HUNTINGTON BEACH : Antique Car Race Will Begin at Pier

When the 100 or so antique automobiles start out next summer in the 11th annual coast-to-coast Great American Race, they will depart for the first time from the Huntington Beach Pier, race boosters announced Tuesday.

The race is billed as the world’s largest old car rally.

According to officials, cars will have to be at least 50 years old to qualify. Some will predate World War I.

Last year, the race started in Charleston, S.C., and ended before a turnout of thousands in Costa Mesa.

During some years, the race got under way at Disneyland. But race sponsors shifted next year’s start to Huntington Beach because of “logistic problems” caused by large crowds at the Anaheim amusement park around the time of the Fourth of July, Community Services Director Ron Hagan said during a news conference at the pier.

The race will bring national recognition as well as tourist dollars to Huntington Beach, said Councilman Peter M. Green, a director of the city’s Conference and Visitors Bureau.

The start of the race will be nationally televised, officials said.

Authorities plan to close off Main Street the day before the race so that residents and visitors can take a close look at the old machines that are valued up to $500,000.

Bands will be on hand to provide entertainment.

The race will start June 27 at the pier, after the first day of competition in the Op Pro Surfing Championships.

The cars, each with a driver and a navigator, will go down Pacific Coast Highway to Beach Boulevard, then head north to the San Diego Freeway.

Their first leg will take them to Las Vegas after a stop in Barstow for dinner. They are expected to reach Norfolk, Va., their destination, two weeks later.

They plan to stop in 50 cities along the way.

The drivers will be competing for about $250,000 in prizes.

The Great American Race has proven to be “a tremendous adventure” in its 10 years, executive director Tom McRae said.

“The hospitality (across the country) has been great,” he said. “It’s incredible the way the American people have put out the red carpet. People will work on cars all night with us and refuse to accept any pay.”

McRae drove his red, white and blue 1929 Ford Model A dirt track racer to the press conference.

Though more than 60 years old, the car can go more than 100 m.p.h., he said.

An onlooker at the news conference was Huntington Beach resident and antique car owner Jerry Bame, who said he’s toying with the idea of competing in next year’s race.

Bame said he became interested in old car racing when he watched the start of a Great American Race with his daughter six years ago.

“I told her that these guys are having the kinds of fun I want to have,” Bame said.

He bought a 1913 Model T Ford Racer, grew a handlebar mustache and purchased racing regalia to fit the era.

He participated in a race a year ago, a 118-mile round-trip event from Escondido to Julian.

He hasn’t decided for certain about signing up for next year’s coast-to-coast experience.

“But I’m thinking more seriously about it,” he said.

In the Great American Race, sponsors figure out the ideal time it would take to finish the race. Participants are then judged as to how well they match up with that time.

Participants are clocked at secret checkpoints several times each day. The only instruments allowed are a clock, stopwatch and speedometer.