VINTAGE VEHICLES TO MAKE VALENCIA THEIR FINAL PIT STOP 130 TEAMS NEAR FINISHING 4,000-MILE ROAD RALLY WITH NO MODERN COMFORTS.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

VALENCIA - With 4,000 miles behind them, 130 teams driving vintage cars will make their final pit stop Saturday in Valencia before traveling to the finish line in the Great Race 2001.

From the East Coast, across the Plains and over the Rockies, drivers and navigators in classics that date back to 1911 and span the decades through 1964 will pull into the Valencia Town Center for 15 minutes each.

The drivers in this the world's largest vintage car race, featuring sports cars, race cars and motorcycles, are due to trickle in from 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m. before setting out on the final leg of their destination - Pasadena.

The trek began in Atlanta on June 16, and continued its parade west earlier this week.

``We're cruising Route 66,'' parade spokeswoman Kathleen Lowenthal said Wednesday in a phone interview on the road connecting New Mexico to Arizona. ``It's beautiful - it just like a western with those wonderful mountain formations on the desert.''

The temperature was 91 degrees as drivers sped in cars built long before air-conditioning was a staple.

No CD players either, but the teams have been keeping themselves busy following the letter of instructions of the route to drive handed out each morning.

``It's a driver-navigation contest, it's a giant car game,'' said Tom McRae, founder and CEO of the History Channel Great Race.

Drivers, who left a minute apart and had 44 scheduled stops, are following a course that relies on split-second timing. For example, drivers are told to follow a route, stop for 30 seconds at a red light, then proceed left. But if the light's green, they must deduct the 30-second stop in their drive to keep on course.

Penalties are issued at the end of the day for drivers who arrive as little as 1/1,000th of a second off schedule, McRae said.

The low score wins each day - a difficult feat when your car dates back to the turn of the century. Warm weather can cause over-heating, and rain is no mere inconvenience if your antique auto has no top.

But the driving teams are having a great time, McRae said, greeted along their course by tens of thousands of fans who come out to see the old cars and many driving teams in period costumes.

``One lady collects a few gallons of water in her petticoats every time it rains,'' McRae said of a team member in a Model T. An old firetruck is decked in American flags.

On Saturday, each driver has a 15-minute scheduled pit stop in Valencia where people can see their cars and talk with the drivers as they freshen up for the final leg of the race. The public, McRae said, loves the old cars.

``It's an art form on the highway,'' he said. ``People honk and wave, they line up to watch them go by. In a new car if you break down, people shake their fists at you. If you break down in an old car, they stop and help. They make people smile.''