Praise the Lord and pass the ethanol, it's the 2008 Great Race

Where are Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis when you need them? The Great Race of 1908 was the inspiration behind their 1965 film of the same name. One hundred years on from that groundbreaking event (the race, not the film), the Great Race will be running again. And a little more ground breaking will be going on.

This time around, the field will consist of a motley mix of vintage and new cars, including a 1904 Thomas Flyer and a 1941 Willys Jeep. They will rub fenders, metaphorically speaking, with various vehicles running alternative fuels -- in an attempt to prove these new technologies by forging them in the crucible of a high-endurance test. Think Range Rovers on biodiesel, a multi-fuel-capable Aston Martin DB6 and a 2007 Buell Ulysses motorbike on E85 ethanol.

The latter of which should bring a whole new dimension to the meaning of saddle sore. That's because the route takes in 12,500 miles on land (plus a 9,700-mile flight). It starts in New York City on May 30, snakes up to Canada, turns west and hits an airport in Vancouver. From there, the participants are jumbo-jetted to Shanghai. From China, it's Kazakhstan, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland, finishing 65 days later (August 2) at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

There are more than 25 teams from nine countries, but other entries will take part in more ‘local’ stretches, like New York to Vancouver, or Shanghai to Urumqi (pronounced oo-room-chee), capital of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the most ‘inland’ city on Earth. Some photos from the press conference in New York announcing the show are featured below.

And a little piece of Southern California will go where few men have driven before. Orange County resident, Scott Gulley -- racer, gearhead and all-round Jeep nut -- is taking part. “I’ve raced and rallied Jeep vehicles for decades,” says Gulley. “This is the perfect culmination to my career... the adventure of a lifetime.”

We wish him (and all the other teams) well. Anyone wanting to follow the race, can click onto www.greatrace.com for more information and updates.

-- Colin Ryan

Ray Fowler stands in front of a Mercedes Benz at a news conference announcing the Great Race 2008 on February 12, 2008 in New York.

Spectators view one of the vintage cars at a news conference announcing the Great Race 2008 February 12, 2008 in New York.

A solar car arrives at a news conference announcing the Great Race 2008 on February 12, 2008 in New York.

Photos by Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images