MINI5280 announces it's Fall Tour to the brand new and beautiful Gateway Auto Museum. Please note these details:

• Saturday and Sunday, December 3rd and 4th 2005. Overnight on Saturday at the Outpost Resort, then scenic ride back.
• Gateway, CO (about an hour SW of Grand Junction)
• The Gateway Auto Museum and Gateway Canyons Outpost Resort right on the Delores River
• Come see the historic $3 Million 1954 GM Dream Car (One of a kind Oldsmobile F88 sold at the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction on January 29th of this year for $3 Million. Yes, you read that right.

"It is our Mona Lisa," stated John S. Hendricks, new owner of the car and the museum's creator. "This GM dream car uniquely embodies the revolutionary design spirit of the legendary Harley Earl, the 'daVinci' of Detroit. The 1954 Olds F-88 concept vehicle is, I believe, America's finest example of rolling art to emerge from the post-war era," said Hendricks.

Designed by General Motors's godfather of automotive design, Harley J. Earl, the Olds F-88 was unveiled at the 1954 Motorama. Many auto historians consider the F-88 to be an archetype of modern car design with a racy fiberglass body, bullet taillights, open top and lightweight structure. The F-88 has distinctive large vertical exhaust outlets for its "Rocket" V-8 and a prominent wide-mouth grille. Due to lukewarm sales of the newly released 1954 Corvette, GM refused to give the green light for its Oldsmobile division to produce another sports cars. The F-88 and four other cars developed during the XP-20 project were ordered destroyed as was standard for concept cars not making it into production. As legend has it, however, this one gold-tone pet project of Harley Earl was given or sold piece-by-piece to E. L. Cord (Auburn- Cord-Duesenberg owner) in 1955 to be reassembled as the sole-survivor of the project. In fact, hundreds of GM internal documents and original blue prints are still with this car. Museum curators are hoping to find out more of this unique car's history from these documents and records.

The Gateway Colorado Auto Museum, now under construction and scheduled for an early Fall 2005 grand opening, is a museum devoted to understanding and celebrating the history, science, design, and social impact of the American car. Only American cars will be featured in the new museum, which will display 32 classic vehicles organized in a timeline dating from a 1906 Cadillac Model H Coupe. The museum will feature cars from the Hendricks Collection which include such unique classics as a 1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 38 Suburban, a 1939 Packard Darrin Super V-8 Convertible Victoria originally owned by the John Deere family, and a 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser Indy 500 Pace Car. In addition to design classics, such as the newly acquired 1954 Olds F-88 dream car, the museum will feature classic vehicles that helped define American culture such as a perfectly-restored 1956 Ford F100 Ice Cream truck, numerous original muscle cars and a special showcase of custom vehicles which illustrate America's fascination with individual expressions of automotive artistry.

The Gateway Colorado Auto Museum is fittingly located in the heart of red rock canyon country of Western Colorado. This spectacular country, full of majestic buttes, mesas, and winding canyon roads, has been the backdrop to countless car commercials reflecting the adventurous aspirations of the American car-buying public. Gateway, Colorado is a one-hour southwesterly drive from Grand Junction on Colorado Scenic and Historic By-way 141.

• The Gateway Colorado Auto Museum is part of a larger effort to revitalize the former mining community of Gateway, Colorado with a new scenic and recreation-based economy that takes advantage of the region's spectacular natural beauty. Financed by the Hendricks family, the project is known as Gateway Canyons and will include the museum, lodging, fine dining, outfitter services, event hosting, and numerous "western" experiences. In addition to becoming a significant destination for world travelers interested in the American West, Gateway Canyons will become the "must visit" destination for car clubs and car enthusiasts from all across America.

• John S. Hendricks is the Founder and Chairman of Discovery Communications, Inc. Mr. Hendricks created the Discovery Channel which launched on satellite in 1985 and now reaches over one billion total subscribers in 160 countries around the world. Other services of Discovery Communications include TLC, Animal Planet, The Travel Channel, The Science Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater and numerous digital networks. Gateway Canyons is a personal investment project by Mr. Hendricks. Discovery Communications is not involved in the funding or operations of this Hendricks family initiative in Colorado where the family has owned remote ranch property for over a decade.

Please plan to join us.

 

witch day will you be visiting the museum? if sunday you can count me in. Please let me know. Thanks

 

www.gtwycanyons.com or at 866-671-4733.



The Museum is not open yet, times have not been posted. On the assumption the musuem is closed Sundays, we will plan to go on Saturday afternoon. If not, we have room for both days, allowing time for the return drive to Denver which is about 6 hrs or so....

JPS