On Sept. 15, a parade of classic sport and race cars will be stopping in Dolores in front of the Galloping Goose Museum.
The Colorado Grand tour is an annual charity tour featuring pre-1960 race cars of distinction.
The tour attracts entrants from around the world and always includes several cars from the ’20s and ’30s. Typical makes include Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Porsche, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Maserati and Allard. More exotic models are Amilcar, Cisitalia, Squire, Delahaye, and Talbot-Lago.
The event was founded in 1989 by Englewood automotive enthusiast Bob Sutherland. Every September at the peak of the fall color season approximately 85 vintage cars are driven in this relaxed, noncompetitive event, covering 1,000 miles through the Rockies in five days.
The Colorado Grand tour currently generates more than $300,000 annually for small Colorado charities and Western Slope towns as well as college scholarships to graduating high-school seniors in those towns.
“In 2012 they donated $9,600 toward the Galloping Goose museum roof,” said Lew Matis, of the Galloping Goose museum, home of Dolores’ classic rail bus.
Current charities include the Colorado State Patrol Family Foundation, the Robert Sutherland Foundation, Flight for Life, CASA, and medical facilities in small towns. Cumulative donations since 1989 are over $4 million.
The event is run with the cooperation of the Colorado State Patrol and in towns where we have lunch-such as Lake City, Walden, Paonia, Salida, Ridgway, Hotchkiss, and Meeker, spectators are invited to view the cars and talk with the owners.
“It’s considered the most prestigious classic race car tour in the U.S.,” said event coordinator Angie Getchel. “Most of the cars have a racing pedigree, and one is a very rare Scarab.”
