Paris-Madrid race, consisting of that ill- starred dash to Bordeaux which will always be remembered on account of the many unfor- tunate fatalities which have to be recorded in connection with it, was the last of the great inter-country races—and in a way it can hardly be considered as an inter-country event, for the competitors got no farther than Bordeaux. At this period the cars had assumed very much the same appearance as that which dis- tinguishes them to-day—long wheel-base, and a big bonnet housing a powerful engine giving abnormal speed. These two years, 1902 and 1903, may be considered the period in which the development of the racing vehicle was most rapid, a fact probably due chiefly to the weight limit ; for the racers of 1903 are infinitely more like those of 1906 than the machines of 1899 resemble those of 1902. The