13-Year-Old LeadsThe Great Race

Filed in archive Rally/Retro-Rally on June 29, 2006

I've a confession to make. I don't own a vintage car, or any car for that matter. As an About.com test driver I'm privileged to have a new vehicle in my possession for two weeks at a time. Most journalists settle for one-week stints but as I live on Vancouver Island and the cars come from the mainland, the combined time and ferry expense has led most manufacturers to be generous. As my friends and neighbors say, this must be the best job in the world. (Well, maybe, until you look at the dollar compensation.)

But if I did own a classic or vintage car, there's nothing more I'd enjoy than to drive it in a cruise, retro-rally, or the fabulous Great Race Across America. The Great Race is not a "race' in the true sense of the word; it's a rally with special stages designed to accommodate old cars. Hemmings, the people who produce a collector car version of the telephone book's yellow pages, run their vintage station wagon in the Great Race and although far from winning, have have managed to stay in the hunt. Click on their Website for an update. You might also refer to the Great Race's own site, with its daily news releases. Latest shows a fabulous Ferrari navigated by a 13-year-old guiding his grandfather car owner to first place in a special stage.