COPPERSTATE CLASSIC

[dreemz]

This is held annually here in Phx. The DPS escorts you around the state. This year the cars go from Phx to Lake Havasu to Las Vegas back to Flagstaff and then Phx. Colin was there with a Shelby GT350. Great entertainment and dining.

[dreemz]

Another pic

[sYc]

Hopefully Colin did not get busted by the locals this time.

[dreemz]

Several of these 300 SL's in attendance...

[dreemz]

GTO

[dreemz]

Gullwing

[dreemz]

Alfa Romeo starting rally

[JoeG]

Looked like a honey of a '66 350 SHELBY behind that 300SL---Serious Rides.....GTO looks stunning......

[csx289]

Nope, no tickets this time !

I am also happy to report that, unlike a heck of a lot of the 86 cars entered, my 65 GT350 didn't miss a beat. I was a little worried taking a freshly restored car with only a few hundred test miles on it, but it couldn't have been better. Did not use one drop of oil or coolant, and the weather was pretty warm for the first two days.

One of the highlights for me was hanging out with the Grand Marshall , Alain deCadenet - host of Victory by Design , Speed Channel correspondent, etc. Alain's loaner car (Lancia Fulvia) lost its generator pulley and all belts the first day. We fixed it in the parking lot with borrowed tools and some "creative" use of parts I scrounged from a golf cart (don't ask). The repair worked a lot better than the hood latch - on the way to Vegas the hood came unlatched on Alain, went over the windshield, bent back and slammed the roof down about 12" - smacked him on the head pretty good!

So I offered a seat in my car to him for the next day, and we drove from Vegas to Sedona , about 310 miles. Jennifer was generous enough to give up the co-pilot's seat and ride in one of the chase vehicles. Let me just say that anybody with a heart condition should NOT ride with a F1 driver in traffic. We hammered down Rt. 66 pretty good, about 80 miles of it were spent above 110 mph. Really. Alain said it was the first time he had driven a Shelby since he rented a 1966 GT350H in 1966 ! He has put me on task to find him a 65 - he said he "has to have one".

I've got a lot of video footage from the in-car cam. Should be some good stuff, we had a great time. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time - Alain has some good stories and is an all-around great guy.

Some of the other cars on the rallye were pretty damn cool also. 250 SWB California Spyder, the 8C2300 Alfa you see in the pics, a 212 Ferrari Barchetta, a 340 Ferrari MM Spyder, the 1956 Ferrari 250 TDF Competitzione Paris Show Car, 1927 Bentley 4.5L, etc.

Colin

[Belair62]

Did you school him a bit on American muscle cars so next year at B/J he is a little better informed ?