Welcome to the land of the open road! A cool breeze tussles your hair as verdant hillsides rush on by. The mountain pass ahead is lit by a resplendent scarlet sky. And yet, with the approach of each hairpin turn, your tires stay firmly planted on the ground. Total confidence, total control. With a vintage sports car, every mile means another smile.
I was loading groceries into the Alfa Romeo at the Sunflower Market in Fort Collins when a twinkle of highly polished chrome across the parking lot caught my eye. A few pre-World War II hot rods were lined up in an orderly row, with several more pulling in. Of course, I had to check them out. Continue reading »
Earlier this week, a few bombers swept down onto Fort Collins as if it was Germany in the 1940s, or worse, Iraq! Fortunately, no Nazis or insurgents had invaded our peaceful town in the Front Range, and this was strictly for a history lesson dubbed “Wings of Freedom” courtesy of the Collings Foundation. Continue reading »
This morning, Sarah and I met up with Nick, Josh and Ryan at the Taste of Fort Collins. As with last year, very conveniently, a car show of 200 automobiles was being held just two blocks away!
Despite having lost some of my passion for older, polluting, gas-guzzling and dollar-sucking vintage cars over the years, I still have an appreciation for the artistry and hard work that goes into making a sweet ride. Continue reading »
, but there's always positive thinking...&title=Sporting Pleasures "Fort Collins isn't quite as warm as this at the moment (photo from June 2006 in Berkeley), but there's always positive thinking...")
“There’s a sports car out there with its top down,” remarked a Fort Collinser to his kid standing behind me inside the diner I was having lunch at. “Someone’s thinking positive…”
Er, yes, that would be me. While I have enjoyed the unusual snowy weather the last few weeks, I’m looking forward to warmer days. In just a couple of days the high temperatures of Fort Collins will be in the mid-50s, which should feel absolutely scorching after weeks in the 20s and 30s. Never mind that when I drove out to lunch, the temperature was still 17 degrees and there’s still some snow on all grassy areas. Continue reading »
Peter Egan — Editor-At-Large of both Road & Track and Cycle World magazines for the last few decades — not only is one of my all-time favorite writers but is most responsible for developing my automotive tastes even before I could drive. In addition, he has engaged in numerous adventures around the globe in a variety of motorized (and non-motorized) vehicles and I consider him something of an expert on the best places in the world to do a driving tour.
So when I received the March 2007 edition of Road & Track and saw that Peter had written an article entitled “Drive the High Country,” my eyes lit up. The article, it turns out, was about driving in Colorado and about a motoring event for pre-1961 cars called the Colorado Grand. Continue reading »
