Muscling Into So-Cal

Muscle Car 1000 Plans Champagne Tour

By Bill Moore   

Figure this out -- they sip wine all night, they talk about the rising collector car values, their wives (before dinner) sample the spa and enjoy massages, pedicures and hair treatments and they eat at the best restaurants, sleep in the very best of 5-star hotels and -- and yet they're true-blue car guys. 

Who knew? 

What Chris Hoskins has done with muscle cars is the same thing that collector car enthusiasts have been doing for years: He's created an automotive event that allows a few wealthy gentlemen and their wives to strut their stuff in something called the Muscle Car 1000. You know, got yourself a hot Camaro, a Shelby Mustang, a Pontiac GTO, maybe even an original 427 Cobra that you want to air out while getting a few cameras pointed your way? If so, this is the event for you! 

The reality is that most of these folks are true car guys who grew up with automobiles, and then in many cases, turned their hobbies into full-time, fulfilling and lucrative jobs. For example, take Drew Alcazar who's the owner of Russo & Steele. He turned a gift for fixing old bodies into a big business based in Phoenix . . . not far from Scottsdale where he holds an annual muscle car auction. 

But, there is some bad news: The event -- running from October 7th through the 12th -- costs $5,950 per couple. Worse, it's already full with 35 entries prepared to tour Southern California, starting out at the Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego with a dinner in the Coronet Room. The following day, a police escort will take the group to the U.S.S. Midway, where the cars will run mock drag races down its flight deck. Luncheon will be served aboard the aircraft carrier. 

Next, it will be an evening at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point, with a picnic in the park the following day along with a concourse d'elegance. The blur will continue at California Speedway in Fontana where the cars will muscle up to the startline for real drag-racing, followed by a drive up into the San Bernardino Mountains to the Lake Arrowhead Resort for food and wine, and a boat tour of the lake. The fifth day will see an evening at the Beverly Hills Hotel to wrap it up . . . except for the award banquet at . . . the Playboy Mansion. 

What can you do now? We suggest you go to www.gto.musclecar.com and make plans for next year's event, which may climb to 50 entries. It's an ongoing circle of friends who love both the good life and muscle cars. Go ahead, think about it . . . and then pull out the wallet and invite the wife to this all-inclusive lifestyle adventure.