'GREAT RACE' HAD AREA GEARED UP A CENTURY AGO RE-ENACTMENT: CARS WILL SOON TRAVEL THROUGH REGION ON NEW YORK-TO-PARIS ROUTE MADE FAMOUS IN CLASSIC MOVIE.Byline: Joe Blackstock Staff Writer Traveling along Foothill Boulevard The following streets are named Foothill Boulevard:
tr.v. em·broiled, em·broil·ing, em·broils 1. To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions: "Avoid . . . in one of the oddest -- and longest -- races ever held. The three were on their way from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. to Paris, France. In a car. And they made it. It was part of a spectacle later dubbed "The Great Race," made famous by the 1965 Blake Edwards comedy of the same name starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon Noun 1. Jack Lemmon - United States film actor (1925-2001) John Uhler, Lemmon and Natalie Wood Noun 1. Natalie Wood - United States film actress (1938-1981) Wood . Some scenes were filmed in the San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino Mountains, part of the Coast Range, S Calif., extending c.60 mi (100 km) NW and SE through San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Notable peaks are San Bernardino Mt. (10,630 ft/3,240 m) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,485 ft/3,501 m). . An Italian-made Zust automobile and five other cars left New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of on Feb. 12, 1908, and headed west into the dirt trails that served as "highways" then. Carrying two drivers and a mechanic, the Zust overcame snow, subzero temperatures and plenty of mud, crossing the Cajon Pass At an elevation of 1,277 meters (4,190 ft.) the Cajon Pass (IPA: [kə'hoʊn 'pæs]) is a moderate-elevation mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California in the United States. more than six weeks after leaving New York. The Zust's arrival in the Inland Valley was little consolation for residents upset over missing the American entry and race leader, the Thomas Flyer, 10 days earlier. On March 21, a rumor had spread throughout Ontario and Upland that the Flyer was to pass through on 10th Street, today's Arrow Highway. The route was lined with people waiting for the car that never appeared. The Flyer went west from Daggett to Bakersfield, trying to save time by avoiding the Inland Valley and Los Angeles. On March 31, the Zust hurried down the dirt road that was Foothill Boulevard between San Bernardino and Los Angeles, reaching Claremont on the future Route 66 just before 5 p.m., according to the Pomona Progress of April 1, 1908. Slowed by a flat tire in Azusa, the car was later escorted by a caravan of Italians into Los Angeles.The Italians sat through a banquet in their honor, then left for Santa Barbara about 9 p.m. Only three cars made it to San Francisco: the Thomas Flyer, the Zust and a German-made Protos, given a 15-day penalty for taking a train to the coast because the team could not find parts in Utah. The cars were to be shipped to Alaska and then drive to Russia over the frozen Bering Strait, but the ice had already begun to thaw by the time they reached San Francisco, so the cars were shipped to Japan and then Siberia. The Protos got to Paris on July 18, the Thomas Flyer on July 22 and the Italians on Sept. 17. But due to the Protos penalty, the Flyer was declared the winner. This May 30, a centennial re-enactment of the Great Race will begin with a number of cars leaving New York to retrace the route to Paris. Before then, check out the motion picture "The Great Race." If nothing else, it includes one of moviedom's greatest pie fights. j_blackstock@dailybulletin.com 909-483-9382 |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion