At a recent ride and drive event held by Peterbilt, HDT editor Jack Roberts got to tour the world class car museum at the Gateway Resort in Gateway, Colorado. The museum is a labor of love for Discovery Channel co-founder John Hendricks and houses a truly stunning collection of America cars and motorcycles from the dawn of the automotive age up through the muscle car era in the 1960s. All Photos by Jack Roberts
Gateway Colorado's Incredible Car Museum
Perhaps the star of the Gateway Car Muesum is this one-of-a-kind 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept car.
This gorgeous baby blue '57 Chevy is one of many highlights in the collection.
A 1970 Chevelle SS 454 was Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's get-away car of choice.
1965 Chevelle SS
This sleek Chrysler cruised at the height of Detroit's tail fin craze.
The Gateway Car Museum has a few motorcycles as well -- like this pre-War Indian.
Creature comforts were sparse on the Model T Racer -- as were safety features.
Packard was a pre-War marque as coveted as Duesenberg or Cadillac and evoked the Hollywood glamor of the day.
This mid-'50s Pontiac was clearly blazing the marque's trail as GM's performance division.
This early '60s Studebaker's paint job isn't shy. And the styling marked a definite move away from the chrome and tailfins of the 1950s.
It's not the flashiest vehicle in the colleciton -- but this gorgeous early '50s Chevy pickup set more than one car nut's heart aflutter during the tour.
This 1959 Coupe de Ville remains one of Cadillac's inconic models.
At time when Oldsmobile was trying to decide if it was going to be a luxury brand, or a high-performance marque, the F-88 concept roadster borrowed heavily from the just-released Corvette's styling cues.
The stunning 1955 Thunderbird was Ford's answer to the Chevrolet Corvette.
Performance doesn't get any more insane when a 1970 Shelby GT500.
Chevy's answer to Mustang Fever -- the 1967 Camaro.
MOPAR fans won't be disappointed with this Kill 'Cuda waiting to hit the drag strip.
A must-have for any serious car collection -- the 1963 Split-Window Corvette Stringray.
The Ford Mustang was still 50 years in the future when the company introduced this "performance" version of the Model T -- a "Racer" model.
This 1936 Cord is one of the most valuable cars in the collection.
This pre-War Duesenberg is possibly the most valuable car in the collection -- which is saying something.
Oldsmobile was an early contender for power at GM -- in fact, many purists consider the Olds Rocket 88 to be the first Muscle Car.
The Buick RoadMaster set the pace for stylish performance in the early 1950s.
Ground Zero for American sports cars -- the 1953 Corvette.