PARALLEL PASSIONS; Competition & cars fuel Olympic athletes.

Byline: PETE LYONS

Chevy's El Camino first came out in 1959, way before Amanda Beard was a baby. But ask this Olympic-gold-medal swimmer about her dream car, and that's it: an El Camino.

"I get made fun of a lot about it, but I'm being serious. I want one!'' says the 26-year-old Californian. "I've just always had a fascination with them. They're muscle cars.

"I've been trying to figure out what year and all that kind of stuff, but I just want a beautiful one with a crazy paint job, an El Camino that's really flashy. I want to put some bucket seats in it and just have fun with it. Just one other person and I get to tour around in the car.''

The Olympics doesn't offer four-wheel events; until that's fixed, we won't be able to prove to the doubting world what we insiders know, that race-car drivers are true athletes, on the same plane as swimmers, skiers or any other sportspersons.

Meanwhile, we have to take the word of athletes who also are car guys-and gals. There are many, including some current Olympic contenders whom we'll be profiling this summer (see sidebar).

Swimmer Dara Torres, for instance, a four-time gold medalist, became the first woman to win the annual Long Beach Toyota celebrity race in 2002, the same year Danica Patrick won in the professional division.