George Schuster (driver)

The Race began in mid-winter at a time when there were no snowplows, few roads on the around the world route, unreliable maps, and often little food for the competitors.

The original plan was to drive the cars the full distance from New York City to Paris using the frozen Bering Straits to "bridge" the Pacific.

The Flyer arrived in Paris July 30, 1908 to win although the German Protos had actually arrived there four days before; race officials decided to penalize the Germans for having shipped their car via rail for part of the route rather than it having traveled the entire land portion of the route under its own power as the organizers had envisioned.

Schuster was the only American team member aboard the Flyer from its start in New York City to the finish in Paris.

In the early 1900s, first-time auto owners or their chauffeurs were taught by factory or dealer representatives not only how to care for their new machines but often also how to drive them.