Exactly one month after setting off from Paris, the Itala motor car which won the famous Peking to Paris challenge one hundred years ago has arrived in Moscow as it retraces the route taken by Scipione Borghese.

This time though the route is being retracted in the opposite direction. From Paris the team are journeying all the way to Peking, travelling through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Mongolia and part of China – about 16,000 kilometres to cover in a little more than two months. So far this month the convoy has travelled from Berlin to Moscow, passing through Warsaw, Riga and St. Petersburg. This is the account of this part of the journey, recalled courtesy of the Pargi-Pechino 2007 team:

28th/31st July - Berlin to Warsaw

We leave Germany under a heavy sky that quickly turned into an incessant rain that follows us all the way to Poznan. Having quickly passed through customs on the border between Germany and Poland, we continue, passing woods and fields, at the Itala’s 'cruising speed' of 60 kilometres per hour. As a result, we are overtaken by trucks from many different countries – another problem that Borghese never encountered. It continues to rain, leaving Luciano and Rocco soaked through. We discover a strange toll system for the motorways in Poland, where a ticket has to be purchased for the trucks for the number of days they will be in the country and then placed behind the windscreen, while the cars pay at the toll booths along the motorway. After a stop in Poznan we continue to Warsaw, with the weather improving and the temperature increasing.

31st July, Warsaw - Guest of Honour at the Embassy

In Warsaw, the Ambassador to Italy, H.E. Anna Blefari Melazzi, organised a reception in our honour with local authorities, journalists and local businessmen, including some Italians who have set up businesses in Poland. After the reception, we go on a tour of Warsaw, the Royal Palace and the old town, then the Palace of Culture, in true soviet style, which was gifted to all nations in the Warsaw Pact by Russia in the 1950s. Finally, we saw the Vistola, the river that runs through Warsaw, the monument to Jan Kilinski, the hero of Polish history and the monument of the battle of Montecassino which recalls the collapse of the Gustav line to Polish forces in what is also known as the “Battle for Rome”.

1st/3rd August - Poland to Lithuania

Leaving Warsaw, the suburbs reflect the spirit of progress of the Poles. Modern buildings housing brand-new companies and roads are being built everywhere. The only change in the scenery of fields and woods is the increasing number of birch trees. Some of the houses are still made of wood and we start to see some white roads and the distinctive nests of storks on chimneys and lamp-posts. We cross the region of the great parks, the Bialowieski National Park, which straddles Poland and Belarus, the Nadbuzanski National Park, the Narwianski, the Biebrzanski and the Wigry, all created in the three great “wildernesses”, or Puszcza of eastern Poland. We leave Poland and enter Lithuania. The Polish border guards greet us warmly but hurriedly, since we are only stopping to change Polish zloty into Lithuanian Litas.

3rd August, Riga - The eyes of the Itala

The troop decided to take 'the lady' for a ride around the centre: it’s a beautiful evening and the Latvians enjoy their climate as if it were a precious gift. It’s also the perfect evening for the Itala, which makes itself comely for the occasion. We never expected to discover that she has such beautiful eyes: take two resistant metal cylinders and place some pieces of a mineral called calcium carbide in them, replace the cylinders in a container behind the Itala’s large headlights, then slowly add some drops of water on to the carbide and watch what happens. The Itala’s headlights come alive with a pale yellow colour that lights up the road at least 10 metres ahead. Just like when starting the engine, Rocco has to follow the same procedure as Borghese or his mechanic Guizzardi had to follow one hundred years ago. It’s like going back in time and this is the extraordinary emotion that the Itala can give you. She is still the same as in 1907, albeit with a few small facelifts, as befits any true lady trying to keep in shape.

8th August - Towards the Russia Border

A wash of green. That is the colour of the undulating countryside between Riga and the Russian border. We knew it would take us more than a matter of minutes, but we didn’t think that the time required to cross the Russian border would solely be due to bureaucracy.
 

