If you’ve driven through Rhode Island this week and spotted mass amounts of vintage vehicles, there is a very good reason. This year’s The Great Race event is going to kick off from Rocky Point Park in Warwick on Saturday, June 18, 8 a.m.
The streets near me have been filled with all sorts of historic cars and trucks and I just had to find out why. So, after a little digging, I learned that an event called The Great Race is going to begin this year at the former amusement park site.
If you, like me, have never heard of The Great Race, well, it’s basically a cross-country car race run entirely by vintage vehicles and it’s been happening for nearly 40 years.
Yes, since 1983, people who own antique cars and trucks have been taking them across thousands of miles of U.S. backroads. Now, for the first time ever,the event is kicking off from Rhode Island.
The course this year takes drivers from Rocky Point Park through most of the northern states and finishes in Fargo, North Dakota. The first car to get to the finish line scores $50,000 for the driver. Not too shabby.
If being part of the race isn’t your thing, heading to Warwick this weekend to check out the vintage rides might be. There are over 160 antique vehicles in this year’s race and all of them will be lined up and on display at Rocky Point before the race kicks off.
Great Race via Facebook
You can see cars such as a 1931 Ford Model A, a 1941 Packard 20 Coupe Convertible, a 1966 Aston Martin DB6 MK1, 1956 Studebaker Sky Hawk and a 1918 American LaFrance Speedster.
The rides are many and the models are varied, but every one of these amazing vehicles will be lined up to start The Great Race Saturday, June 18, 8 a.m., inside Rocky Point Park.
Speaking of vintage…
LOOK: Stunning vintage photos capture the beauty of America’s national parks
Today these parks are located throughout the country in 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The land encompassing them was either purchased or donated, though much of it had been inhabited by native people for thousands of years before the founding of the United States. These areas are protected and revered as educational resources about the natural world, and as spaces for exploration.
Keep scrolling for 50 vintage photos that show the beauty of America’s national parks.