Classics Prepare to Chug Along With Precision in Cross-Country Rally

A passer-by gazed admiringly at the 1931 Nash. For several minutes he inspected the old car from front to back and inside out, then asked its owner, George Herreros, if he would start it up. Herreros was only too happy to do so. The engine turned over once, twice and then caught. After a couple of seconds, it settled into a peaceful purr.

Under the mid-morning sun it was hard to tell which sparkled brighter: the chrome on the Nash, Herreros’ silver hair or his shining eyes of pride.

“It’s my baby,” he said like a kid with a new toy, except this is an old toy that only looks new.

Herreros will take the car to the open road Wednesday in the sixth Interstate Batteries Great American Race. He and partner Bill Bulley will be in a 120-car field that will start from Disneyland’s Main Street and--they hope--finish 4,200 miles later on July 3 in Boston.

Herreros, Bulley and the ’31 Nash are rookies in the road rally for cars all vintage 1936 or older.

Orange County participants in the race include: Cal Woolsey (Costa Mesa) and Tom Kucera (Irvine) in a ’29 Ford Racer; Tom Potter (Los Alamitos) and Francis Yamane (Westminster) in a ’35 Chevrolet, Ginni Withers (Fountain Valley) in a ’12 Oldsmobile; Tom Jackson (Santa Ana) and Kent Wilken (Irvine) in a ’30 Packard and Charles Cron (Orange) in a ’35 Ford.

Other county participants are Bill Halliday (Newport Beach) in a ’19 Chevy Racer; Frank Currie and son John (Anaheim) in a ’34 Ford; Al Shubert and his daughter-in-law, Valerie Shubert, (Santa Ana) in a ’35 Buick; Newt Withers (Fountain Valley) and Ty Holmquist (Mission Viejo) in a ’34 Packard; Dick Belveal (Newport Beach) in a ’36 Ford and Dave Cheverton (La Habra) and his father, Art, (Brea) in a ’31 Ford.

Wayne Stanfield of Tustin will be the navigator for race champion Alan Travis of Phoenix, who will defend his title in a ’12 Metz or a ’16 Mitchell.

The teams will head north Wednesday from Anaheim to San Luis Obispo. They will continue across the country through Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati and on to Boston. The average day will consist of 8-10 hours and 380 miles of driving.

“I think it’s going to be a heck of a fun time, day in and day out,” Herreros said.

The fun begins each morning at sunrise, when race officials give the drivers and navigators a set of instructions to the next stop. Included are the times it should take to reach various points along the route, the speed to maintain and, of course, the directions.

“It’s a rally race,” Herreros explained. “Speed isn’t a factor. The fastest you’re allowed to go is 55 m.p.h. The object is to go from Point A to Point B in the prescribed time.”

Cars are required to precisely maintain prearranged speeds over designated routes. The competitors are allowed to use pencil, paper, stopwatch and one time-of-day watch for their calculations. Odometers in the cars are either removed or covered.

The cars are started at one-minute intervals and at several secret checkpoints along the course, race officials keep tabs on whether the entrants are on time. If they aren’t, penalty points are added to their times.

“It’s expected the winners of each race will be within seconds of the assigned time,” Bulley said.

Each day is a race in itself, with $5,000 going to the winners. And on the final dash to Boston, the winning team receives $50,000.

“Getting an old car like this to travel 4,000 miles in 11 days is a challenge,” Herreros said. “Just getting there is a victory in itself.”

Bulley added: “If we were to prioritize our goals, it would be to make it all the way, to have fun and then to try to win something.”

Herreros decided to enter the race about a year ago.

“Last year, the first stop was in San Diego,” Herreros said. “I’ve always been a car buff, and so I went down to Seaport Village to see the old cars. I said, ‘That’s for me.’ It took me about six months to find the right car.”

When he found the 1931 Nash, he knew it would be perfect. “If I’m going to race cars at my age, I want a car my age,” Herreros, who at 57 was born in ‘31, said.

The car is olive green with yellow wire wheels, lots of chrome, an eight-cylinder engine with twin ignition and hardly a scratch, dent or bit of rust.

Herreros said the Nash was shipped in the early 1930s to Hawaii, where it was purchased by a collector who put it in a museum for 30 years. A man in La Costa bought it 12 years ago, and sold it to Herreros in November.

“I bought it for $8,000 and I’ve put $5,000 in it,” Herreros said. “I’d venture to say the actual value of the car is $15,000 to $20,000. It’s a unique car. It has only 56,000 miles on it and it has the original paint job and upholstery.”

Among the cars in the running will be a 1909 Stanley Steamer, a 1912 fire engine, a 1931 Rolls-Royce “woodie” and a 1905 French De Dietrich.

Though Herreros has handled most of the mechanical work on his vehicle, he isn’t sure the Nash will hold up.

“The car is prepared to be competitive,” he said. “It has all the state-of-the-art equipment that’s allowable. But there is anxiety in the mechanical part of it. I listen to every sound in the car. I’d really like to have 5,000 miles on it to have it completely broken in.

“I just hope that I’ve prepared the car properly and have a little luck . . . and have a good time.”