Pre-war era

This event led directly to a period of city-to-city road races in France and other European countries, which introduced many of the features found in later rallies: individual start times with cars running against the clock rather than head to head; time controls at the entry and exit points of towns along the way; road books and route notes; and driving over long distances on ordinary, mainly gravel, roads, facing hazards such as dust, traffic, pedestrians and farm animals.

Italy had been running road events since 1895, when a reliability trial was run from Turin to Asti and back. The country's first true motor race was held in 1897 along the shore of Lake Maggiore, from Arona to Stresa and back. This led to a long and thriving tradition of road racing, including events like Sicily's Targa Florio (from 1906) and Giro di Sicilia (Lap of Sicily, 1912), which went right round the island, both of which continued on and off until after World War II. The first Alpine event was held in 1898, the Austrian Touring Club's three-day Automobile Run through South Tyrol, which included the infamous Stelvio Pass.

In April and May 1900, the Automobile Club of Great Britain (the forerunner of the Royal Automobile Club) organised the Thousand Mile Trial, a 15-day event linking Britain's major cities, in object to promote this novel form of transport. Seventy vehicles took part, the majority of them trade entries. They had to complete thirteen stages of route varying in length from 43 to at average speeds of up to the legal limit of , and tackle six hillclimb or speed tests. On rest days and at lunch halts, the cars were shown to the public in exhibition halls.

In Germany, the challenging Herkomer Trophy Trial was first held in 1905, an 800km (500mi) event which included a hillclimb and a speed trial. The first year, only tourers were allowed. In 1906, pure racers appeared, and the win went to Dr. Rudolf Stoess in a Horch (actually with the smallest engine).Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)

Also in 1905, France got in the act, when L'Auto sponsored the Coupe de l'Auto for small sporters; entrants included the Peugeot Lion, Sizaire-Naudin, Isotta Fraschini (which resembled the contemporary Mercer Raceabout), Bugatti Type 13, and Martini. For the 1911 event, Louis Bablot ran a Delage, which was subsequently detuned into a road car.

These were joined by the famous Prinz Heinrich Fahrt (Prince Henry Trial) in 1908, and the first sports cars, a 3 liter (15kW) Vauxhall (from which tuner Lawrence Pomeroy had gotten {45kW}, against the stock {28kW} at the flywheel) and the advanced 5.4 liter 27/80 PS four-cylinder Austro-Daimler (designed, and driven to a win, by Ferdinand Porsche), with eleven entrants and a 1-2-3 finish. The first Alpine Trial was held in 1909, in Austria; by 1914, this was the toughest event of its kind, producing a star performance from Britain's James Radley in his Rolls Royce Alpine Eagle. Then in 1911 came the first Monte Carlo Rally (later known colloquially as "the Monte"), organised by the operators of the famous casinoFact: date=October 2007