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Colorado Grand

16-20 September 2007

An Invite - When you receive an invitation to participate in one of the classic road rallies in an early Ferrari, it is one of those occasions that it takes only a nanosecond to respond in the affirmative. All I had to do was get from London to Colorado to keep the appointment, which courtesy of a British Airways direct flight to Denver was pain free, notwithstanding the almost obligatory delay! The invitation came from Phil and Martha Bachman in Tennessee, who have participated in every running of the rally in their 1956 Chevrolet Corvette, and whom I have known for a number of years. This year they had managed to get a second entry for their recently acquired Ferrari 166 MM/53, for their son Philip to drive, and I was fortunate enough to be elected co-driver/navigator.

Nineteen Years On - The nineteenth running of the Colorado Grand started with registration and a display of the participating pre-1960 cars at the Cascade Resort & Spa in Vail on Sunday 16 September. The total entry list ran to ninety six cars plus organisation and support vehicles, not forgetting the nine motorcyclists (or motors as they are better known) of the Colorado State Patrol, led by Sergeant Tim Keeton, who are an integral part of the smooth passage of the rally.

Alarm Call - The alarm call on the Monday morning didn’t come from the alarm clock, but from a vivid flash of lightning followed immediately by a horrendously loud clap of thunder. Upon peering out of the window, there was heavy rain falling, so the thoughts of running in an open car in these conditions were not the ideal scenario for a fun rally! So it was back under the covers for another hour, followed by a leisurely breakfast, in the hope that conditions might improve with the passage of time. Fortunately the rain eased, and by the time we left we only had to endure it stinging our faces for about 20 minutes, but conditions remained chilly until lunchtime, when the sun broke through and took the chill out of our bones. That would be the last we would see of any inclement weather, as conditions improved from that point, with largely clear blue skies and warm sunshine, which by the afternoon of day three saw us driving in shirtsleeves.

Breathtaking Beauty, But Beware! - For anybody who has never been to Colorado, the high altitude scenery is amazing in its variety and beauty, almost every twist and turn in the road unfolds a picture postcard scene. It is particularly attractive at this time of year with the leaves on the Aspen trees changing colour to orange and yellow, highlighted against the deep green of the pine forests. It is not only the foliage that is colourful, but also the variety of rock colours and formations that you come across, whilst the byroads are largely traffic free with a variety of highland plains and twisting mountain roads, providing a special driving experience. This is enhanced by the knowledge of the “motors” being in attendance to ensure a safe passage, whilst turning a blind eye to some excess of speed in places where it is safe to put the hammer down. Equally they stressed that they would come down hard on anybody committing sins like crossing double yellow lines, or speeding through towns, where the local officers would probably catch any errant speeders anyway to boost their coffers!

The Route - Each year the route is different, and this year it first headed south and then east from Vail along highway 24, which revealed overnight snow on the peaks, on to the top of Loveland Pass, where what appeared to be heavily disguised Jaguar prototypes were seen doing altitude testing, then to the lunch stop at Dillon. From Dillon the entourage headed north through more breathtaking scenery to the overnight stop at the Grand Resort in Steamboat Springs. Day 2 saw everybody leave for a “U” loop to lunch at Walden, then heading south to the overnight halt at the Beaver Run Resort at Breckenridge, with more spectacular scenery en route. Day 3 saw everybody motor further south and then west to the lunch stop at Salida, after which the route took us in a southerly loop to head north-west to the overnight stop at the Grand Lodge in Crested Butte.

V12 to V12 - It was upon arrival at the hotel (fortunately) that the 166 decided that it didn’t want to delight us with its beautiful V12 aural soundtrack any longer, as it decided to blow the left cylinder head gasket, rendering it hors de combat for the final day. One of the event sponsors, Mercedes Benz, came to our rescue, and very kindly provided us with a S65 AMG model for the final day, so we exchanged a 2 litre V12 for a 6.5 litre twin turbocharged one, fair exchange is no robbery! It would have been great to finish in the 166, but its misdemeanour, provided the opportunity to drive a truly exciting and competent piece of modern cutting edge sedan technology. Apparently it also has an exciting soundtrack from the quad oval tailpipes, but from within you don’t experience it, only the seemingly never ending delivery of power, and equally impressive retardation from the brakes.

Final Day – Ensconsed in the luxurious cabin of the S65 we were ready for the final day and some more spectacular scenery! This included the Blue Mesa Reservoir, a 36 mile (Approx’ 58km) long man-made reservoir, making it the largest body of water in Colorado, which we crossed and re-crossed during the course of the morning drive. The route also took us along the rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, which is the deepest and narrowest canyon in the USA (between 1525 and 740 metres deep), with amazing views down into it from the scenic overview stopping places, not to be recommended if you suffer from vertigo! This took us on to lunch at Hotchkiss, where a very good “Senior Citizens” country band entertained us at the lunch stop in the park. From here the convoy headed north back to the Cascade Resort & Spa for the gala dinner and silent auction of donated gifts in the evening. As the event is run to benefit numerous charities, and from its inception in 1989 to 2006 has donated over $2.3 million to them, the auction is an important fund raising aspect of the gathering, and is always well supported. So four days of camaraderie, great driving roads, superb accommodation and wonderful scenery came to an end, I’m already thinking about next year!



Keith Bluemel
September 2007


Colorado Grand Entry List – 2007.

Rally #  Driving Team

03

05

08

10

11

12

15

16

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

63

64

65

66

67

68

70

71

72

73

75

76

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

97

99

100

101

102

103

104

106

107

108

109

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

Keith Bluemel
09/2007