QA1 Precision Products recently published a press release reporting on the outstanding performance of their Proma Star Rear Shocks on Mike and Peter Armstrong’s 1934 Dodge DR Special during the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. Read on and check out how the shocks helped Mike and Peter achieve gold status at the toughest and longest challenge for vintage and classic cars.

Peking to Paris Motor Challenge

Peking to Paris is a long distance rally that takes place every three years. The event is hosted by the Endurance Rally Association. For a full recap of this years rally be sure to check out their website. The rally covered over 28 cities in eight countries spanning from Beijing to Paris over a 33 day duration. The next Peking to Paris event is set for 2016 and will undoubtedly test the fortitude of drivers including stops at the foot of Mount Everest, Kathmandu, and some of the highest altitude roads in the world found in Tibet.

The Team and Their ’34 Dodge DR Special

Mike and Peter Armstrong are brothers from Australia. They finished 11th in the Vintageant Category and earned themselves gold medal status. Gold medal status is reserved for the teams who adhere to the strict time schedule of the rally. They completed the whopping 7,160 mile trip in a total of 263 hours, 13 minutes, and 16 seconds.

This was, impressively, the first rally of this type that the duo had participated in. Mike Armstrong has prior experience in endurance rally’s having competed in the Targa Tasmania three times so he was familiar with the level of the task.

Mike had a few words to say about what he felt was the critical factor in allowing them to finish the daunting rally in a timely manner, “The one thing that failed on most cars in the rally were the shock absorbers.” The open road is the ultimate test and rally’s like this put a manufacturers money where their mouths are. QA1’s Proma Shocks were able to withstand the harsh conditions of our natural world and any product that can face down mother earth is worth its weight in gold.

Mike concluded with this, “The roads we traveled through Mongolia and Russia were unimaginably tough and the shocks were the weak link on virtually all cars. The fact that these QA1 shocks performed trouble free is proof of their quality. I would only use QA1 products again on further rallies.”

You can read more about Mike and Peter’s adventures by checking out their blog.

Rod Authority wishes the two of you the best of luck out on the open road–classic cars and exploring some of the world’s most clandestine routes, hats off to living the dream.

QA1 was founded in 1993 and has become a leader in performance shocks, rod ends, and suspension components for the motorsports industry catering to the racing and performance markets of top manufacturers.

The company operates within a 66,000 square foot manufacturing space based in Lakeville, Minnesota. Their state-of-the-art setup of CNC machines, injection molding machines, hydraulic presses, and laser cutting equipment allows them to handle total component manufacturing and assembly operations on American soil.