95 cars filled the Tempe stadium by early Friday evening.  Another great selection, with a few wonderfully idiosyncratic inclusions to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Copperstate 1000.  As we caught up with friends, and watched the sun go down across third base, the general consensus was this could only be another fantastic event.

An early start today, thanks in equal part to excitement and sun creeping through window blinds I’d forgotten to close properly.  The stadium car park was equally full of interesting cars, as this event has become a great reason for all the local gear heads and enthusiasts to bring their own vehicles out for inspection.  Hot rods, muscle cars, genteel vintage and tricked out modern all played happily together as  mutual appreciation conversations surrounded them.

At midday, we had the first drivers meeting; and within 30 minutes all engines were running & cars began their slow procession towards the starting flags.  Although the run was shorter than usual, the organizers ensured that what we lacked in mileage would be more then made up for in variety of scenery & ideal highways.

Within ten minutes we were heading away from Phoenix and out towards long sweeping bends that would take us into the Ponderosa.  The Egg was more than happy to keep up with her larger engined companions, however our joint enthusiasm was slightly dampened as I noticed the temperature gauge needle climbing a little too close to the redline for comfort.  As she runs so smoothly now, it’s become almost impossible to remember that she’s a middle aged lady, and there’s always a little more acceleration available it seems!  However, dropping back to a slower speed, and letting her coast down the hills as we enjoyed the quickly changing scenery soon resolved the problem.  Unfortunately not everyone was quite so lucky, and we saluted a few other vehicles on the side of the road as we cruised along.

I continue to be surprised by how quickly the environment changes in this small state, and today’s journey was no exception.  Sandstone oranges and reds soon replaced with gorgeous shades of green and purple as we headed to higher altitudes, and through little towns like Peyson & Strawberry.  This was ranch land, as proven by some really impressive log cabins, and long dirt roads that seemed to lead nowhere!

Playing chase and be chased by a variety of other entrants, we both agreed the high spot of the journey was sitting behind a 1932 Lincoln Boattail speedster.  The car was immaculate, with gorgeous sweeping lines that shouted Art Deco at the top of their lungs.  Chatting with the owner later in the afternoon, I discovered that the coachwork was new and had been done in the style of two renowned american custom builders, Hibbard and Darrin, who worked in Paris in the late 20’s and early 30’s.  Not only was the restoration stylistically correct, all materials used were correct for the period.  It really is a piece of industrial art.

Beautiful boattail

As the temperature continued to slowly drop, The Egg’s mood was unmistakably exuberant.  This is her type of driving conditions, and we were rewarded with smooth handling at every corner and a final bug count on the bonnet, that easily ran into triple digits.

By the time we arrived at our final destination in Flagstaff, it was a case of follow the sunlight to ensure the remaining not so warm temperatures could be appreciated.  Swapping stories, I was given a simple but worthwhile tip regarding engine temperature.  If you’re concerned, rather than reading the gauge, stop and see how long you can hold the dipstick.  More than 3 seconds, nothing to worry about. Hopefully I won’t need to test the theory tomorrow, but it’s good to know!

Egg 1 – Bugs 0