Dear Anglophiles:  If you are enamored by classic British automobiles and/or the "Golden Age of Travel," you may swoon, as I did, reading about the Fifth Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge.  This classic car, endurance rally, which traverses half the globe, first ran in 1907--before Peking was renamed "Beijing" and before the rise of the Communist state, which forbade contestants to drive through Soviet territories.  Amazingly, in this first race, contestants had no maps and drove mostly off-road!

The Peking-to-Paris rally resumed in 1997, a few years after the fall of Communism.  The current race boasts entrants from 26 nations and 96 vehicles, with a route taking the teams through China, Mongolia's Gobi Desert, Russia, Eastern Europe, and on to France.  The race "prize" is a bottle of champagne!  (And, of course, priceless adventures and great prestige!)

Most of the vehicles in this year's race were manufactured in either Britain or America--but many were produced in other countries too.  Click through the links below,  and you'll see Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Mercedes, Jaguars, Land Rovers--as well as Volvos, Porches, etc.

• To see a map of the race's route, click HERE

• To see the list of race participants, click HERE

• To view the homepage of the Endurance Rally Association, which sponsors the race, click HERE

• To see a Photo Gallery of the race, click HERE   
  

• To read a Telegraph article about the race, click HERE

ALJAZEERA VIDEO: PEKING--PARIS

TELEGRAPH VIDEO: ON THE ROAD IN BEIJING

NEWS ALERTS!  Dear Anglophiles: I've received bits of news today that I must share. 

• The very first images of Downton Abbey's Season 4 have emerged!  Click the link below to get the lowdown and to feast your eyes.  (Note: If you've not seen Season 3, this link is a spoiler; do not tread here.)
  

Think "electric car" is synonymous with "slow"?  Well, think again.  England's Bristol Car (now owned by Kamkorp Group) is set to manufacture an extended-range, electric, supercar that can reach 186 mph.  I don't think the price tag on these handmade jobs will be cheap, though.  If all goes as planned, Bristol will debut its supercar this summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, "the largest motoring garden party in the world."  

The festival runs this year from July 12-14.  If you're in London and want to zip down to Goodwood, it's an easy trip.  Take the train from London's Victoria Station to Goodwood (1 hour, 40 minutes; 60 miles southwest of London), then hail a taxi to the festival location.  The festival, on the gorgeous grounds of the Goodwood House, is replete with entertainment, fine dining, and the "biggest, best, fastest, loudest, and most outrageous vehicles of all time."  Oh, and you'll very likely run elbows with celebrities....    

• To view a video about the Goodwood Festival of Speed, click HERE
  
• To read a Motor Authority article about the Bristol supercar, click HERE
  
• Wish to join the elite BRISTOL OWNERS CLUB?  Find used Bristols cars for sale HERE
  
• For Goodwood Festival of Speed info (and to discover other exciting events held on the Greenwood grounds), click HERE
  

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