In February of 1908, six teams partook in the most ambitious motor race ever held: The New York to Paris. 

Following up 1907's "Peking to Paris," this event proposed an expanded route that ventured from New York to San Francisco, up to Alaska, across the Bering Straight into Russia, and finally through Asia and Europe to Paris. With neither highway infrastructure nor 1900s automotive technology up to snuff, teams spent the majority of their time off-road and struggling. 

The French fielded three teams, (De Dion-Bouton, Motobloc, and Sizaire-Naudin), while a Protos, a Zust, and a Thomas represented Germany, Italy, and the United States respectively. 

The American Thomas Flyer completed the cross country leg first, before shipping up to Alaska. There, "impossible conditions" forced the race to amend its course, and teams shipped their cars to Japan, followed by Vladivostok in southeastern Russia. 

Although the German Protos made it to Paris first, the team was penalized 30 days for skipping over Japan and using trains to ship their car. A few days later, the American Thomas Flyer reached Paris after 169 days of travel to claim the official victory. 

Germany took second place despite the penalty, with Italy finishing considerably later. All French teams dropped out before the Asian leg. 

Covering well over 10,000 miles, New York to Paris is the longest motor race in history both by time and distance. 

George Schuster, driver for The Thomas Flyer, is in the Automotive Hall of Fame.