118 years ago today, the first official automobile race took place in Paris. Emile Levassor and his Panhard et Levassor car was the fastest to make the round-trip from Paris to Bordeaux and back again. The 732-mile course took Levassor almost 49 hours to complete, at a then-impressive rate of about 15 miles per hour, and signified a French superiority in automotive development. Since, auto racing as become one of the world’s most popular sports, and in today’s gallery, we take a ride through auto racing culture.