Iconic photo taken in Cheyenne, Wyoming of the 1907 Thomas Flyer and the winning racing team led by George Schuster during the New York to Paris Great Race.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10227420687801976&set=gm.1456128031634781&idorvanity=197491484165115

the Hemmings and Hagerty Great Race is going on between RI and ND this year, in farm country

https://www.greatrace.com/news/great-race-2022-day-6.html

the Hemmings and Hagerty Great Race is going on between RI and ND this year, and has just went through gravel roads in Wisconsin, way out in farm country between Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota

I haven't seen a Peerless in forever!

https://www.greatrace.com/news/great-race-2022-day-7.html

sisters Olivia and Genna Gentry won the 2021 Great Race across 2,300-miles and eight states, in a 1932 Ford, after four years of competing, making history as the youngest, and first all women team, to win the race.

https://theshopmag.com/news/great-race-winners-youngest-in-event-history

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/11/03/the-gentry-sisters-winners-of-the-2021-hemmings-motor-news-great-race

https://times-herald.com/news/2021/07/newnan-sister-team-becomes-first-all-female-winning-team-of-great-race-road-rally

the 2019 Great Race will be heading south down the West coast (of course, not all the way down here to San Diego)

Wow, someone took a '32 Auburn on the 2014 Great Race

Joe Reinan of Minn., drives and his navigator, Chris Brungardt is from West Fargo,

It qualified for the Indianapolis 500, but wrecked in practice and never ran in the race. Some years later, it was resurrected from the junkyard, restored and raced on dirt tracks in upstate New York in the 1940s and ’50s. It has a straight-eight engine with four two-barrel carbs and makes 300 hp at 7,500 rpm — in its day, a real screamer.

https://www.fasthorseinc.com/blog/2014/07/07/old-cars-nd-jumpsuits/
https://stevemckelvie.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/auburn-special-racer-at-2014-the-great-race/
http://www.centralmaine.com/2014/06/21/vintage-car-road-rally-kicks-off-from-ogunquit/

1938 Kenworth took part in the 2016 Great Race, the only semi to do so

The Meier/Seehuus team hit the highway in a 1938 Kenworth, the only semi-tractor in the cross-country competition, to compete in a portion of the Hemming's Motor News Great Race, a cross-country road rally of antique vehicles at least 45 years old

 Iowa 80 Truckstop hosted a fuel stop for race vehicles, and then racers headed to LeClaire Park in Davenport to put their vehicles on display for the evening.

http://www.qconline.com/news/local/eldridge-man-to-drive-kenworth-to-great-race/article_cdb22930-395f-5fec-b61b-1de7dd0c925c.html

Pure awesome on 4 tires. Few cars can pull off cool looks like this Hudson

Humpy Wheeler's car in the 2014 Great Race, Wheeler is or was the race track general manager and pres of Charlotte Motor Speedway and also voiced Tex Dinoco, a 1975 Cadillac Coupe de Ville in Pixar's movie Cars.  Humpy insisted to Lasseter that a Hudson be included in the movie.

Wheeler’s affection for the Hudson goes back to the early 1960s. After graduating from the University of South Carolina, he began operating Robinwood Speedway. When legendary mechanic Smokey Yunick switched to Chevrolets, Wheeler obtained five Hudsons from him: three Hudson Hornet race cars and two passenger vehicles.

http://www.greatrace.com/news/humpy-wheeler.html
http://dutchesstourism.com/spotlights/humpy-wheeler-competes/
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nascar-auto-racing/thatsracin/article9124508.html

https://www.good-guys.com/hotnews/?p=8758

I just learned that Blastolene Brother Rodney Rucker's Peterbilt was in the 2011 Great Race

https://www.facebook.com/whatguysreallylike/
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173002
http://partywave.deviantart.com/art/The-Great-Race-Peterbilt-Detroit-Diesel-BADASS-328008970
http://www.pbase.com/rach1966/2011_june_11_the_great_race

the Great Race this year is from St Louis to Santa Monica along Rt 66, June 20-28

The nature of the event does not involve the winner crossing the finish line first. It’s all about precision driving, to match a pre-determined “perfect time” on the allotted course.

The racers get their turn-by-turn driving instructions 30 minutes before departing for the day’s journey. These directions also dictate speed changes, direction changes and gas stops—the theory is that if you follow the directions precisely, you will get a perfect score.

