Denver Auto Show opens Thursday; 6 added to Hall of Fame
Denver was once called a “cow town.” It’s not. It’s a “car town,” and that tag will be emphasized in the heart of the city Thursday with a very busy opening day of the 2024 Denver Auto Show at the Colorado Convention Center.
As convention center opens its doors at noon on Thursday, stroll with me through the large Toyota and Chevy displays up front, the second row of Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Honda and Mazda, another row of makes from Kia at the left to Jeep at the right, and don’t miss the Forney Museum space among many at the far back.
“We’re filling our exhibition space at the convention center with more manufacturer participation than a year ago,” said Matthew Groves, CEO and president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).
It will be Senior’s Day Thursday; those 65 and older will be admitted for half price; one estimate I heard is that more than half of those in the large crowd will be of retirement age. The opening-day show will close at 5 p.m., when the scene shifts to a Hall of Fame reception, with dinner and awards ceremony at 6 p.m. and the auto show gala opening from 7 to 10 p.m.
Being inducted into the Colorado Automotive Hall of Fame for 2024 are six auto stalwarts:
• John Bowell, who at age 18 got his start in the car business under tutelage of Anne Goodro at Goodro Ford, became a best-selling dealer with Volvo and Mazda and in 2007 joined Don Hicks as co-owner of Shortline Automotive Group.
• Ed Bozarth, got his start in the 1960s in Topeka, Kan., and eventually owned five Chevrolet dealerships, including Ed Bozarth Chevrolet in Aurora, played pivotal role with CADA in shaping Colorado franchise law.
• Steve Taylor, Peak Automotive Group, started as a salesman in 1970 for Sports Car Sales, was the first general manager of Stevinson Lexus dealership in 1990, teamed with Mitch Pierce to purchase a Nissan store, recently sold Peak Kia of Windsor.
• Mike Feeley, attorney, Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck LLP, and former Colorado senator, was CADA’S lobbyist for nearly two decades, tirelessly championing the cause of new car dealers.
• Thomas Botterill (posthumously), assumed manager role at Pierce Arrow store in Denver in 1901, was first president of the Denver Automobile Dealers Association and a leading Hudson dealer in the 1930s.
• Art Stapp (posthumously), a three-sport star at Lakewood High School and Colorado College, with his father, Robert, founded in 1973 Longmont Toyota, now known as Stapp Interstate Toyota at Frederick.
The auto show will continue from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 6, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 7. I’ll be there from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, signing copies of my book, “2,600 Cars and a Dog
Sled, Bud Wells’ 67 Years of Newspapering and Automobiles.” Contact Bud Wells at budwellscars@comcast.net