Museum piece
Not trying to be funny. This is a short piece about a small museum.
When I'm choosing a hotel for my holidays, I look first for a room with a bed and an attached lavvy. After that, I like a nice bar. A swimming pool is worth having and if there's a health spa I can have an Ayurvedic detoxifying hot-stone lymph drainage head massage.
But the Gateway Canyons Resort hotel in Colorado has it's own car museum, and I think that's better.
This is one of the nicest small museums I've been to. It starts with the dawn of the popular car and (unless I missed a bit) ends in the muscle-car era. It's all proper US metal - none of your pony-assed European rubbish.
The accompanying selection of poor quality photographs (c. the author) show a few of my favourite/favorite bits.
Meanwhile, if the American Museums Association has an award for the best-dusted collection, it should go to this one. Everything is in perfect condition and absolutely spotless. Even the two good ol' boys running the place appear to have been buffed up with a damp chamois.
After a gigantic American breakfast served on a plate twice the area of my face, I could have gone for a jog in the mountains. Instead, I spent an hour or so wandering around this lot. Far more agreeable.
1950s Yank Tanks are especially fabulous to behold close up. There is true artistry in the use of colour and chrome, making this as much a gallery as a museum. But the experience is tinged with some sadness, because it seems unlikely that the car will ever again be so lavishly decorated, or so wholeheartedly embraced.
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Comments (213)
It's amusing how Firefox puts a black stripe over the photos. Censoring out the good bits. #CarPorn 🙈
That last paragraph, James, so poignant. I suppose it was inevitable that the mainstream car would transition from a cherished expression of the self with almost a soul of its own to a mere mechanical tool. Yet there will always be petrolheads to keep the spirit alive.
What beautiful cars! And some very unique ones too. I love the Chevelle. Thank you for taking pictures!
I did a double take when I saw the Camaro - it looked very familiar. Here's a picture that I took a few years ago on the way to work. The owner was an older gentleman wearing a plaid fishing hat, just driving around in a sweet convertible with his dog. What a life... 😊
Are you saying that Clarkson has been buffed up with a damp chamois? I don't see much evidence ...
I'd like to take that last model for a test drive.
Really? Well, each to their own I suppose.
i hope these pictures in my head will disappear one day ... ;)