When choosing a car for one of the world’s most arduous automobile events, the Prodrive Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, what would you pick? Especially if you’ve never driven, or navigated, on its epic route that spans over 8,500 miles – which crosses some of the world’s toughest terrain…
Katarina Kyvalova is no ordinary racing driver. It was fitting that someone who made their racing debut in a 24-hour event in a pre-war Bentley should get her first taste of the Prodrive Peking to Paris in a wild, first-of-its-kind restomod from British racing and rallying legends Prodrive, based – of all things – on a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback donor car.
A regular in historic motorsports, usually seen racing a 4.5-liter Bentley, a Cooper Jaguar or a Jaguar E-Type, Katarina took a huge leap out of her comfort zone by signing up for one of the most gruelling and prestigious endurance rallies in the world before the global health pandemic of 2020. She finally got to compete in the 2024 edition of this quite unique event, that was first held way back in 1907.
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
Competing on a classic
The Prodrive Peking to Paris rally’s combination of history, endurance, cultural exploration, and passion for classic cars makes it a truly unique and special event in the world of motorsports. It stands out for being not just a test of speed, but a test of resilience, adaptability, and the indomitable spirit of adventure.
Participants navigate everything from desert sand dunes and mountainous passes to unpaved roads and river crossings. The unpredictable weather – which includes intense heat, rain, hail and snow – adds to the difficulty.
“It definitely felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the time,” Kyvalova says. “But looking back now, it’s maybe not only once – I could imagine myself doing it again at some point. It feels like I dreamed it all! I need to look back at the photos, to know it did actually happen.
“It does feel surreal, when I’m honest with you, because it is such an out-of-the-box experience. It certainly feels like an achievement, in some way, to have taken part and got to the finish. But straight after the event, I never thought that’s going to happen a second time. But now… Maybe!”
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
Determination to take part
Katarina came very close to cancelling her plans to compete this year, but managed to find a way to make it happen thanks to some very good friends..
“It was on my bucket list for ages,” she recalls. “I was at dinner with friends, and they were about to do it, and said ‘Oh, why don’t you do it too?’ So I went along with the fun, and I just submitted the entry, with no real plan or anything, with the 1928 Bentley.
“Then Coronavirus happened, and China was closed for so long. In the meantime, I realised that I don’t want to do it in the Bentley, because I did some research and I didn’t want to destroy the car. And, secondly, I saw the danger aspect of rallying with open car.
“At that point, I had no car, no co-driver – I had the option to cancel… But eventually we found a solution for the problem.”
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
Re-engineering an iconic muscle car
That solution came via the expertise of Prodrive, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and conquerors of the World Rally Championship with Subaru, and the Le Mans 24 Hours and World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin. At the behest of the Historic Endurance Rally Organisation’s chairman Tomas de Vargas Machuca, the Banbury-based preperation giants concocted the HERO-ERA 1 based on a ’67 Mustang donor car. A 5.4-liter Windsor V8 engine produces a de-tuned (for reliability purposes) 400bhp. A five-speed Tremec TKX stick-shift gearbox and updated suspension, but the live rear axle remains.
Prodrive’s founder and chairman David Richards takes up the story…
“Tomas and I have been pals for a long time and actually the spark was a dinner where my wife said she would like to drive Peking to Paris,” says Richards. “I said I didn’t want anything to do with it, but Karen wanted to drive it. And Tomas said, ‘I know the car you should drive. It should be a Mustang.’
“And we got chatting over dinner about this, that we should do a Mustang, as we need a competitor to all the Porsches in classic rally events. A good price car that’s reliable, that’s strong and Americans will love. And he said, ‘Would you build the Mustang?’ So I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’
“He had actually bought one already, had one in a barn, and he shipped it up to us. And we’ve got a great guy called Thommo – Richard Thompson [the general manager of Prodrive’s Legends operation] – and we set about the spec of the car. We had plenty of time to do it, about a year or something. And, in that intervening time, my wife decided that, under a bit of persuasion from myself, that it wasn’t a great idea for her to do it.
“When I told Tomas this, he said: ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got loads of people who want to drive this.’ And we decided that we wanted someone who’d show the performance of it and not just somebody pootle around.”
