AAA Welcomes the Nation's Largest Annual Antique Auto Tour to Gettysburg, Penn., Sept. 9 - 14

GETTYSBURG, Penn.--Residents and visitors to south central Pennsylvania will have a rare opportunity to see up to three hundred vintage cars made prior to 1943 driving the roads in and around Gettysburg, the week of Sept. 9-14, AAA Central Penn said today.

The event is the 62nd annual AAA Revival Glidden Tour®; the largest and most prestigious antique automobile touring event in the United States. The tour’s visit to Gettysburg will be a tribute to the original AAA Glidden Tourists who stopped in the area on the 1911 Glidden Tour; 96 years ago. (The revival tour of antique autos also visited Gettysburg in 1957.)

This year’s tour is being organized by the Gettysburg Region Antique Automobile Club of America, and will be hosted by AAA Central Penn.

The antique automobile tour re-creates similar events first sponsored by AAA from 1904 to 1913 to demonstrate the reliability of automobiles and the need for good roads, uniform traffic laws and services for automobile travelers.

This year’s tour will feature day long trips to scenic and historic spots throughout the area, including antique car museums and collections, as well as the Gettysburg National Military Battlefield Park.

The 2007 AAA Revival Glidden Tour will cover more than 500 miles during its week-long stay and area visitors and residents will be able to view the tour(a) in and around Gettysburg throughout the week.

(a) Public participation in the tour is by advance registration only. Special arrangements can be made for media wishing to interview or drive with tour participants by contacting AAA.

The name “Glidden Tour” comes from the 1905 sponsorship of a magnificent silver trophy by early automotive pioneer Charles Jasper Glidden to be awarded each year by AAA to the driver of the winning vehicle. The original Glidden trophy is on perpetual public display in the atrium of AAA's National Office in Heathrow, Florida.

The Revival AAA Glidden Tour commenced in 1946 for antique auto enthusiasts under the sponsorship of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America -- which holds all rights to the event and alternates tour sponsorship each year with the Antique Automobile Club of America.

Different from a car show, the tour emphasizes driving a pre-determined route, re-creating the purposes and traditions of the early AAA events and providing a week of pleasurable daily car trips to points of scenic or cultural interest.

To win the revival AAA Glidden trophy, participants must complete the entire tour without requiring the aid of AAA roadside assistance. Drivers also must complete a set of daily tour cards recording their start and end time for each day's trip. The qualifying vehicle coming closest to the average time needed for all cars to complete the week's tour receives the award. A second revival trophy, the AAA Anderson Touring Trophy, also will be awarded.

The purpose of logging daily tour times and calculating a weekly average originated with AAA's early practice of providing traveling members with the estimated time required to reach a particular destination.

The Antique Automobile Club of America can be visited on the Internet at www.aaca.org. The Veteran Motor Car Club of America can be visited on the Internet at www.vmca.org.

As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides its more than 50 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.