100th Anniversary of Route 66

ORGANIZED BY THE Men’s Art Council, the Copperstate 1000 vintage road rally is a “Field of Dreams” Concours and tour that pays tribute to cars, landscapes, and the American Southwest. It also serves as a fundraiser for the Phoenix Art Museum and the 10-90 Copperstate Foundation, which provides emergency benefits to families and dependents of officers injured in the line of duty.

Bell Lexus North Scottsdale has been the title sponsor of the rally for more than 20 years and states: “The route is always different, and the Men’s Art Council puts a lot of time and effort into making this one of the best car events in the country. It’s fun to network, mingle and meet new friends along the way.”

The Southwestern state of Arizona holds a great deal of history. Native communities have lived on the land for 13,000 years, and the state is currently home to 22 tribes. In the 16th century, Spanish “treasure seekers” made their way there from Mexico and, in 1776, the Mexican army built the first fort at Tucson. About 70 years later, following the Mexican-America War in 1848, Arizona was ceded to the United States, becoming the 48th state.

For the past 36 years, the Copperstate 1000 has been adding pages to recent history. The rally is a dream cruise for racers, classics, and sports car enthusiasts; it is not a competition rally, but a lifestyle event and a joyous exploration of the Arizona outback, with magnificent scenery as backdrop.

The main objective of the rally is to offer an opportunity for drivers and navigators to exercise their automotive treasurers and indulge in pure enjoyment with their vintage cars. The rally, founded by Louis Laflin III, is a tribute to the artful design of the automobile and was inspired by the famed Mile Miglia with an emphasis on having a great time with like-minded people while savoring the spectacular Arizona landscapes.

On April 12, 2026, about 80 vintage, factory original automotive machines from the 1973 model year or older assembled at Tempe Diablo Stadium (spring training home of the LA Angels baseball team) for a 1000-mile motoring adventure challenging the winding roads, hairpin switchbacks, 5,000-foot elevations, and long straightaways of the scenic southwest highways. As always, an escort of handpicked Arizona Highway motorcycle patrolmen accompanied the Copperstate to make sure no one got too carried away.

The field of vintage world-class vehicles was as varied as the landscape with Alfa Romeos, a 1963 Apollo 2500 GT, Aston Martin, BMW, a gorgeous 1957 Chevy Bel Air Dual Quad, Corvettes, about 12 Prancing Horses, Fiat, Ford Thunderbird, and about ten classic Jaguars, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz from the 50s, 60s and 70s. a race ready 1955 OSCA MT4, about 11 Porsche 911s and a Speedster, and even a 1965 2180cc VW Beetle with disc brakes, to name a few.

“A rolling fieldtrip for grown-ups”

I call the rally “a rolling fieldtrip for grown-ups,” where hundreds of car enthusiasts gather at the Stadium on a sunny Sunday morning to meet and greet car owners, who are happy to discuss car details and their love of collector cars.

As the beautifully designed route book, with cover by the late artist Ed Mell, once read in 1997: “Trust in Motherhood, Apple Pie, and your Route Book, set the scene for all 80 vintage cars to blast out of the Stadium, one by one, heading through pine forests, up snow-caped mountains and cruising the expansive blooming desert with towering Saguaro cactus that aways appear at attention when our motor brigade speeds by.”

This year was very special as the Copperstate celebrated the 100th anniversary of Route 66, with stops in historic towns along the way. As the rumble purring of powerful engines filled the air, the departure at the stadium commenced at 9 a.m. with hundreds of cheering spectators in the stands enjoying the colorful “museum on wheels” head for the hills.

The late Leon Mandel, who was the publisher of Auto Week magazine and who participated in many Copperstate rallies back in the day, referred to this as the “orgy of automobility,” where participants share in a belief that no time could be better spent than in an interesting car on a mean road in the company of like-minded people.”

As I reminisce, for many years, the event honored a grand marshal, including the likes of Bobby Rahal, Brian Redman, Phil Hill (who drove his award-winning 1930 Pierce-Arrow Cabriolet in 1996), Lyn St. James, Stirling Moss, Barry Meguiar, and Bob Bondurant.

