Podcasts · No One Saw It Coming

The prince, the liar, and the race to save cars

· 26 min

Episode The prince, the liar, and the race to save cars

0:00 25:46

Imagine driving from Beijing, through the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, and across Russia into Europe. The roads are terrible, you don't have petrol stations and you have pack animals carrying supplies. Oh, and it's a race so step on it.

In 1907 this was the challenge set by a French newspaper. A race around the world to prove the automobile was not some fad technology.

Kassia St Clair, cultural historian and author (The Race To The Future) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the wild story about a race around the world that put lives and technology on the line and got mostly forgotten about since.

Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.

Get in touch:

Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au

The episode on the publisher’s site (opens in a new tab)

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.