Rather than the queue of tourists on this beautiful August day. There is a 2km long queue of trucks waiting for midnight today (Sunday) and we are concerned that the two trucks in our convoy that act as our kitchen, dormitory, mechanical workshop and store room will be forced to wait with all the others. But in the end all goes well and we cross the border after 'only' four hours.

Passing through customs is a genuine wild goose chase and if you make a mistake you have to go back to square one. At the first control point we meet a woman in uniform to whom we give our passports and the vehicle documents. She writes everything down by hand and makes us fill out a form. Then we move on to the second stop, where we are warmly welcomed because we have overcome the first obstacle. We couldn’t work out what they did here, but we think they were checking that the people driving the vehicles were those actually registered on the documents. We were a little concerned because they had been mixed up: the motorcyclist was driving one of the Massifs, one of the drivers of the new Fiat 500 was sleeping on one of the trucks… But once Beppe Tenti had understood the game, he pairs up all the documents correctly and we move on to the third control point, which is to check that the previous check had been carried out properly. The fourth box is reserved only for Beppe Tenti and the guide who prepared our permits for crossing Russia.

Finally, the convoy sets off again and 100 metres later we stop at the fifth box, where they check that the last check had been carried out. In the end we win the prize: a sticker to be placed on the windscreen to prove that we have won the game and are free to enter Russia. We have to say that we were lucky because the Itala paved the way for us. If she can pass through, how can you refuse all the others? Once again, she has proved to be a true lady: patient, calm and generous, but above all loyal. One hundred years ago Borghese crossed the border in a matter of minutes because he had a special pass that had been made out in St. Petersburg. Without a special pass we did it in only 4 hours.

7th August, St Petersburg - A welcome party, just like 100 years ago

The Itala made a triumphant entrance into St. Petersburg just as she did 100 years ago. But Scipione Borghese, Barzini and Guizzardi certainly did not have to cope with the traffic that engulfs this beautiful city today. However, Rocco and Luciano are now used to coping with such situations. The Park Inn Pulkoskaya Hotel was chosen as the location for our cocktail to commemorate the party organised in 1907 in honour of Scipione Borghese, who decided to make the detour to St. Petersburg to attend it. A sumptuous buffet awaited us at 18.30 with the 'Lambrusco Concerto' of the Consorzio dei Vini Reggiani and 'Vivante Lambrusco' from the Cantine Riunite di Reggio Emilia. Luckily none of us have to drive for a while. But the wine did not make us forget the elegant Itala, which was on display at the Park Inn from the early morning.

11th-13th August, Moscow

We arrived in Moscow early on Friday afternoon after an excruciating journey through the suburbs. We have been trying all day without success to get in touch with the people at Mito Group, who are organizing the events in Moscow. Finally we find the hotel we are staying at. Boris, the president of the Moscow Vintage Car Club (CCCB) had warned us: 'Change hotel – it’s a rat hole'. Help! Should we be worrying about the Itala? No. In fact, it’s not like that at all. It’s a large hotel full of shops and services near to Moscow’s China Town. And to tell the truth, it’s the first hotel in Russia where we find an Internet connection with a decent speed.

On Saturday the 11th we have a day of rest (of sorts) that allows us to go over the footage and to get the Itala in order in the workshop made available by Boris’s club. But we didn’t really need it, since the Itala is very well and we leave her in peace once Rocco and Luciano have done their ritual two hours of maintenance. On Sunday we are at the All Russian Exhibition Center, where we meet the Russian media: the legendary TASS, national and local TV, motoring newspapers and magazines and the popular press.

In the morning, the people from the 'Crazy Train' arrive: 208 people, including the disabled, who are travelling from Italy to Beijing by train. They greet us enthusiastically and we all go together to meet Ambassador Claudio Surdo and the Italian diplomats who have helped us so much with this Moscow stage.After an excellent coffee at the Embassy and a look at Moscow by night we’re off again. On the road again towards the Ural mountains. Wyler Genève time indicates 22 days, 2 hours and 52 minutes.