One of the earliest international motor racing events in Europe was the Gordon Bennett Cup Race. The route of the race changed each year because the starting location was in the country of origin of the car which had won the previous year. Thus in 1902 the route was from Paris, France to Innsbruck, Austria, a distance of 565km. Day two took the competitors through Switzerland where motor racing was banned, so cars were required to adhere to a speed limit of 15mph until reaching the Austrian border. Representing the Automobile Club of Britain and Ireland, Selwyn Edge drove a Napier to victory, marking the first ever win for a British car in international racing competition. For Great Britain the victory must have seemed especially sweet because no other car even finished that year!






Editor’s note: originally printed in British Boots & Bonnets Chronicle, March 2013