The Great Race, a multi-state endurance rally for cars at least 50 years old, will come through Loudon on Friday, featuring 140 cars, including some that pre-date World War I.

The cars will be on display at the New England Racing Museum, on the grounds of the N.H. International Speedway, starting at 11:30 as racers take a lunch break between Providence, R.I. and Freeport, Maine. The rally began a week ago in Owensboro, Kentucky, and ends Sunday in Gardiner, Maine.

The Great Race, which includes teams from Japan, England, Australia and Canada, requires drivers to complete each day’s route as close as possible to the Rally Master’s cryptic instructions. The team closest to the perfect time wins their racing division.

Each day, teams receive instructions that indicate every turn, speed change, stop, and start that the team must make throughout the day – usually 220 to 250 such instructions per day – including four to seven checkpoints. The objective is to arrive at each checkpoint at the correct time, with points deducted for every minute arriving sooner or later.

GPS systems and computers are not permitted and car odometers are taped over. This is a test of human mental agility and endurance as well as classic car endurance. The course avoids timed segments on interstate highways, opting for local and state highways whenever possible.

Any car up through model year 1974 is eligible to enter, but most were manufactured before World War II. The older the vehicle, the more of an age factor adjustment it gets when compiling scores.

Last year, a 1916 Hudson Hillclimber won the event when cars drove from St. Augustine, Florida to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

For more details, see Greatrace.com.