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 PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Detroit has its Woodward Dream Cruise, Arizona has its Copperstate 1000. Woodward draws thousands of muscle and other cars for a celebration of the '60s. The Copperstate involves a much smaller though perhaps more exotic field of vehicles, and instead of "cruisin' the ave," they do a one thousand mile tour of the great southwest. The Copperstate 1000 is a rally for vintage sports and racing cars. This year, the entries ranged from a 1924 Bentley 3/8 litre and 1925 Bugatti Type 35A to a trio of 1972 Ferraris, a 365 GTB/4 Daytona, a 365 GTC/4 and a 246 GTS Dino. This was the 17th annual Copperstate 1000 vintage rally, and marked the 17th time that Richard and Diane Belveal of Paradise Valley, Arizona have participated -- and the 1967 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 they drove this year was the 17th different car from their collection that they've used for the event. The rally is staged by the local Men's Art Council as a fund-raiser for the Phoenix Art Museum, which this year returns the favor by staging its "Curves of Steel" exhibit of automobiles as art. The Copperstate 1000 vintage rally route varies each year. This year participants left Phoenix and drove to the Grand Canyon for their first overnight stop. The second day took them to St. George, Utah. They headed back for a night among the red rock formations in Sedona, Arizona, before finishing in Scottsdale. The rally began this year at Tempe Diablo Stadium, spring training home of the California Angels. But for the Copperstate weekend, the ball park was turned into a "field of dreams" that featured the Ferrari Club of America's second Concorso Arizona, a concours d'elegance for Italian cars, as well as the 20th annual concours of the Jaguar Club of Central Arizona. Usually, the Copperstate 1000 features a special celebrity grand marshal. Organizers opted not to bring in an automotive celebrity this year. As it turned out, while the rally didn't have an official grand marshal, it did have a bona fide celebrity because Emmy Award-winning actor and auto enthusiast Ed Herrmann (Gilmore Girls, FDR) was among the entrants, driving a 1953 Hudson Hornet bedecked in "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" NASCAR colors.
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