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The Colorado Grand was conceived and created nearly 17
years ago by Robert Sutherland as a way to have fun with
your cars and your friends, and just coincidentally, amidst
some glorious scenery. Sutherland's legacy is not merely
this one event but, in a sense, the myriad of tours and
rallies that have proliferated since. But this one is the
acknowledged first, only loosely patterned after the famed
Mille Miglia. So come along as we celebrate the Colorado
Grand through the words and experiences of various
participants ranging from car owners, some frequent
participants, a sponsor or two and two first timers, guests
on the 2005 running, and some of those who do the
arranging and organizing to ensure the participants
have that enjoyable experience.
An eighth consecutive-year participant, who has become
the official unofficial photographer, has really gotten into
the spirit of the Grand as his company, Girard-Perregaux, is
also a sponsor. Ron Jackson, and his son Jamie, sniffed the
air and mastered the roads last September from the cockpit
of their 1960 Austin-Healey 3000.
RON JACKSON: The Colorado Grand is truly a special
event. The people are so warm and welcoming, the cars so
amazing and the scenery so spectacular. It's a pleasure to be
lost in Colorado for four days. To top it off the entire event
is to raise money for charities, and it doesn't get much better
than this. Instead of being treated like strangers who drive
into town in expensive and rare cars, we are warmly welcomed.
If it wasn't for the charity aspect, the Grand wouldn't
be the Grand. The charity of the Grand defines its character
and as a participant, you feel the effect of the charity of the
Grand each and every day.
Bob Sutherland described himself as the "prime motoring
fool." He was anything but a fool! Colorado scenery
regularly leaves people slack-jawed any time of year. But
when you craftily plan an activity mating seventy-five 1960
or earlier vintage and historic racing and sports cars of distinction
with four days touring 1000 miles of primarily twolane
roads and schedule it for September, it's almost not
playing fair. Two first-timers, one a car-guy and the other
not, were along for the ride in '05 as invited guests, Howard
Koby and Keith Strandberg were similarly awed by
Colorado's natural beauty.
KEITH STRANDBERG: I learned that the route of the
Colorado Grand varies from year to year, always starting
from Vail with different routes and vistas from year to year.
This year's Grand route was a wonderful mix of scenery,
from high mountain passes to plateaus and cities. The
weather was spectacular, with clear, crisp mornings, warm
afternoons and star-filled nights. Only once did weather
intrude and that was on the way from Ouray to Silverton,
feet on Mount Sopris.
KEITH STRANDBERG noticed: The route book was
extremely well done and richly illustrated with pictures of
vintage cars on previous Grands. It included the history of
places the Grand visited – Gypsum, Glenwood Springs,
Carbondale, Paonia, Hotchkiss, Telluride, Ouray, Silverton,
Tamarron, Durango, South Fork, Creede, Lake City, Crested
Butte, Saguache, Poncha Springs, Salida, Buena Vista,
Leadville and back to Vail – each with its own tale to tell.
HOWARD KOBY was impressed by another aspect of the
Grand. Everybody really does get behind the charity aspect.
Girard-Perregaux made two very special watches – one a
man's, the other a lady's. Each was specially engraved with
the event logo and dates; they were auctioned off on the last
evening. Each brought in excess of $20,000 which went into
the charity coffers.
RON JACKSON really has fallen under the spell of the
Grand: One of the unique aspects of the Grand is the fact
that the event itself has two purposes – to bring together a
rare group of cars and their owners for a week of driving in
the Colorado Rockies, the second is to generate income for
the charities supported by the Grand. Once you've had the
privilege of experiencing a week on the Grand, you understand
beyond a shadow of a doubt that these two purposes
bring harmony to the daily experience that is the Colorado
Grand. |
