Sunday 29 May 2016

Reference Points

Dear Reader,

Our blog is likely to be an erratic and incomplete record of the progress of Emerald and its pilots over the approximately 13,500 kilometers (8,500 miles) from Beijing to Paris. We make no promises. so we are happy to refer you to other sources of information.

The official account of the rally will be provided by the organisers, the Endurance Rally Association. Their website is at:

                 http://www.endurorally.com/pages/the-peking-to-paris-motor-challenge-2016

Amongst the material is a map of the route (reproduced below) and  a schedule of the stops on the 35 day journey across China, Mongolia, Russia and Belarus into the EU and on to Paris.


There is a list of participants - all 115 of us. We are Car No 22, Alvis Silver Eagle Sport, and the younger by two years of the two Alvis's. 

Another highlight is the Blogs and Facebook pages of participants on the rally. Time will tell which is the best. An early favourite is the blog of Car 30: they have promised a daily update and the mix so far has been varied and interesting. Their link is

http://pekingtoparis2016.blogspot.co.uk/


Saturday 28 May 2016

It's an Alvis 1935 Silver Eagle

Alvis was a British car manufacturer based in Coventry that made passenger cars between 1920 and 1967. During the 1920s and 1930s it led British car technology for example in developing the first all-synchromesh gearbox pioneered in 1932 and fitted to all Alvis cars from September 1933.

Its virtues for the Peking to Paris rally include a big 3.5 litre engine (though we think it may have been added in the later 1930s) with low compression ratios that should be resilient in the harsh physical conditions of Mongolia. On the other hand, it wasn't really built for carrying luggage and storage is a challenge.

We acquired the car last summer and have had to overhaul almost every moving part. But we haven't for a moment contemplated changing the colour, British Racing Green.

For sheer elegance, even the compromises necessary for rally preparation don't hide the sleek lines of the Emerald.