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
Taking on the challenge
Which is where Katarina and her team-mate Jon Minshaw – the CEO of Demon Tweeks, the renowned UK-based motorsport parts business – signed up to share the driving and navigating duties for 37 days across the event’s 14,500 kilometres. The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge places a strong emphasis on the spirit of adventure and camaraderie. While participants are competing, the rally fosters a sense of teamwork, with drivers often helping one another with mechanical issues or difficult terrain.
“When you think about Beijing to Paris, a Mustang is pretty much the last car I could ever have imagined,” Kyvalova smiles. “It’s a car to be cool in for an American road trip, right? So, I was very surprised when they suggested I drive this car. But, learning more than about the process and about the whole project, the prototype and the whole story behind it, so suddenly I didn’t need much convincing!
“It’s indeed a brilliant car. First of all, it’s very loud! Some people were smiling about it in Beijing and thinking ‘Hmmm, well, let’s see how far you get…’ I mean who would expect that a Mustang could be a rally car? But when you have David Richards and Prodrive, then you find out how. We were very impressed.
“We tested it once, and we had two days of training to learn the car. And the next step was to go rallying with it, and to put the car into the middle of nowhere!”
Richards adds: “Remember, Katrina had never navigated on one of these events before. So, it was quite a sort of shock to the system for her. And I thought she did exceptionally well, you can’t fault her for any enthusiasm and energy!
“We learned a lot and, to be fair, it was pretty reliable. We had a small clutch problem and we had one other minor problem. But I think we’ve learned on both of those. You know, it’s always tricky to get testing time for these old cars, and put the miles on. So, the only way to do it is on an event, quite frankly.
“They both were very complimentary about the car. It was unfortunate that they were never going to be up with the top guys on the regularity. Some of these guys have done regularity tests all their lives; they know what it’s all about.
“It’s just a pity that they don’t have more speed tests these days on those events, like they used to. I think for a lot of the competitors, they would relish an opportunity to do more speed sections and rather than just pure regularity.”
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
Facing the toughest of conditions
The event is as much about the endurance of the participants as it is about the durability of the vehicles. Drivers and navigators must contend with long hours behind the wheel, minimal sleep, and intense concentration as they face difficult road conditions and unpredictable weather. Because of its difficulty and history, the rally is often seen as the pinnacle of endurance challenges for vintage car enthusiasts.
Although at times she says some days were “harrowing” – with cockpit temperatures reaching 45C in Kazakhstan and “unbearable dust”. Kyvalova says having faith in the engineering strength and performance of the car helped get them through to the finish – even with limited pre-event running.
“After the first drive I was thinking ‘Oh, my goodness’,” she laughs. “You have just one type of tyres that needs to cope with all surfaces, so asphalt, gravel, mud, water and whatever. It needed a big adjustment, for me, because I’m not a rally driver.
“I was not scared, but there’s a huge respect required for off-road stuff. Good for us, the whole car was perfectly set up for off-road driving. It actually surprised both of us how well the car actually behaved, and we learned how to progressively slide it, especially on gravel, sand and all these difficult bits.
“We could see that our car handled way better than some of the others. We just figured that out quickly and trusted it straight away, and it was very quick on tarmac also, so just a joy to drive.”
- Prodrive Peking to Paris
Rallying through remote regions
The Peking to Paris rally isn’t just a race through remote regions. It often interacts with local communities in ways that leave a lasting impact. Participants get a glimpse of life in remote parts of Mongolia, Siberia, and other regions rarely seen by outsiders. But it’s not for everyone, and even Richards, who won the 1981 World Rally Championship as co-driver for Ari Vatanen, admits as a participant it’s “not for me – it’s madness! I just couldn’t cope; I’d want to go home”.
But his company’s products will be back, of course…
“We’re looking at a run of building a few more of these cars now,” he reveals. “Next year I’m hoping we’ll have at least two, possibly three Mustangs on the Prodrive Peking to Paris. So, we’ve started the second one already, and we’ll probably build, initially, five I think.
“The advantage with the HERO events is they’re not quite the same as the FIA’s, regulations-wise. They have a few more freedoms to them, which is makes it more economic.”
Expect to see more of Prodrive’s HERO-ERA 1 in future, forging a new legacy from a reimagined American classic.
