The Gordon Bennett Cup was established by American millionaire James Gordon Bennett Jr., who had relocated to Paris in 1887. His vision was to encourage automobile industries internationally through sport, pitching national representatives against one another rather than individual manufacturers. Under the rules, each country was limited to three entries, cars had to be manufactured entirely within the country they represented including the tyres, and the race distance was set between 550 and 650 kilometres.
The Automobile Club de France (ACF) was entrusted to draft technical regulations and organise the inaugural event. The right to host subsequent editions would pass to the motoring club of the winning nation. The timing of the 1900 race was complicated by a French government ban on motor racing following a collision during a Paris-Roubaix tricycle event that injured spectators. An exemption required central government approval, and the final decision to permit the race was not confirmed until the afternoon of 12 June — less than two days before the start.
The 568.66 km course began at Ville-d'Avray on the outskirts of Paris and headed south-west to Châteaudun before turning south-easterly through Orléans, Nevers, and Roanne to finish at Lyon. An initial ACF proposal for a more direct southern route was rejected as too short under the regulations, prompting the diversion through Châteaudun. Poor signposting and inadequate crowd control along the late-confirmed route made livestock on the road a genuine hazard throughout the day.
France entered Rene de Knyff, Fernand Charron, and Léonce Girardot — all in Panhards powered by a 5.3-litre four-cylinder engine producing 24 bhp — selected by ballot amid accusations of bias since de Knyff was a Panhard director and Charron and Girardot were Panhard dealers. Belgium's Camille Jenatzy drove a Snoeck-Bolide, a French-designed Lefebvre-Bolide built under licence in Belgium to satisfy the national-manufacture rule. Germany's Eugen Benz had entered a car built by his father Karl Benz but withdrew at the last moment, citing insufficient notice. The United States sent Alexander Winton in a tiller-steered, single-cylinder car producing 16 bhp — markedly underpowered compared to its rivals. Each nation was assigned a racing colour: blue for France, yellow for Belgium, white for Germany, red for the USA.
Cars set off together at 3:14 am from Ville-d'Avray. Girardot led early and had extended a three-minute advantage over Charron by the time the field reached Limours, 30 km into the race. Charron was the fastest over the long straight from Chartres to Châteaudun, averaging 41.1 mph, but at Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle he struck a road gutter at over 50 mph, bending his rear axle. Winton was the first retirement, stopping at Orléans with a buckled wheel.
At Orléans, 173 km from the start, Girardot led Charron by 17 minutes. Shortly after, Girardot swerved to avoid a horse, struck a kerbstone, and spent approximately 80 minutes on wheel and steering repairs — handing the lead to Charron. De Knyff retired at Gien, leaving just two cars in the race. Jenatzy retired near Moulins, around 376 km in, after gear and ignition problems compounded by collisions with several dogs on the road.
Charron and Girardot were separated by roughly 90 minutes for most of the remaining distance. Within 12 km of the finish, a St Bernard dog ran into the road in front of Charron's Panhard at nearly 100 km/h, becoming lodged between the steering gear and springs. The car veered off road, passed between two trees, fell into a ditch, and crossed a field before rejoining the route. The only significant damage was a dislodged water pump, which mechanic Fournier held in place by hand for the final 12 km. Charron crossed the finish at 12:23 pm having covered the distance in nine hours and nine minutes at an average of 38.6 mph. Girardot arrived nearly 97 minutes later, the sole other finisher.
France's victory meant the ACF retained hosting rights for the 1901 edition. The race was widely regarded as a failure due to the tiny field, the dominance of French machinery, and the large gap between the two finishers. The American press described it as "very badly organized." In response, the next two editions were run concurrently with major city-to-city races to share resources and draw larger fields. The Gordon Bennett Cup would not be held as a standalone event again until 1903.