Found on a wall: the first Grand Prix

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I was on my way to a restaurant in London the other day when I came across a striking building I hadn’t seen before.

But the beaming face of a character whose body appeared to be made out of tyres and letters spelling out the word ‘Bibendum’ made it unmistakeably clear this was an old Michelin building:

Bibendum Restaurant

I later discovered this was Michelin House, which was built as the tyre manufacturers’ UK headquarters in 1911.

And portrayed on the side of the building was a picture of a special event that took place five years before Michelin House was built: the first ever Grand Prix:

Ferenc Szisz winning the 1906 French Grand Prix

The race was won by Hungarian Ferenc Szisz. But apart from the title ‘Grand Prix’ and the constructor of Szisz’s car – Renault – the event had little in common with what we recognise as Grand Prix racing today.

The event was run over two days, with 12 laps of a 64-mile loop of public roads. It was organised by the Automobile Club de France, and the significant innovation that set it apart from the road rallies that preceded it was that the roads would be specially closed for the occasion.

The roads were mainly made of tar, in the days before tarmac became ubiquitous. In little time the cars cut the road to pieces and the race became a gruelling struggle against dust, debris and punctured tyres.

Szisz’s tyres – which were, of course, Michelins – gave him a decisive advantage. As the cars burned through their rubber at a frantic rate, speedy tyre changes were vital. The detachable rims on the Michelin tyres allowed new tread to be fitted in two minutes instead of the usual 15.

Szisz took the chequered flag having covered the 12 laps – split into two days of six laps’ running – in 12 hours, 14 minutes, 7 seconds. His closest rival, Felice Nazzaro, was 32 minutes behind. It is not recorded whether the crowd grumbled about how processional Grand Prix racing had become.

You can take a peek at the building, now the Bibendum Restaurant, on Google Street View:


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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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21 comments on “Found on a wall: the first Grand Prix”

  1. Nice closing comment there :)

  2. I’ve eaten here. It’s a very nice restaurant (and a fantastic building!)

    They have a great decor including a big stained glass window version of this vintage Michelin poster (that was sold at auction for £2000 last month.)

    1. Man, those old poster artists were good!

      1. Yeah, I would have loved to have bid on some, like those old Monaco posters. Unfortunately they were a bit out of my price range!

  3. Ah…but what did you have for dinner?

  4. Look at you eating out in Chelsea, did you go shopping on Sloane St and the Kings Road after?

    The blog must be paying well ;-)

    1. LOL! I’d taken my girlfriend out for a birthday meal at a restaurant around the corner – definitely a once-a-year treat kind of thing in that part of town.

      Over dinner I popped the question I’d been longing to ask for some time:

      “Do you mind if I borrow your camera again for the Goodwood Festival of Speed…”

  5. WOW! What a cool find a interesting snippet of history, nice one!

    There is however a great pointer to its original owner on the right hand pillar ;-)

    Seriously though, did you eat there? Whats the menu like and is it pricey? I’m heading down to London later this year, and may try to get the family there for lunch if we’re in the vicinity.

    1. It’s not exactly cheap but I would definitely recommend a visit.

      Here’s the lunch menu: http://www.bibendum.co.uk/restaurant/lunch-menu.html
      And here’s the dinner menu: http://www.bibendum.co.uk/restaurant/dinner-menu.html

      I can recommend the fish and chips. :-)

      There is also a cafe in the forecourt if you just want a coffee.

    2. Check this out: http://www.google.co.uk it’s a search engine that can find things for you!

      Alternatively: http://www.bibendum.co.uk/

      Great restaurant by the way, it’s fairly pricey but more than justified by the superb quality and service – May I recommend the ‘Steak au poivre’…

      1. Check this out: http://www.google.co.uk it’s a search engine that can find things for you!

        LOL!! Very good… however, what Google can’t give you is personal recommendations from people you (kind of) know and trust.

        Cheers for the info though, and to you David.

        :-D

        1. Eek! I think a coffee in the forecourt will do… fortunately I no longer feel the need to impress potential mates!

        2. Apologies for being facetious earlier, bad moment at work spilled over in my reply! Glad you saw the brighter side – I feel stoopid!

  6. I would have had to at least bought one of those butter dishes/ashtrays.

  7. Sush Meerkat
    30th June 2009, 18:23

    wasn’t that Renault also the first ever Turbo Charged engine, actually built by a dude called Renault.

  8. Thanks for the article Keith.

    Nice to have a change of pace after all the politics of late.

    1. Always on the lookout for something a bit different to write about – like the Life article yesterday, I love stuff like that.

      Remember you can all suggest and vote for articles here: https://www.racefans.net/community/

      1. This is one of the reasons why i like your site so much Keith. Most sites just concentrate on the political news or just the close news connected to F1 And some are so far nehind what is going on it gets annoying.
        You tend to keep well up with the latest news, and sometimes almost ahead of it. And in times like now when there isn’t much going on you give us nice articles to discuss.

        1. Thanks scunnyman, glad to be of service :-)

  9. looks fantastic! the prices are tres spendy, but only a bit more than what the equivalent would be here in the states. i’d like to go if i ever get the chance.

  10. This is an excellent find Keith! This is the stuff that seperates your site from the rest!

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