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De Teams
40 HP Itala, a 4-cylinder Italian motor car, specially constructed for this rally by order of the Italian Prince Scipione Borghese, accompanied by mechanic Ettore Guizzardi and journalist Luigi Barzini. Without passengers, the weight of the car was 2000 kg.
15 HP Spyker, a 4-cylinder Dutch car, driven by Charles Godard with Jean du Taillis as his accompanying journalist/passenger. Without passengers, the weight of the car was 1400 kg.
10 HP De Dion-Bouton, a 2-cylinder French car, driven by Victor Collignon, accompanied by his mechanic Jean Bizac. Without passengers, the weight of the car was 1400 kg.
Contal Tri-car, a single cylinder, two-stroke three-wheeled vehicle, driven by Auguste Pons, accompanied by Octave Foucault as his mechanic. The weight of the three-wheeler without passengers was 700 kg.
10 HP De Dion-Bouton, a 2-cylinder French car, driven by Georges Cormier, with Edgardo Longoni as his accompanying journalist/passenger. Without passengers, the weight of the car was 1400 kg
These five participating teams and their cars arrived in the Chinese port of Shanghai on 16 May 1907. The start of the race was greatly delayed by the Chinese authorities. The participants were not welcomed with open arms in Peking; the imperial family and the government thought that the participants were spies, and that they were part of a Western plot to investigate the military strength of China. A whole host of ministries and bureaucrats assumed that the race was an excuse for the Europeans to infiltrate Peking in their cars and to thus take control over the city. See also: The Rally