With an event that has so much money around it, the Sun Valley Tour de Force is definitely something I won't want to skip next year. The event occurs at the end of July every year in Ketchum, Idaho yielding a large amount of spectators and cars coming for the show and for the high speed event. It gathers all kinds of people from little kids getting to witness their bedroom poster cars in real life to old money retirees that want to bring out their classics and show off along with the high caliber supercars. This blend of classic and modern, old and new, flashy and classy, really makes for an amazing weekend.
I started my weekend off after the beautiful drive up into Ketchum at the Sun Valley Auto Club. I met up with my buddy Grant (@e_media.208) who is a veteran around the Sun Valley events and headed over. The SVAC is tucked away by the Airport in Hailey which is a few minutes from Ketchum and they handle all kinds of services for the cars in the area including sales, professional detailing, storage, and they have a team of ASE certified mechanics to handle any maintenance on your weekend warrior or show car. Sadly I had showed up a little bit late to catch the roll-out from the auto club but we stuck around so I could explore the facility a bit, catch some stragglers rolling through, and see what they have for sale currently.
With only a short time spent at the auto club it's on the list to show up much earlier for the weekend next year so I can get a full tour of the facility. The majority of their inventory is Porsche 911's, there were probably 12-13 in the lot the morning we were there which was a spectacle for sure but as we were watching some of the cars get pulled in and out of the detail bays there was something that peaked my interest as soon as it came around the corner. A Porsche 959, something I never thought I'd see in the metal.
With only 337 of these cars ever being built, and with a price tag of well over a million dollars, it is seriously a treat to see one up close before the actual show. Being that it was my first hour of being in town for the weekend I figured this would be the highlight of the whole weekend for me but I couldn't be more wrong. After the auto club Grant and I ventured into town to try and hunt down a few more cars before the actual show started. We ended up going to a surefire spot for finding some of the more rare vehicles, the Sun Valley Resort.
At the resort we found something even more rare and in my opinion much more beautiful than the 959 which is the car you're seeing above, a street legal Mclaren P1 GTR. Being able to get up close and personal to such a rare vehicle definitely made the entire trip worth it. I've already done an entire write up on the history of this specific car and how the road legal versions of the P1 GTR came to be so go check it out! But continuing onto hunting before the show, after ogling the P1 for a bit Grant and I parted ways so I went to the one spot I knew where there'd be a few other things going on.
This being my second year coming out for the road rally I went to a spot where a few of the cars gather to roll out to the actual show that happens in downtown Sun Valley on Friday evening. Think of the whole weekend as a car show wherever you go but there's a few major spots you can't miss. One of them being the Pre-rollout meetup by Guy Cole skatepark. This meetup gathered a team of Mclaren's, a Singer Vehicle Design Porsche 911, and a Citroen DS21 of all things. The Mclaren's were constantly getting detailed wherever they went, most of them being brought out by Beverly Hills Mclaren so it's no surprise they were so well kept. (Big shout-out to TheRagCompany, I love seeing your products used everywhere)
The Citroen was one of my favorites at this pre-meet because of the cool story it carried with it. The owners father bought it and used it to travel to Mexico and take it on road rallies and then passed this one down to his son. His son now takes it to shows like this and still drives it very regularly without any big issues. Not only was he kind enough to tell me all about the car and the history they have with his family but he let me have a complete look around and sit down in the absolute leather couch that is the seats in this car. Wish I had more time with it as there are so many quirks and cool pieces to the car.
Having gone to the Sun Valley Road Rally last year, this pre-meet was underwhelming compared to what it was the year before. But to clear up some of the confusion between the Sun Valley Road Rally and the Sun Valley Tour de Force. The event originally started in Sun Valley as a partnership between the Sun Valley Auto Club and the Blaine County Drug Coalition. The event was ran well for quite a few years and garnered some of the most high end cars like Bugattis, Mclarens, Aston Martin's, Ferrari's, the list goes on. However after the 2016 event weekend there was some falling out between the two partners. Some speculate that it was an issue on where the money was going whilst others believe it was due to the organization of the event. The event carried on into the 2017 year but only with the drug coalition.
This being the first year that I've gone, it was still a wonderful experience. However the friends that I had gone with who had been to the event in previous years explained that it was very lackluster in comparison. So moving onto the 2018 event year there is actually two events that are held which are very similar. One is the Road Rally, held by the drug coalition, the weekend before the Tour de Force that was brought back after a year hiatus. So now with two of the "same" event you have to decide between which one to attend (or go to both if you're looking to stay for both weekends). From my experience, the Tour de Force is the one to attend. The drug coalitions show is nearly the same, however their high speed event puts you very far away from the vehicles and the announcer talks over the sound of the cars as they go by. Every. Single. Time. So if you are trying to decide between the two, choose the Tour de Force.
Rolling out from the pre-meet we made our way into downtown Sun Valley. I showed up a bit early so I got a slice of pizza and took a walk down to the show location to scout some spots before everyone showed up. With the free show being smack in the middle of downtown Sun Valley the attendance was high which proved to be a hard time to get up close to most of the cars but everyone moved around in a respectful manner so that everyone could get a chance to see the cars. After seeing most of what the weekend had to offer vehicle wise I was excited to see the major attraction to the Tour de Force show this year. That being a brand new Bugatti Chiron brought out by Bugatti Beverly Hills and O'Gara Coach.
Of course being put up front with the P1GTR these two legends gathered most of the attention of those around which provided quite the challenge to get a shot of the two of them side by side. The show ended as the sun came down and everyone headed off into downtown to get the night started. Our group always goes to Lefty's Bar as they have the best burgers around and provide a phenomenal atmosphere. This year I also had the pleasure of staying downtown in a cabin just blocks away from where the show was however short lived as we had to be up very early to get to out spot and set up for the high speed event in the morning.
The show is a big part of the whole weekend but my favorite part is the high speed event. With last years show only being the drug coalition they had to find a completely new road to shut down for the morning and it was a decent location but for the spectators it ruined a big part of the experience. This year they were in the same location but with the Tour de Force's debut they chose to shut down a section of the highway 75 leading to Stanley. This section had a wide area around it that was clear of any trees or major foliage unlike the Road Rally location which made for some amazing photo opportunities and great viewing for the rest of the spectators.
With about two miles of runway to reach top speed and slight downhill before the finish line the cars that run get going upwards of 170+ mph. Sadly most of the cars you would want to see run like the Chiron, P1GTR, and a few others never ran but there's always next year! This doesn't take away from the fact that there were a few solid hours of cars running, about 5 heats with breaks in between to let the traffic line through. We set up right by the finish line to catch the most of the action just before the mile long decel zone that ends at a sort of "checkpoint" where a lot of the cars waited to head down before running and also where most of the spectators were who didn't get a chance to see some of the cars at the show.
Run after run you get to see these rare, expensive, and collectible cars scream through this beautiful mountain area at top speed making for one of the coolest spectator experiences related to the automotive world. The Sun Valley Tour de Force provided a wonderful experience this year, and for being their first year back they had everything very well organized which makes me very excited to see what happens with next years event. After the event we headed out back to the cabin to gather our things and leave the cozy little ski town to let it return to it's quiet life. Till next year that is. A big thanks you to:
@sunvalleytourdeforce
@sunvalleyautoclub
@ogaracoach
@bugattibeverlyhills
@beverlyhillsmclaren
@e_media.208
@bigb1011
@luckyclub.us
Extras!
