Tag Archives: event

2015 Hagerty Fall Classic – Day Two

Day two on the Hagerty Fall Classic was filled with phenomenal roads and scenery. Warwick, the route-master for this year’s event, truly out did himself with the day’s selection. We began on flowing touring roads through farmlands, and then wound our way up and down various desert canyons. More than a few times today, the road appeared appeared before us like a section of rope tossed out onto the countryside, free to twist and curve wherever it liked.

The day was full of surprises, but perhaps the most unexpected was the town of Shaniko. In the early 1900’s the town was the “Wool Capitol of the World”, producing 14 million pounds a year. While creating the route book, however, it was clearly a ghost town. Imagine our surprise to arrive on Saturday afternoon to the Shaniko Classic Car show, and the streets full of classic cars and car nuts! Many of the group stopped for lunch and a viewing of the show, with at least one car pulling in and parking right in the show!

Our final surprise for the day was Warwick’s Mini. Entering into the final stretch, the front driveshaft decided upon an unscheduled disassembly and spread it’s pieces out upon the pavement. Hagerty roadside assistance took care of towing the Mini to the hotel, and our entrants sprang into action for a solution. The local parts supplier, craigslist, Oregon shops and the Oregon chapter of the mini club were all contacted by various entrants to the event. With parts sourced, a vehicle was loaned and Warwick was off to collect them. The evening ended with a parking lot repair party, some of the group actually working with Warwick on repairing the Mini, and the rest of enjoying a round of cold beverages and mechanic heckling.

A quick preview of today from Andrew Snucins Photography:

2015 Hagerty Fall Classic – Day One Photos

Day one of the Hagerty Fall Classic is in the books, and wow am I exhausted!

We started the day at “Club Auto Tacoma”, located in the LeMay Classic Car Museum. Hagerty Collector Car Insurance hosted us for a morning registration with pastries, coffee and priceless collector cars. It was tough to decide whether to walk through the cars inside, or check out the entrants cars outside! Soon the driver’s meeting began, however, and all the attention was on the roads ahead.

…and wow, those roads.

On a typical CCA event we try and change up the road style during the day. You’ll experience tight twisties, flowing touring roads and back-woods B-highways. Today, though, once we left Tacoma the steering wheels never stopped moving. Driver’s were ecstatic with the constant left-right-left-hairpin into left-right-left-right. and so forth. We looked for the twistiest roads Washington had to offer, and boy did we find them!

Highlights of the day included visiting the blast-zone of Mount St. Helens, the excellent weather and the adventurous route book. One thing we noticed today was how much fun we all had together as a group. Throughout the day it seemed like we enjoyed a section of road with every single car on the event. And when we’d stop for breaks, each car was telling us how they had driven with every other car on the event. It was fantastic! Whether glued to the back bumper of a 2002 in the switchbacks, getting passed by a ’36 Ford Business Coupe or being swarmed by a pack of Mexican Minis…the variety was endless.

Tomorrow we hit some of Oregon’s best touring and b-roads, but for now here’s a selection of images from Andrew Snucins Photography:

2015 Silver Summit Photo Gallery

It seems like so long ago we were exploring the Colorado mountain roads with our new classic-car-friends, but good things take time! Between engagement photos, ceremonies, and cake cutting, our Photographer-Extraordinaire was busy editing the Hagerty Silver Summit gallery and has finally finished! Andrew Snucins has posted 121 images from our Hagerty Silver Summit Colorado Adventure. Click the thumbnails below to head over to the image gallery!

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Silver Summit – Day One Photos

SilverSummitd1-0845Day one of our first ever Hagerty Silver Summit is in the books!

The theme for today could best be described as “adventure”, and we sure delivered loads of it.

The day started with our best start location to date. Next door to the Hagerty Collector Car Insurance office in Denver is the “Club Auto Colorado” facility. Once our entrants had checked in, they enjoyed the usual getting to know one another, while exploring the automotive museum and collection at Club Auto Colorado. Once the driver’s meeting was finished, Dave changed into his “lucky flannel”, and we were off!

SilverSummitd1-The first road out of Golden delivered interesting curves and climbs through the sunshine…but it was not to last. The ‘adventure’ started with a brief thunderstorm, with (as Dave would say ‘a slight touch of weather’). But a couple of hours down the road we got some real Colorado weather. Slightly damp in one moment, and 6″ of pure SNOW the next! Perhaps ten miles up the road, sunny and warm for the lunch stop.

SilverSummitd1-1142And so our day went. Fantastic weather one moment, and a “heavy touch of weather” the next. The mechanical gremlins attacked more than a few cars, with electrical issues being the most popular ailment on the tour. Arriving into the finishing hotel, we were a bit surprised to find smiles, laughter and friendly faces. Even our teams who limped in late were excited about the day. Despite the weather, the road selections were spot on. Our entrants reported that we managed to find some incredible “driving roads” to entertain those holding the steering wheel, and amazing scenery for those in the co-pilot seat. We even managed to surprise Colorado locals with some selections they hadn’t driven before.
Our first day running a Classic Car Adventure in Colorado has taught us two things: 1) the state serves up a healthy portion of ‘adventure’! and 2) we’ve found yet another amazing group of Classic Car friends. Incredible people, and perhaps a touch nuts…just like our Classic Car friends in BC.

…we can’t wait to see what Day two has in store for us!

A preview gallery of Andrew Snucins photography is below:

2015 Hagerty Spring Thaw Day Three Photos

Day three of the Hagerty Spring Thaw finally brought the full sunshine! Our run from Kamloops to Whistler was with tops down and windows open, and for many of us the most fun we’ve ever had. Typically on a Hagerty Spring Thaw cars shift out into groups of 3’s and 5’s, and run together at similar paces. A sunny stop just before the Duffy Lake road saw a number of cars bunched up into large groups of 12’s and 15’s. As fate would have it, the paces matched and we travelled towards Whistler in large groups. The air at the finish was one of excitement and joy, with many people commenting on how it was the most fun they’d ever had. Wonderful photos by Andrew and Samantha Snucins are below:

2015 Hagerty Spring Thaw, Day Two

Day two of the 2015 Spring Thaw saw much better weather than day one! We started with a little bit of light rain, but it was tops down and only the occasionally misting for most cars during the day. This year seems to be the year of the fuel pump, with many cars now sporting replacement pumps ziptied, hose-clamped and/or tied down in the engine bay. While a breakdown isn’t desirable, it’s awesome to come around a corner and see a whole crowd of folks lending parts, tools and knowledge to ensure their fellow entrants will make it to the finish. A taste of Andrew Snucin’s awesome photography below.

Hagerty Spring Thaw Day One Photos

Day one of the 2015 Hagerty Spring Thaw saw quite the weather changes. As some groups mentioned, we got all four seasons plus two or three you probably didn’t know about. Fortunately the entrants seem to be a hardy bunch, and it was nothing but smiles and laughter everywhere we stopped. Check out Andrew Snucins‘ photographs below.