Sat and Sun in Northern Colorado and Denver

ReporterHerald.com: Classic cars ready to parade up the canyon

For the third year in a row, Estes Park resident William Rense is taking his restored 1965 Jaguar 3.8 S sedan for a long, slow drive to help kick off the town’s tourist season.

Rense and another 21 Estes Park, Loveland, Northern Colorado and Denver-area drivers of classic and newer model cars are leading the 26th annual Classic Auto Parade of the Years car rally Saturday up the Big Thompson Canyon from downtown Loveland to Estes Park.

“It’s kind of fun to put up these older, classic, unique cars for other people to look at and enjoy,” Rense said.

Sponsored by the Estes Park Car Club, the car rally commemorates the importance of the automobile in the development of tourism in Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Inventor F.O. Stanley developed the Stanley Steamer in the early 20th century to drive at high altitudes and bring tourists from the Loveland and Lyons train stations to Estes and the Stanley Hotel.

“Normal cars had trouble getting up to this altitude,” said Craig Bigler, vice president of the Estes Park Car Club and events team leader.

To commemorate this historical drive from 1907 or 1908 to 1925, Bigler is hoping to have a 1917 Stanley Steamer Mountain Wagon, owned by Frank Hix of Estes, on display at the Stanley Museum.

The holdup is a new boiler that is being installed in the automobile, he said.

On display will be a Stanley Steamer with demonstration models showing how the steamer works, as well as a collection of Stanley family artifacts.

Earlier in the day, Bigler and other Estes Park Car Club members and car enthusiasts will meet at the Reporter-Herald parking lot, at Fifth Street and Lincoln Avenue in Loveland, for a 2-hour car show.

At 10:30 a.m., the drivers will take Lincoln Avenue north to U.S. 34 and travel west, stopping in Drake for a tailgate lunch, then continue to the Estes Park Visitors Center parking lot.

“This is the first opportunity for the season to get the cars out of the garage, get them cleaned and polished up and out on the road, driving,” said Bigler, who will be driving a 2001 PT Cruiser in the rally.

The drivers will try to keep their line of automobiles together, Bigler said.

“Some of them don’t move terribly fast,” he said. “If that’s the case, we allow space for passing.”

The automobiles will be on display at the visitors center on Saturday and across from Bond Park on Sunday.

They will include several Model As, a 1963 Thunderbird Roadster, a 1966 Ford Mustang and a 1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III, as well as newer cars such as a 2002 Ford Thunderbird.

“It gives everybody a chance to hobnob and catch up,” Bigler said. “We’ll talk about cars, as you might expect.”