Couple’s Prize for Peking/Paris Porsche Race is Priceless
356A-Driven Adventure Concludes with Forgettable Award but also Provides an Unforgettable, Once-in-a-Lifetime Road Trip
In a great new feature story that is sure to appeal to Porsche enthusiasts, the Washington Post interviews a Washington, D.C., couple who drove a vintage Porsche in a car race spanning 8,500 miles from China to France–and all they won was a bottle of champagne.
Jill Kirkpatrick loves traveling and Tony Connor loves cars, so when Kirkpatrick suggested they participate in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, Connor was more than up for the adventure. Before they started, they made a deal that captured their 20 years of marriage in a nutshell: Kirkpatrick wouldn’t criticize Connor’s driving, and Connor wouldn’t dispute Kirkpatrick’s directions.
The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge began in 1907, and has taken place six times. Only cars made before 1975 may enter the rally. In 2016, entrants included a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II, a 1917 American LaFrance speedster, and a 1930 Ford Model A. The race takes cars across Europe and Eurasia, and includes rough terrain and unpaved roads.
To register for the month-long race, entrants pay a fee to the Endurance Rally Association, which covers their lodging and most of their fuel. The fee doesn’t cover preparing a car for the race or shipping it to the starting line. Total costs, including potential repairs to a car during the race, can go into six figures.
Connor began looking for the perfect car to bring to the rally. Working with a dealer who specialized in classic cars, he eventually chose a 1956 Porsche 356A two-seater coupe. The car’s original suspension and engine had been replaced with more modern parts. Connor modified it further in preparation for the rally. Because the Porsche had low road clearance, Connor adjusted its suspension and rerouted its exhaust through the rear fender so that it could cross rivers more easily. He also reinforced the steering column, doubled the capacity of the fuel tank, and protected its undercarriage with a steel plate.
Before they started, the couple made a deal that captured their 20 years of marriage in a nutshell: She wouldn’t criticize his driving, and he wouldn’t dispute her directions.
The race took almost everything Connor and Kirkpatrick had in them. They usually ate one meal a day, and existed on three to four hours of sleep. Then there were the surprises: unpaved highways in Russia, nerve-wrackingly-high mountain passes in Italy, and border guards in Mongolia who thought Connor’s pack of oil-leak-absorbing crystals was methamphetamine.
The Porsche also went through major and minor repairs, including a stop in Russia to replace its entire back end after the rear suspension failed. On the second day of the rally, the speedometer and fuel gauge stopped working, which meant that Connor had to make educated guesses on their speed and gas level.
After 36 days and 8,500 miles, Connors and Kirkpatrick crossed the finish line. They were third in their class, and happy just to finish. True, the prize for the rally was only a bottle of champagne, but the real reward was the unforgettable life experience.
“I didn’t want it to end,” Connor tells the Washington Post.
The next Peking to Paris Motor Challenge is in 2019.