Bob Penkhus at his desk in Colorado Springs. (Bud Wells photo)
Bob Penkhus, president of three dealerships in Colorado Springs featuring brands Volvo, Mazda, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi, has been nominated for the 2016 Time Dealer of the Year award.
He’ll be honored, along with 50 other dealers from around the country, at the 99th annual National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Exposition April 1 in Las Vegas.
The Time award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. Penkhus, 66, was nominated by Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.
A 1969 graduate of Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Penkhus earned a B.S.B.A. in marketing from the University of Denver in 1973. With his business education background, he joined the family Volvo dealership, which was founded by his father Robert in 1956. “It was one of only 10 Volvo franchises in the country when the dealership opened,” Penkhus said. “As a child growing up, I was a permanent fixture around the store, so it was a natural that I would join my father in the business.”
Bob Penkhus opened his own Mazda store in 1973 and in 1977 became president of the Penkhus Motor Co.
Penkhus and his wife, Leslie, have three children and nine grandchildren. For the past 15 years, Bob and Leslie have hosted the Bob Penkhus Hangar Party to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Colorado Springs.
An avid flyer, Penkhus put his skills to good use after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. He galvanized an effort to carry doctors, nurses and medical supplies to the country on his private plane. He also raises money for and supports many other charities.
Penkhus succeeds Scott Ehrlich of Greeley as Colorado Time Dealer of the Year. First winner of the award was Russ Lyon of Boulder in 1970.
Fall foliage backdrop in high country brings out best of 2016 Nissan Maxima Platinum sedan. (Bud Wells photo)
Sun’s rays filtering through low-hanging clouds high in the Colorado Rockies added luster to the “coulis red” finish on the 2016 Nissan Maxima, one of the most beautiful sedans introduced for the coming model year.
The Maxima, featuring a “floating roof” style and V-motion front end, was one of 40 new cars and trucks shown to members of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press in a mid-September gathering at Devil’s Thumb Ranch, near Tabernash in Grand County.
First opportunity for driving the Maxima was mine; I drove it 3 miles back to U.S. 40, north to Granby and continued a 30-minute cruise. The smoothness and quietness of the Maxima were impressive; its 300-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 engine was strong in performance. Even its continuously variable transmission, called the Xtronic, was more responsive and “less whiney” than previous versions. Rather than traditional shift points, the CVTs move up and down gear ratios with a belt/pulley system.
Highlighting the cabin are ascot leather seats with diamond-quilted leather inserts.
The red Maxima is the high-end Platinum edition, with a sticker price of $40,905. Cheaper models are the S, which starts closer to $33,000, the SV, SL and SR. All are equipped with the same 3.5-liter V-6 and CVT and carry EPA estimates of 22/30 miles per gallon.
They’re all front-wheel-drive sedans, with wheelbase of 109.3 inches, overall length of 192.4 and curb weights of 3,450 to 3,500 pounds. If all-wheel drive was an option, the Maxima would compete head-on with the Chrysler 300, Buick LaCrosse and Ford Taurus as favorite full-size four-doors in Colorado. There are no plans presently for adding AWD, said Steve Parrett, a corporate communications executive for Nissan.
Some of the younger members of the automotive press at the ranch event were more enamored with the 2016 Jaguar F-Type R convertible ($121,000) and selected it as “best-driving car.” I had driven and reviewed the Jag convertible before the meeting at Devil’s Thumb. Picked as “best-driving truck” was the 2015 Ram Rebel.
The 2016 Mazda CX-3 compact crossover parks briefly out front of the Tabernash Tavern. (Bud Wells)
My second drive of the day was the 2016 Mazda CX-3, an entry into the emerging small crossover category. The little Mazda, on a wheelbase of only 101 inches, was equipped with all-wheel drive and powered by a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and 6-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. It averaged close to 30 miles per gallon in my testing.
The Grand Touring edition of the CX-3 carried a sticker price of $29,890, which included the AWD, navigation, Bose sound system, 18-inch wheels, leather-trimmed heated front seats, rearview camera, radar cruise control and lane-departure warning. Cheaper versions are the Touring and Sport.
A twisting gravel road was excellent test for the 2015 GMC Canyon 4WD Crew Short Box. (Bud Wells)
I found a several-mile narrow gravel road west of U.S. 40 which was well-suited to testing the 2015 GMC Canyon Crew Cab 4X4 Short Box. The Canyon, which even with its V-6 engine seemed somewhat pale in power on steep climbs, excelled in grip on the gravel and handled the many curves like a smaller, lighter vehicle. Wheelbase of the four-door Canyon SLE is more than 2 feet longer than that of the Mazda CX-3.
