Every year, the folks at the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association find a reason to cruise across the country with a handful of hot rod enthusiasts; the end destination being one of the organization’s many shows. This year, it was announced that the “Hall of Fame Road Tour” would kick off in September to honor one of the legends that we lost this year- Mr. Jack Trepanier– and cross the country in eight days in remembrance of his contributions to the hot rod community.
As usual, the folks on the tour stopped by one of the country’s premier hot rod shops, Pinkee’s Rod Shop of Windsor, Colorado, on the way to their final destination-the 22nd Lone Star Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas. Lucky for us, we got to tag along as the rodders cruised from the famed Stanely Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado down to Pinkee’s for a night of hot rod fun!
Located in the heart of Estes Park, just a short jaunt from the famed Rocky Mountain National Park, The Stanley Hotel has been a staple not only in the Colorado community for decades, but also in the automotive and ghost-hunting circles nationwide for years. Though it may sound like a bit of an odd combination, The Stanley Hotel has been the center of history and mystery for generations.
Built by F.O. Stanley, creator of the Stanley Steamer, The Stanley Hotel has accommodated dozens of famous guests, starred in a number of TV and movie productions (including the original TV miniseries “The Shining,” which was later remade into a movie of the same name staring Jack Nicholson, as well as comedy “Dumb and Dumber”) and has been named one of the country’s most haunted places.
To give you an idea of just how proud the Stanley staff are of the hotel’s rich history, an original Stanley Steamer still sits in the hotel’s lobby while ghost tours are a daily attraction for guests and locals alike.
On their way through the Colorado mountains, the GG Hall of Fame Road Tour stopped by The Stanley Hotel on Sunday, September 28th for lunch, where a number of the well-known hall-of-famers taking part in the event got to see a bit of automotive history many had never been exposed to up close and personal.
Following lunch, the crew headed out, taking the 45-minute curvy drive down the Big Thompson Canyon to reach their final destination for the evening- Pinkee’s Rod Shop.
Set up with food, exclusive hot rod parking, and plenty of knowledgeable shop techs to inspect and fix any of the struggling tour cars, owner of Pinkee’s Rod Shop, Eric Peratt, welcomed the tour-goers and local hot rod enthusiasts alike for a night of relaxing celebration. While rodders relaxed and took in the artistry of Pinkee’s many on-going projects, Pinkee’s staff doted on a number of cars that had tweaked something on the trip through Colorado.
Guest of honor, the famed Troy Trepanier of Rad Rods by Troy, floated around the shop, making small talk with many fellow road-trippers, as well as countless fans. If he wasn’t talking car projects or inspiration with young builders, he was discussing the trials the tour had put on his famed “Chicayne” thus far, or admiring the many rolling chassis and works-in-progress on display inside the shop.
Truly fitting of the Hall of Fame Road Tour name, the trek across the country attracted many other automotive greats, as we soon found out. Along for the trip were Jesse and Jeff Greening of Greening Auto Company, Steve Legens of Legens Hot Rod Shop (who was driving a car he had just completed for George Poteet), owners of the 2013 Goodguys “America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod” Harold and Tracy Chapman, Goodguys 2014 Custom Rod of the Year owners Bill and Carol Raper, and Fatman Fab’s Brent Vandervort.
Of course, we can’t forget Goodguys’ own Ed Capen, who led the tour from the driver’s seat of the Goodguys 1969 Camaro G/RS logo car.
Among the other tour participants were a number of individuals who had traveled countless miles just to meet up with the rest of the rodders for the trip to Texas, including Randy and Cathy Slack, owners of a gorgeous 427-equipped ’63 Nova, from Ontario, Canada, and Roy Wighton, owner of a ’34 Chevy pickup and custom trailer, from British Columbia.
In addition to just over 2,400 miles planned for the Road Tour, Wighton was planning to drive over 16,000 more miles in a round-about trip from BC to the Lone Star Nationals, then out to Galveston, TX, New Orleans, and through Jacksonville, FL to catch the last part of the Hot Rod Power Tour before heading to Las Vegas for the 2014 SEMA Show and then Arizona for the Goodguys Southwest Nationals. Equipped with a reliable ride, a tent, and a gung-ho attitude, Wighton should be interesting to catch up with at the Southwest Nats when he and Rod Authority both make it down to Arizona in mid-November.
With everyone aiming to be on the road early the next morning for the next leg in the tour, which would take them to Grand Island, Nebraska, many of the rodders began to retire to their hotel just up the street from Pinkee’s around 8:00 p.m. By that point, scattered rainstorms, which everyone joked that the tour had brought along with them since they had been rained on each day at that point, had scared away a chunk of the local rodders.
A favorite stop among all the rodders we talked to, Pinkee’s Rod Shop will almost certainly be a scheduled stop on the next Goodguys Road Tour. After all, it is one of the premiere hot rod shops in the country and with great hospitality and highly-trained techs on site to help with anything necessary, the rodders couldn’t ask for a better place to kick it for a night.
We’re so glad that we got to catch up with all of the guys and gals on the GG Hall of Fame Road Tour as they swung through Colorado in the peak of the fall season. Be sure to check out the Rod Authority Gallery below for more photos from the Goodguys Hall of Fame Road Tour below!