The First French Grand Prix 1906

This article was originally published in the July 1906 issue of Motor Age. Like other coverage of the first French Grand Prix in 1906, this article is critical of how the event was conducted and the ulterrior motives behind staging it. This is historically significant because it was not just the first French Grand Prix, but the first grand prix auto race anywhere. Born in acrimony, the French automobile industry had been upset with the rules of international racing limiting each nation to three cars for the biggest race, the James Gordon Bennett Cup. When France forsook the Bennett Cup contest and offered their grand prix, many in the international community thought it a control issue with desgin to tip the scales in favor of the French manufacturers - who had already enjoyed tremendous success.