Ford – RDZ Photography

To my surprise I had access to a free day of performance driving school included in the cost of the new car I purchased a few months ago, a Ford Edge ST. Apparently because they are considered ‘high performance SUVs (to me an oxymoron)’, Ford Performance sends out letters to all new owners inviting us to this training.

Since it was included in the cost of the car, and a good excuse to spend a week running around Utah, off we went. And the good news was Ford provided the cars for the day.

The instructors were all professional drivers, mostly those who run in the SCCA or IMSA type races. Our leader was referred to as Reverend Jim who preached the gospel of speed.

We left Park City for a 45 minute drive to the town of Midway. Each car had a walkie talkie where Reverend Jim gave us play by play of the drive, the features of the car and other amusing, if not always useful, comments.

Eventually we arrived at the Soldier Valley Olympic Facility. This facility hosted the cross country skiing, as well as the biathlon – a combination of cross country skiing and target shooting.

The first part of the day was learning how to manage your vehicle during a skid. To do this they have a car outfitted with specialized hydraulics that the instructor could at any moment force the car into a skid.

Next up was to show the amazing ability of the Ford Edge ST (and many of today’s cars) to apply the brakes if the car decides you are not paying attention and are going to run into something. This is done with a combination of Radar and the cameras in the car.

The training was to accelerate towards a ‘balloon car’ and once you get to the point of no return you let off on the accelerator, do not touch the brakes and steer directly ahead. The car will sense the balloon car just ahead and hammer on the brakes for you – a very weird sensation but some cool technology.

The Olympic cross country loop is paved, allowing for athletes to train year round using rollers on their ski’s. Because we had the facility to ourselves today we were permitted to drive the course – slowly.

We arrived back at the start/finish line where the target shooting facility was located.

Once there two of the U.S. Biathlon Olympic team members were there to give us an overview of the sport, some history and some instruction on the target shooting. I last shot a gun when Gerald Ford was president but with their instruction was able to hit the target, which turned out to be 7 times larger than the target the Olympians shoot at.

Our day continued with an auto-cross. This is basically a course set up in a parking lot with constant sharp turns. We used what Reverend Jim and the others had taught us for the day and saw how fast and hard we could get Ford’s cars through the course.

All in all it was a fun day, with Reverend Jim and the other instructors helping facilitate a learning experience.

I have had the opportunity to visit most of America’s great transportation museums. Having that background I can state that in my opinion the Gilmore Car Museum is the best in the country.

I had read about the Gilmore for some time now, and had always looked forward to going. With the long Labor Day weekend and the emphasis on cars, now was the time.

When we arrived one of the staff said ‘see you in 4 hours’. He was wrong, we spent 4 1/2 hours 🙂

Gilmore is more than just a single building with some cars. It is a campus of buildings and barns, each featuring a genre of cars or car companies.

Each building is immaculate, clean and well light with great presentations. They also take pride in that there aren’t barriers for most cars, just notes to remind you not to touch. This makes photography much easier.

Among the buildings is a 1940s diner that was moved from Connecticut. It serves as the restaurant for the museum. We had a basic lunch there, with great milkshakes and friendly staff.

An example of one of the barns. This one was moved from a nearby farm, with 2 levels for cars.

A complete 1930s Shell Station.

The pumps represent different eras.

The motorcycle building.

Inside are a number of bikes from the early 1900s to current day.

A vintage Cleveland and 1919 Johnson.

As the sign notes – a 1928 Indian. Check out that rear seat.

Outside near one of the storage barns is an un-restored London double decker bus.

Another building – another collection. This one has a peddle car collection.

As with the motorcycles, the collection was vast and pristine.

Even some peddle airplanes – how cool.

In the 1960s Mr Gilmore built a replica of the train depot for the little town of Hickory Corners. Inside is a hood ornament display.

I am always enthralled by the old hood ornaments.

Almost too nice for the hood of a car.

At the Gilmore they have over 1300 of them.

While the photography was tricky with the display cases and the light and shadows, many came out very nice.

Also called mascots, it was a common occurrence in the 1930s to personalize your car with a different ornament.

Our next building was called ‘The Classics’. Higher end cars from the 1930s.

A Cadillac for a movie star.

The large two level barn shown earlier from the outside had 1950s cars on the lower level.

And the impressive upper level had earlier models.

Hudson Motor Car Company made automobiles from 1909 through 1954. This one is from the 1940s.

So many great cars.

In the same barn is a Ford display.

One interesting feature of the the Gilmore campus is that car clubs build their museums there. In this example the Cadillac club built essentially a Cadillac dealership on the outside.