In Antique Cars, Just Getting There Is a Feat
What matters most to competitors in the 1987 Interstate Batteries Great American Race is not whether they win or lose--it’s whether they finish the grueling 10-day, 3,660-mile trek from Disneyland in Anaheim to Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla.
Don’t expect to see a modern Ferrari or Lamborghini in this race. Instead, 120 antique cars, each made before 1937, are entered in the fifth and largest edition so far of the Great American Race. The race of old-fashioned cars, which begins at noon today, will take competitors through 42 cities in 10 states.
The race is actually a rally, in which drivers and navigators, following printed directions issued at the start of each day’s run, try to maintain a previously computed average speed over a given distance.
Odometers are not allowed. However, racers may use stopwatches, time-of-day watches, speedometers, paper and pencils to compute their speed and tell how far ahead or behind they are. The team coming closest to the average speed wins.
This precision can pay off: A record $270,000 will be awarded in daily cash prizes to 75 to top finishers, with $50,000 going to the winner of the final leg into Orlando, to be run on July 10. Money awards also go to top finishers in the Class Brass Championship Run, which is open only to cars built before 1915.
The prize money comes from race entry fees, which are $5,500 per individual entrant, as well as fees paid by sponsoring corporations.
On Monday, as entrants made last-minute checks on their autos, they seemed more concerned with finishing the race than with winning.
“We know we’re not going to win, but we hope we can get in the top 10 anyway,” said Albert Shubert of Santa Ana, who will drive his beige 1935 Buick Victoria Coupe.
Shubert, 74, raced last year and finished 35th among 98 competitors, he said.
His daughter-in-law, navigator Valerie Shubert, said the car was “a piece of junk when we bought it” in San Diego. But after $15,000 in repair work, it looked like new.
Doing It for Dad
“This was a family project,” said Shubert, a Merrill Lynch real estate agent who lives in Tustin. “We started this because Dad got interested in (the race) and we wanted to do this for him.
“Your biggest problem is getting lost,” she said, scanning a directions sheet riddled with pencil and pink and yellow highlighter marks from Sunday’s practice rally. “It’s easy to miss a sign and turn wrong.”
After seeing the race on TV last year, Mike MacBryde of Manchester, Conn., decided to enter.
“We’re rookies this year,” he said, eyeing the 1936 Ford Phaeton he will navigate. “If we finish, we’re going to be back next year with something exotic like some of these other cars.
Joe Atkinson of Arlington, Texas, who will make his fourth appearance in the race, isn’t anticipating victory, either. “I don’t think anyone ever thinks that bold or brash, so many things can go wrong,” he said.
Atkinson, who will drive a 1913 American Scout Underslung, said he and his crew have prepared for the race for about a year.
“This race looks superfluous and frivolous on the surface, but it’s not,” he added. “We need this like families need birthdays. America put the world on wheels. No one can drive cars like Americans.”