Just to give you an idea of how difficult that can be; in more than 30 years of competition, there has only been one team that has scored a completely perfect day, down to the second. The age of your car adds a multiplication factor to your score—the older the car, the better the multiplication.

http://www.greatrace.com/
http://www.facebook.com/greatracerally
http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/is-the-great-race-coming-to-your-town-the-ultimate-route-66-adventure-involves-2400-miles-in-pre-72-cars/

Today is sticker and registration time

Some of the cars that are going to be on the race are a '60 Fiat Multipla, Nissan Pao, a '69 Super Bee with a 440 6 pack hood, Datsun 2000, GT 350, a 32 Auburn Speedster, a 66 Hemi Coronet, 1916 Hudson, '72 Skyline GTR, and the cars you see in the above photos add up to the 117 registered vehicles... though 130 are on the list at http://www.greatrace.com/participants

Next years race is already in the planning stages

the 2015 "Great Race" will be taking place in June, between Santa Monica California, and St Louis Missouri along Rt 66

For all the info: http://www.greatrace.com/

the Beerster Great Race car

FYI, the Great Race this year is on the East coast, from Maine to Florida

http://www.greatrace.com/ has lots of good posts about the pre run, some of the participants, and their cars

if you are the type that helps students out, and loves car restoration projects, I've got the right people you ought to know about. McPherson College students

above is the 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Saoutchik Torpedo that was restored at Paul Russell & Co (who seeked out and employs several grads of the McPherson College Auto Restoration program...) and won the prestigious 2012 International Historic Motoring Awards (IHMA) Restoration of the Year http://historicmotoringawards.com/winners.php as well as the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Best of Show award.

Just you so understand that the McPherson College students and programs are of the highest quality, and not wasting time or money raised in the annual January equipment and tools benefit fundraiser. http://theoldmotor.com/?page_id=64551&preview=true/ has the list of tools and equipment they need to acquire or replace (if only modern equipment lasted as long as the cars they restore!)

Any amount towards any needed item, no matter how small will be more than welcome. You can also buy any particular tool or piece of equipment and contribute the full amount for it also if you would prefer. All contributions will go 100% directly to the program http://www.mcpherson.edu/giving/

Paul Russell and Company, the automotive restoration and preservation specialists  brought the double award winning Mercedes back east November 3rd to an eager crowd of enthusiasts, http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121106/carnews01/121109886 raising funds for McPherson College’s Automotive Restoration Program, the country’s only four-year Bachelor of Arts program devoted to the craft. The event hosted over 200 avid auto enthusiasts, sponsors, and supporters who were treated to a first-hand explanation of the custom coach builder’s art from the restoration team, several of whom are McPherson College Graduates.

"McPherson sets the standard and their graduates can be found at some of the world’s leading restoration shops and winning prestigious awards at events around the country.” McKeel Hagerty, President and CEO said.

the Paul Russell and Company site http://paulrussell.com/portfolio-retrospective/D-mercedes-benz/28_680s/ about the 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S, its history and its restoration.

A far better and more thorough gallery here http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2863/Mercedes-Benz-680-S-Saoutchik-Torpedo-Roadster.html

Getting back to the students and tools, http://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/AR-newsletter-fall-2012.pdf is a cool newsletter that is focused on the restoration program, and the students activities like the Great Race entrants. The college is entering a '57 Fairlane in the 2013 Great Race.

 Amanda Gutierrez, vice president for automotive restoration, said the race would give students great experience as well as an opportunity to show their skills and talent. At the same time, people across the nation who might never have heard of McPherson College before will see what the program has to offer.

In the 2012 Great Race a model A was enjoyed by 365daysofA.com blogger and college alumni Jonathan http://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/AR-newsletter-summer-2012.pdf , plus a '62 IH truck was enjoyed by restorer program alumni Kacy and Tabetha who now work for Hagerty Ins http://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/career.php http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/two-for-the-road-in-a-62-travelette/

photo by Mike Drilling and is in the New York Times article

For previous newsletters filled with incredible stories (terminal cancer dyno shop owner donates drag racing duster to Leno's collection, and a scholarship for his hometown's MacPherson College students, plus the students car show travelling to retirement/nursing homes for those seasoned citizens that can't make it to the car shows) read http://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/AR-newsletter-fall-2011.pdf

Those funds will accumulate and allow the automotive restoration department to purchase needed tools and equipment in order of priority – such as louver dies for a bead roller, a complete work station set, a tire machine for the motorcycle lab or an Iwata paint gun



read about the above Model T assembly on page 5 of http://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/AR-newsletter-summer-2012.pdf

and if you prefer real time updates and inside info, like the Lyn St James ( http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/09/lyn-st-james-icon-race-car-driver-and-i.html ) symposium, check their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MCautorestoration

Don't misunderstand about the fundraiser, the alumni of the program have been incredible in their donations too! A deep shrinker stretcher was given to the program at the 10year class reunion of the '02 class. Way cool!