On the Arlberg Pass in 18 inches of snow (Gerry Acher).


all. The overall winner was Prince Scipione Borghese, who was so confident of victory that during the race he drove his Itala from Moscow to St Petersburg to attend a party before heading back to Moscow to continue the rally. It cannot be said that any of the participants of the second Peking to Paris rally, held 90 years later, followed the Prince’s example, but the challenge remained similar with roads, particu- larly in rural China, virtually non-existent or just consisting of layers of mud, often made worse by impromptu road-workers appearing and dumping huge piles of earth in the middle of the ‘highway’.


Sir Gerald and his co-driver Bruce Young


reminisced on the journey which still seemed fresh in their minds despite it being nearly 20 years ago. Assisted by a slide-show of photo- graphs taken during the trip the evening was as much a travelogue as a motoring adventure. Their story began in 1995 when Gerald was sent details of this commemorative rally and thought it a good idea to take part in his recently acquired 1932 New International Aston Martin. He contacted Bruce, who had been looking after the car for 10 years, and asked whether he would care to join him. He agreed, somewhat impetuously, and so began two years of preparations for the rally which not only entailed a logistical challenge but also a mechanical one. The car was rebuilt with


26


the rally in mind, completely restoring the engine, lowering the compression to cope with bad petrol and changing virtually everything from the carburettors to the camshaft. An extra fuel tank was squeezed in and special compartments made for luggage as everything had to be carried on the car.


Sir Gerald and Bruce were determined not to have a puncture and to beat the record of the original entrants, but that was not to be, as they experienced their first just five miles after arriving in China and then virtually every day following. The car was not expected to complete the rally by the organisers but, of course, it did and although it did not win the drivers did receive a trophy – for the ‘Spirit of the Rally’. There were many tales to be told of this great adventure, including camping at minus 10 degrees with cars running all night to stop them freezing up, less than desirable hotels, roads cling- ing to the edges of mountains with sheer 1,000- foot drops and no barriers, driving along a river bed where no road existed, losing at least 20 per cent power at altitude and mirages at the other heat extreme of 40 to 50 degrees. One such tale involved their spare half-shaft which was given to a crew in a Land Rover to carry, only to find that the Land Rover had plunged over a ravine in Nepal, luckily they managed to retrieve their half- shaft and the crew weren’t too badly hurt! Sadly


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