I have rallied since 1968 driving in my 1964 Ford Cortina GT Mark1 in Uganda, where I was working. I also navigated  in  friends  cars, a 1959 Humber Hawk and a 1960 Saab two stroke, great fun in the mud.

Later, around  1990, I started rallying classic cars, including a Frogeye Sprite (great fun ) an MGC GT, a Volvo Amazon  and a BMC Landcrab. I drove and navigated rallies in Asia, UK and  Europe but my most enjoyable rally was the 1997 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge.

In 1996 a work colleague and I read an advertisement for the  1997 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge and we entered  with a 1947 Buick Roadmaster , a 3 speed , straight eight saloon weighing almost a ton . At that time I was working in Hong Kong and General Motors China had just announced a new factory investment to build modern Buick cars in Shanghai, as a public relations exercise they agreed to sponsor us in the rally .They paid the entrance fee, shipping, hotels and  petrol, and we in turn provided some PR.  We met the press in China and during the  6 week rally, we provided daily reports to a recording machine in the USA, calling by  satellite phone, then GM wrote up our adventures on a website and issued press releases , especially in China.  (No mobile phone coverage in most countries until we reached Europe) 

The Buick was rally prepared in the U.K. with a sump guard, an extra petrol tank ( a Saab 9000 tank between the rear seat and the boot), two spare wheels were bolted to the floor in the rear seat space( seat removed ), an electric radiator cooling fan , air vents for extra cooling in the  bonnet top  and sides , two petrol filters, stronger shock absorbers and large mud grip tires. Engine and running gear were all checked and we carried essential spares bought from various locations in the USA.

We had no punctures, so the spare wheels were never used!!!

We entered a couple of weekend rallies in Europe to get used to the Buick and it was then shipped to Beijing.

The rally started on 1st September 1997, the day after Princess Diana tragically died in Paris. 

The rally had about 5 timed sections every day as well as an overall daily  target time at destination and once in Europe, a few tests on famous race tracks. We used a 1960s model mechanical Halda for distance recording and maps to support the tulip route notes. We usually drove for 8 hours a day between hotels or campsites in western China and Nepal .

The route took us along the Great Wall of China along the Tibet valley ,passing Everest to Lhasa. The road from Lhasa to Katmandu was terrible, one section took 4 hours for 30 kilometres . There was mud, large holes and rocks in the road  falling water and rocks off the mountain side and road repairs. Luckily the Buick had a great road clearance and performed well in mud. After Nepal, it was India, Pakistan and then Iran. 

Near Esfahan, in Iran, our engine needed serious attention, and a government garage took the engine out and rebuilt it in 2 days. The Iran Government had sponsored the rally so all the work was free. We were left behind and drove 16 hours a day for the next 2 days direct to catch up the rally in Istanbul. We arrived the evening of the rest day having lost a massive number of points, but were able to restart the rally the next day. Then it was through Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and to Paris in France. We had travelled 6,000 miles in 6 weeks and achieved a finishers medal.

The car was eventually bought by a wealthy  private  Buick collector who donated it to the Buick Museum in Flint, Michigan where it was built.

It is still there.

It was the trip of a lifetime and we were so lucky to be sponsored , a matter of being in the right place at the right time.