Improving the breed: The advanced Panhard of the Paris-Amsterdam-Paris

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The Paris-Amsterdam-Paris of 1898 was not entirely a race. It actually consisted of two events, the Vitesse and the Tourist. The former was a race proper, whereas the Tourist event was simply a jolly, intended to promote the automobile as an object of recreation and leisure. Both were doubtless greatly enjoyable in their own ways, but it was the racers, of course, who filled people with awe and starry eyes.

Had one been a gambling sort, it would have been a safe enough bet to put money on one of the new 8hp, four-cylinder Panhard et Levassor Type B1s winning. Of the 69 cars entered in Vitesse, there were seven Type B1s and, sure enough, it was Charron’s which emerged victorious after 33h 4m 34s, averaging 26.9mph. Girardot, in the same model, came second, and de Knyff fourth. Impressively, of just 15 cars to finish the race, six of them were B1s.

Chassis 1451 was one of 13 known Type B1M4Es built to Course specification and is the only known survivor. It was modified in 1899 with a front-mounted radiator, wheel steering, pneumatic tyres and aluminium bodywork for first owner Louis Laveissière, a Parisian industrialist. David Burgess-Wise reveals the story behind “the most advanced car on the roads at the time” in the September issue of The Automobile, available now.

Words by Zack Stiling
Photographs by Rob Cooper

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