Start of the Copperstate 1000 - 6 minutes of automotive awesomeness

[LeeH]

This is a great event. So cool to see and hear these cars doing what they were meant to do. I caught most of the 80+ cars heading out. Porsche was well represented.

The Vignale "Kelly" Corvette might look like the offspring of a 928 and an AMC Pacer in the pics, but it was beautiful in person.

[tevake]

Fantastic sights and especially sounds!! I thought that the cars were supposed to be older? Saw an NSX right at the end, could a car that new participate?

Thanks for posting.

[KNS]

Great start, fantastic cars. Noticed Wayne Carini was there driving an Aston Martin DB4. And the announcer mangled everybody's name and got most of the cars wrong.

[FLYGEEZER]

Thanks for the great post!

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Lee, Don and I were maybe 25 yards up the street from you that whole time. Funny how we missed you completely! Maybe next year??!

Great video.

[Scott Douglas]

Thanks for taking the time to edit that and share it with us.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

Lee, Don and I were maybe 25 yards up the street from you that whole time. Funny how we missed you completely! Maybe next year??!

Definitely! I've missed this event for a couple of years due to scheduling conflicts, but for the time/effort spent it's a lot of payoff for us car guys. I got there a little later than I expected. They'd said 10am departure on their web site, but they started rolling at 9:30. Felt for the people pulling in late with their kids looking for the cool cars. Didn't notice until I was leaving that there were cars set up for viewing on an adjacent parking lot. Did you guys go over there?

Originally Posted by tevake

Fantastic sights and especially sounds!! I thought that the cars were supposed to be older? Saw an NSX right at the end, could a car that new participate?

The road was open to traffic and the NSX was just happened to be there. It wasn't a participant car.

As that parade was rolling by I was playing a little "greater than or less than" game in my head. "That one's worth more than my house. That one's worth less than my house..." Then there are the few where you think, "That one might be worth 5X my house!"

[LeeH]

Interior of the Vignale Corvette:

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Didn't notice until I was leaving that there were cars set up for viewing on an adjacent parking lot. Did you guys go over there?

You might say that. My '31 Ford was front and center right by the steps leading into the stadium, across from Frenchy Dehoux's fantastic Lincoln V-12 powered Deuce roadster. 1932 Roadster Flathead V12 - YouTube

Every year the organizers put out an invite to the community to participate in an impromptu car show in the west parking lot. There were quite a few Porsches (911s and 356s, mostly--some from other Pelicans), several Ferraris, a Lamborghini Miura, several Lotuses, a couple Ford GTs, and a variety of vintage muscle cars, custom cars, hot rods, and trucks. And a very nice round-taillight BMW 2002.

I got there at 8am and wandered around the west lot and then the stadium for a bit. Don got there shortly after so we met up and hung out for a while, then watched the start. Then hung out some more.

[pwd72s]

Love the 2 enthusiastic kids sitting curbside. Hope for the future.

[KNS]

I parked over in the west parking lot with several other 911s, I wasn't sure where everybody was but wondered around with a buddy of mine. He was in the red Carrera with a tail and I was in my Ruby Red '84.

I think there were over a dozen long hood 911s entered in this years event - and I was surprised how many of them were right here from the Phoenix area (of all the entrants).

[Josh D]

I was there with my wife Laura in my '80 SC. Chit chatted with Aaron and his dad while making over his Buick Nailhead powered '31 coupe (awsome car!) for awhile. I promise to have a towel to wipe up my drool marks next time Aaron.



I love this event and plan on attending it annually.

[weseeeee]

That was great, thanks for sharing it.

[Zeke]

Was that cop seriously on the 4th or so guy's tail?

What, no Citroen SM?

Love the Jag representation.

And what was that at 6:00? A Bentley cab?

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Was that cop seriously on the 4th or so guy's tail?

What, no Citroen SM?

Love the Jag representation.

And what was that at 6:00? A Bentley cab?

Citroen goes by at about 5:30.

[madmmac]

Thanks for sharing. I did not get down there this year.

Will make it next year for sure......hopefully.

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Was that cop seriously on the 4th or so guy's tail?

No. The start was right behind them. They were just pulling out. There were probably 6 police escorts I could see. They staggered out.

The 1966 Ferrari 330 GTC @ 2:42 was beautiful. Interior looked like a very nice den.
Wayne Carini is riding shotgun and waving @ 3:55 ( I chatted with him for about 2 minutes, seemed mellow )
And the '72 BMW 3.0 CS was just plain sweet.

Lee, I parked in the east lot, walked into the outfield, made 2 laps then viewed the west lot, then stayed with Aaron.

Uh, Aaron, should I ask?

[BlueSkyJaunte]

The mud washed off with just water. No worries.

On a different note, I'm glad this crazy weather we've had for the past two days waited until now!