Classic cars to tour Bainbridge Saturday
Published 6:32 am Saturday, September 12, 2015
An estimated $2 million worth of classic 1955-57 Ford Thunderbirds and 1953-62 GM Corvettes will gather to form a more than mile-long parade around Bainbridge Island on Saturday, Sept. 12, marking the fourth Puget Sound gathering of these once fierce car rivals of the 1950s.
Nearly 50 of the iconic autos from several local clubs will wend their way around the island.
Two Puget Sound-area classic T-Bird clubs – the host club Puget Sound Early Birds from the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula areas and their sister club the Olympic Classic Thunderbird Club of Seattle/Everett/Tacoma area – will be joined by the Solid Axle Corvette Club from King, Pierce and Kitsap counties for the special event.
The parade’s schedule is:
The Puget Sound Early Bird members will drive south to the First Baptist Church parking lot, where they will wait to greet the Corvettes and T-Birds from the Seattle area arriving on the 10:40 a.m. ferry from Seattle.
Once assembled, the motorcade will drive south down island at about 11:45 a.m., turn left on Winslow Way and then generally follow the route of the Chilly Hilly bicycle race.
The ‘Birds and ‘Vettes will then take a lunch break at Fay Bainbridge Park before continuing on their counter clockwise tour of the island’s perimeter.
The more than 40-mile-long tour will end at the Coppertop Business Center.
Tour organizer Gordon Thorne of Gig Harbor said the concept of bringing these two rival marques together started shortly after he and his wife Judy and four other couples from the Puget Sound Early Birds completed all of historic Route 66 in October 2010.
The first combined event in 2011 was a day-long tour of Vashon Island with 45 cars participating in a mile-and-a-half-long caravan.
After that came tours of the Unlimited Hydroplane Museum and the LeMay Classic Car Museum.
Last year, the ‘Birds and ‘Vettes were the main attraction on the Port Angeles Pier during its annual Summer Arts Festival in 2014.
“We selected Bainbridge Island for this year’s tour because of the wonderful varied scenery the island offers,” Thorne said.
“From driving right next to broad, rolling bays to wooded roads that give you peek-a-boo views of hidden coves through the trees with waterfront estates and mansions, to meadows, farmlands rural scenery and sections of deep woods, plus the variety of parks, Bainbridge offers a cornucopia of beautiful vistas, scenic roads and panoramic views of Puget Sound — easy for all of us to get to just a short ferry ride away from Seattle or a trip across the Agate Pass Bridge,” he said.
