First automobile race Paris – Rouen

The first race of a sort was the 126-kilometre Paris – Rouen long-distance drive on 22 July 1894, which was actually a reliability trial, but was also about which starter would be the first to reach the finish line in the northern French city. The event was organised by the Paris-based newspaper "Le Petit Journal" on the initiative of its editor Pierre Giffard.

Of the 21 (out of 102 registered) vehicles that rolled onto the starting grid in Paris, 14 were petrol-powered, while the remaining seven were steam-powered – a circumstance that makes it clear that the "competition between the systems" of petrol engine, steam and electric drive was in full swing in those early days of the automobile. In the 1890s, it was by no means foreseeable that petrol-powered cars would ultimately win the race. One of the steam cars – a De-Dion-Bouton, which with 20 hp/15 kW was the most powerful representative of the field of participants – was actually the first to reach the finish line in Rouen. However, the winning vehicle was disqualified because its design as a steam tractor with a passenger carriage did not comply with the tender, which only envisaged four-seater carriages. The first prize of 5000 francs was split between the second and third-placed vehicles from Peugeot and Panhard & Levassor, which crossed the finish line just a few minutes later – both equipped with the licence-built Daimler engine. Of course, neither of these two or any of the other vehicles that crossed the finish line were "racing cars" by today's standards, having been built for this specific purpose; nevertheless, the cars from Peugeot and Panhard & Levassor that won prizes at the first motorsport event rightly have a firm place in the lineage of competition vehicles.

11 of the 17 vehicles that crossed the finish line were equipped with a two-cylinder V-engine from Panhard & Levassor, Système Daimler, with a displacement of just under one litre. On the journey from Paris to Rouen, the two-cylinder engine demonstrated qualities that are still decisive today: endurance and reliability, and that's also what was stipulated in the entry criteria: "The winner will be the car that best fulfils the criteria of being "safe to use, easy to operate and not too expensive to run" ('être sans danger, aisément maniable pour les voyageurs et de ne pas coûter trop cher sur la route')." Four of the 11 cars equipped with the Daimler licence engine shared first and fourth prize in the end. A Roger-Benz driven by Emile Roger himself won fifth prize, and two steam cars were awarded second and third prize. The Panhard & Levassor car driven by Alfred Vacheron featured a remarkable modification: It was the first car to be equipped with a steering wheel and an inclined steering column instead of the usual steering lever of the time.

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