What better place to talk cool cars than leaning under the hood of a brightly painted, fully chromed custom street rod against the cool mountain backdrop of beautiful Gunnison, Colorado? Combine that camaraderie with an arts and crafts festival across the street for a winning combination of the 21st annual Gunnison Car Show and the High Octane Arts & Craft Festival on Aug. 22 – 24. Longtime automotive TV show host Sam Memmolo, currently executive producer and host of “Two Guys Garage” on SPEED, will be at the Gunnison Car Show on Aug. 22 and 23 to receive the Lee Iacocca Award. He also wrote and hosted the successful TV shows “Shadetree Mechanic” and “Crank & Chrome,” both on TNN. Memmolo and his wife, Diana, live in Georgia and are hot rod collectors. Also new for 2008 is that the Gunnison Car Show will be the first car show in the United States to be carbon free.
Prime vintage and custom cars will be on exhibit and on the roads of the Gunnison Valley during the 21st Annual Gunnison Car Show, Aug. 22 – 24. The event, sponsored by the Gunnison Car Club, includes a cruise-in, free street dances on Gunnison’s Main Street, an open car show, poker run, and breakfast cruise to Crested Butte.
The show’s theme is “Cool Cars. Cool Mountains.” It celebrates the combination of Gunnison’s comfortable August temperatures and the many custom and collector cars on exhibit. The show traditionally attracts vehicles from throughout Colorado and from several surrounding states. “The show is all about family fun,” says Gunnison Car Club President Mike Callihan. “In addition to hundreds of great cars, there are many, many fun things for the entire family to enjoy.”
Schedule
The car show kicks off in downtown Gunnison on Friday, Aug. 22 from 5 – 9 p.m. with a ‘50s-style cruise-in and concert. A portion of Main Street will be closed to regular traffic during the event, so there’s plenty of room for more than 150 show cars to park where they can be viewed by the public. The popular Kansas City band “The RumbleJets” will be playing for a free street dance for the public.
The full car show runs from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23 at beautiful Jorgensen Park. Surrounded by trees, green grass and water, this is an “open” event, which means any vehicle in any condition—from barely moving to full blown restoration—is welcome. It’s not unusual to see exotic, one-of-a-kind custom street rods, high performance sports cars, tricked out pickup trucks and a gaggle of British cars all parked together on the lawn.
Food, games and contests are also a big part of the day that typically showcases more than 300 vehicles. Judging of the cars continues until midday, when an awards ceremony is held. A poker run through the streets of Gunnison after will be held after the show, followed by a street dance on Main Street featuring Gunnison’s own Rock Bottom Band.
On Sunday, Aug. 24, approximately 125 cars leave Gunnison at 7:30 a.m. to drive the scenic 28 miles to Crested Butte’s Elk Avenue, the town’s colorful historic business district. Elk Avenue is closed to traffic on this morning so that the vehicles are available for viewing while their owners enjoy a gourmet breakfast at one of Crested Butte’s fine restaurants.
Admission to the award-winning Gunnison Car Show is free to the general public, but there is a registration fee for cars that are entered. Car show proceeds are donated to community causes. For more information and to register, check out the Gunnison Car Club’s website at www.gunnisoncarclub.com.
Going Green
The Gunnison Car Show will be the first car show in the nation to be carbon free. Using data from MIT and University of Washington and the guidance of staff from www.carbonfund.org, organizers determined that the 330 cars that typically attend drive a combined total of 99,000 miles getting to and from Gunnison, generating 63 tons of carbon. With other elements of the festival such as generating electricity for bands, restaurants preparing meals and more considered in the analysis, the event’s total carbon impact is nearly 81 tons. In response, the Gunnison Car Club has purchased carbon-offset credits from www.carbonfund.com, which will be used to plant trees.
The club also is working to reduce solid waste. For example, food vendors must recycle, use compostable paper products and provide a written plan about how they will reduce their solid waste impact.
