We were galavanting around the mountains of Colorado in our pickup when a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT screamed by. Of course we followed it, right to a parking garage filled with vintage cars. It was like we'd stumbled into an automotive museum. We could almost hear angels singing.
All these cars were in Vail, Colorado for the very exclusive Colorado Grand. The four-day, 1,000-mile motoring event is fashioned after the famous Italian Mille Miglia and features a heart-stopping array of vintage cars built before 1963. The only thing better than seeing them parked was seeing them canyon-carving the mountain roads of central Colorado.
Imagine the rare opportunity to see, smell and hear a veritable automotive museum motoring through canyon roads in all their vintage glory.
Every car is immaculate pristine condition, and although Ferraris predictably dominated the field – we’re not complaining — 29 marques were represented. You probably haven't heard of at least a third of them. The oldest car in the field was 1927 Delage D1 Boattail Speedster.
But the pièce de résistance was the factory 1959 Ferrari Testarossa 59/60 (pictured above). It is one of four in existence and valued at more than… well, rumor has it you could buy a Bugatti Veyron for each day of the week and have almost enough left over for one more.
Wired.com caught up with a few seasoned drivers, including 17-year veteran Glenn Mounger and his wife Mary Lynn. They showed up in their 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1. Mounger’s no stranger to awesome vintage cars, having chaired the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for nine years. He's now the event's chief honorary judge.
Mounger, 62, obviously looks forward to the event and has missed just four in its 21-year run. He showed up for his first, back in 1989, in a 1935 Duesenberg SJ Special dubbed the Mormon Meteor. It's the same car famed salt flats racer Ab Jenkins broke the land speed record with. So what's kept him coming back year after year?
“The thrill of the car and an exhaust this big echoing through the canyons,” Mounger told us.
He's quick to note that no one really cars what your car's worth or how rare it is. All that matters is that it's real, it's running and you're driving it like it was meant to be driven -- hard and often.
“Its not about the price of the cars," he said. "It’s the great cross-section of honest stuff.”
Everything at the show is authentic and pristine. You won't find any replicas here. Mounger says they're all “sports and racing cars of historical significance.” Have your doubts? The 12-cylinder 1959 factory Ferrari 59/60 not only won its class at LeMans but set the fast lap at Nurburgring with Phil Hill at the wheel in 1960. Why couldn't we learn about that kind of stuff in grade-school history class?
Fifteen-year veteran photographer Jeff Best, working with motorsports photographer John Waugh, offered his own perspective on the event. As much as he loves arriving on the first day and simply walking through the parking garage to admire all the iron -- something we spent hours doing -- nothing compares to the visceral sensation of seeing the cars streak by.
“Being set up to take a shot and from two miles away hearing the purr of a Ferrari V12...” Best says, his voice trailing off. The thought of it gives us chills.
The Colorado Grand isn't just a playground for those fortunate enough to own a piece of automotive history. Since its founding, the Grand has raised more than $2.5 million for charity, including scholarships awarded to kids in the communities they pass through each year.
A 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico Heads to the Hills With Others In Tow
The event ended today -- they made us promise not to say anything until now, because each year's route is super hush-hush -- but we managed to get them to disclose the full route that you can use to enjoy the same epic scenery. The course took them throughout southwestern Colorado with stops in Telluride and Durango and many small towns along the way. The field was met on Wednesday with a most unwelcomed guest: Snow. But they motored on.
Everyone arrives in Vail today around 4 or 5 p..m., and they'll pass through the arch at the Arrabelle Hotel into Lions Head. The cars will be on display Friday from 9am until 1pm outside the Arrabelle Hotel so you can see them in their post-rally bug-spattered glory. If you can make it, this massive motoring art gallery is a one-of-a-kind.
*Kids of All Ages Love the Colorado Grand *
The Most Senior Entry of a 1927 Delage
*Main photo: [John Waugh Photographic Images](http://johnwough.com/)Copyright 2009. All others: Dave Eyvazzadeh
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