If in the first competitions the most important thing was often to cope with the distance and confirm the reliability of the car, over time the races became a great opportunity to prove that your product is the most powerful and the fastest. The chassis were improved, the power of the engines was increased. And one of the ways this increase was to increase the displacement.

For example, in 1912, Peugeot put the L76 model into competition. The figures in the name reflected the working volume of the engine – 7.6 liters. The power in this case was 175 hp, i.e. there was 23 hp per each liter. By the way, the Peugeot L76 has remained in history for quite a different reason: it was the first car in the world that had two overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. Absolutely right – that very scheme of distribution of distribution of gas, which is widespread now and is known as DOHC (Double OverHead Camshaft).

Italians from FIAT have gone even further, having offered a 200 hp engine with a working volume of 14.1 liters (!), that is with a specific capacity of only 14.2 liters per liter. The transoceanic engineers followed the way of increasing of displacement volume.

But the standardization processes are inevitable – both in automotive industry, and in sport. Started the creation of racing series with common rules and general technical requirements. Curiously enough, one of the first European series appeared in 1900 at the initiative of an American, publisher of newspapers New York Herald and Herald Tribune Gordon Bennett, who without false modesty gave it the name Gordon Bennett Cup. The series was conceived as an international one (not limited to European participants) and up to three cars could represent one country. In the USA a similar “named trophy” was established in 1904 – the Vanderbilt Cup, named after millionaire William Kissam Vanderbilt II.

Since 1906 began the history of Grand Prix racing, which in many, many years to become a modern Formula 1. Was to be born and uniform rules, but so far they were simple: the crew consisted of a pilot and a mechanic, and all the maintenance and repairs of the car they could only perform themselves. The first Grand Prix was held in France, on a circuit near the city of Le Mans, and the race subsequently found its own line of development: now the competition on the Circuit de la Sarthe is considered the most prestigious endurance race in the world – the famous Le Mans 24 Hours.

Europe and America have chosen slightly different approaches to automotive competitions. The pragmatic inhabitants of the New World staked on maximum convenience for spectators: races on closed compact ovals, where all the action took place in front of the audience – even if it was a long 500-mile race. In Europe, linear races were quite popular, car rallies between cities (essentially a prototype of the rally). However, all the cards for Europeans mixed up the First World War, a few years reoriented still young car industry for the needs of the armies.

During this time, the American motorsport engineering was able to get ahead, and when the racing life began to recover, the representatives of the New World for a while proved to be stronger and faster. In 1921, another Le Mans Grand Prix was taken without much trouble by the American Jimmy Murphy: his luxury Duesenberg Model A was both more powerful and lighter than its rivals. The engine was boosted almost twice as much as the production one – it was already a real sport preparation.

While Americans kept faithfulness to the multiliter engines with a huge reserve on loads (and hence reliability), in European motorsport the era of boosted engines was born. However, it is necessary to stipulate one important moment at once. The rules of racing series have already been formulated more clearly, and the basic principle was the competition of equals: in one form or another regulations did not allow some to enjoy any clear technical superiority over others.

But the development of the Grand Prix rules followed a different path. In 1922, the series was introduced a limit of 2 liters working volume (with a minimum weight of 650 kg). And immediately, FIAT brought to the racetrack a car “805.405”, which had an eight-cylinder engine, but with a capacity of only 2 liters. A mechanical (compressor) supercharger was used to boost the engine. Alfa Romeo went the same way with its 155 horsepower two-liter engine, and… Bugatti.