This year, there was no grand marshal as Route 66 was the star of the show. It was John Steinbeck in his Pulitzer Prize- winning novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” who first coined the term “Mother Road” when referring to iconic Route 66, established in 1926 as the nation’s first all-weather highway linking Chicago to Los Angeles (specifically Santa Monica Pier, for a total of 2,448 miles).

The road was a well-travelled route during the depression and “Dust Bowl” years for thousands of displaced Americans seeking a new life further West. In 1946,singer Nat King Cole sang “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” written by former Marine Bobby Troup, immortalizing Route 66. Although the highway was decommissioned as a continuous road in 1985, it continues to be a “must attend experience” and rolling adventure for many from around the world.

On the morning of Sunday, April 12, the colorful blast off guided the modern wagon train west through the desert terrain and farmlands, eventually turning north towards Parker with a sumptuous lunch stop at the Roadrunner Resort & Floating Dock Bar. Revitalized and well nourished, the cavalcade headed to our first overnight in Laughlin, Nevada, known for shows, casinos, and river recreations on the Colorado River, and as a more laid-back alternative to Las Vegas.

Monday morning welcomed the main reason for the Copperstate sojourn this year: to step back in time and experience a drive of what’s left of the longest uninterrupted segment of the Route 66 still in existence. As the routebook states: “Readers Digest named it the 20 best places to travel in the world and singled out the Arizona sector, 158 miles between Topock and Seligman.”

As we motor into historic Oatman, where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their “honeymoon” at the Oatman Hotel in 1939, we are greeted by the protected wild Burros that roam the streets asking for food from the visitors. It’s worth nothing we were told, “Don’t drive like an ass,” in the routebook.

I caught up with Delmar “Del” Boscassi from Northern California, who was driving a powerful 1967 427 Corvette, who told me: “I’ve been collecting cars since I was 14 and I’m now 71 so I bought this car for my birthday. It ran great and is a total brute with 435 horsepower. It’s a manly beast.”

We head on historic Route 66 to Kingman. Known as the “Heart of Route 66” where we lunch at Locomotive Park, across the street from the Route 66 Museum. I cornered Rick and Nancy Rome from Texas, piloting a dynamic 1962 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona that they owned for 21 years. Rick told me: “This Prancing Horse has an upgraded competition spec engine that hammers out about 400 horsepower and demands a strong left leg to engage first gear.”

Onward along Route 66 to Seligman, which was the inspiration for the fictional town of Radiator Springs in Disney’s “Cars” movie. Williams is our next over-night and is known as the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon.” A highlight of the journey after we rally through the largest Ponderosa Pine forest near Flagstaff is arriving for a lunch by Meteor Crater (Barringer Crater). The crater was created about 50,000 years ago by an iron-nickel meteorite estimated to be 160 feet in diameter and weighing hundreds of tons and struck with a force 150 times greater than an atomic bomb.

After lunch, its time for some “Standin on the Corner” in Winslow, Arizona, thanks to the 1972 Eagles’ song “Take it Easy.” Then the breathtaking splendor of the red rocks in Sedona calms our rallyists for the night. On Wednesday morning, I spot Scott and Ethan Rosen in their 1957 red Maserati 250S that was Maserati’s answer to the lightweight and powerful Ferrari 500 Mondial.

The final leg of this “rolling museum of automotive art” brings the motorcade to the Hotel Valley Ho for the awards banquet. The Participants Choice Award honored Peter and Cindy Noyes with their 1966 Iso Grifo and the Louis E. Laflin III spirit award went to Brad and Linda Tank. This award is given to the person(s) who embodies the spirit and enthusiasm of the Copperstate 1000.

For more information on the rally, visit copperstate1000.com or mensartcouncil.com

I write this in tribute to the iconic artist Ed Mell who passed away in February 2024 and painted most of the route book covers since 1991.