The GMC Canyon 4WD, with a 3.6-liter V-6 engine, 6-speed automatic transmission and electric two-speed transfer case, had an optional terrain package of offroad suspension, hill-descent control, transfer-case shield and heated front seats. It boosted sticker price to $38,345.
Devil’s Thumb Ranch near Tabernash provided setting for test-driving of new cars and trucks. (Bud Wells)
My drive to the ranch and back home was in a 2015 Toyota Highlander. The day previous to the mountain run, the Highlander carried Jan and me to a memorial service for Bill Barrow at the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association building in Denver. Barrow, who died Aug. 22 in Arizona, for 28 years headed the CADA.
Bill Barrow.
I met Bill Barrow for lunch at the Senate Lounge in the Argonaut Hotel building across Colfax from the Capitol one noon in the fall of 1977. Barrow had assumed the position as head of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, I was the automotive writer in the business news department at The Denver Post.
He drove to our meeting in a “plain jane” Ford Granada, and commented on his plans to soon replace it with something more stylish. It would be one of the last “run of the mill” models he would drive, for he loved the pizazz of the car business and in the years ahead drove about in lots of flash and performance.
Barrow played a role in promoting The Colorado Car Book; shortly before its publication in December 1996, I stopped by his office. He motioned me outdoors – there sat his newest auto purchase, a 1997 “Speed Yellow” 993 Porsche Carrera, one of the last of air-cooled Porsches.
Of it, his son Paul said, “It was the one car Dad regretted selling out of all the great ones he ever had.”
To help launch the first of “a new era” of auto shows in the spring of 1978, Barrow hired one of the country’s greatest auto show masters, Bruce Kenyon of Detroit; and for virtually every hour of the five-day show at Currigan Hall, the eager young exec Barrow, watching the aged veteran Kenyon’s every step, tagged him from one end of the hall to the other. Downsized models were the big attraction that year, along with front-wheel-drive technology, sunroofs and AM/FM 8-track stereos.
Barrow never forgot the lessons learned from that initial show, improved upon them and guided the Denver extravaganza to prominence.
Sharing comments following Bill Barrow memorial service are, from left, Tim Jackson, head of CADA; A.J. Guanella, longtime Chevrolet specialist in Denver, and Jana and Vince Schreivogel, auto dealers at Burlington. (Photo by Jan Wells)
In addition to visiting with Paul at the memorial service, Jan and I paid our respects to Bill’s wife, Merilee Keene Barrow, who said she’ll remain in their retirement home in Arizona.
The 2015 Chrysler 300S in Gunnison. (Jan Wells photos)
Descending the west side of Monarch Pass on U.S. 50 toward Gunnison, I locked the transmission in 3rd gear for more controlled slowdown in the 2015 Chrysler 300S, braking only occasionally in a tight line of seven cars and trucks.
The Chrysler’s rotary dial shifter on the center console, in sport mode, can be set in any gear; left to its normal mode it will, of course, automatically shift up and down through the 8-speed automatic transmission. The electronic shifter is tied to a fuel-efficient 3.6-liter V-6 engine.
Rotary dial shifter is in center console beneath Chrysler 300S’s center stack.
The full-sized sedan carried us into Gunnison for the annual Gunnison Car Show. The community of 7,000 population is surrounded by beauty, look any direction. That makes it one of the finest car-show settings in the country.
We were there to help in presentation of the prestigious Lee Iacocca Award to Keith Martin of Portland. He’s producer of the tv show, “What’s My Car Worth,” publisher of two car magazines and a major car collector, and was selected for this year’s honor at Gunnison.
As Lee Iacocca has passed the 90-year mark, the Iacocca Foundation has called an end to the yearly award presentation. This is the award’s final year.
I received the Iacocca award at Gunnison in 2012, and, for this reason, was invited back last week to assist in the presentation to Martin. In doing so, Martin and I shared the stage with two other Iacocca winners – song writer and car collector Dean Dillon of Nashville and Jim Schmidt, Ocala, Fla., owner of the largest classic car parts operation in the U.S. Dillon received the award in Gunnison last summer and Schmidt, along with his son Rick, was honored in 2011.
Mike Callihan, left, president of the Gunnison Car Club, introduces to his left, Jim Schmidt of Ocala, Fla., Keith Martin of Portland, Bud Wells of Greeley, and Dean Dillon of Nashville, all recipients of the Lee Iacocca Award.
Iacocca recipients are honored for “dedication to excellence in perpetuating an American automotive tradition.” The award was launched in 2006 in California.
In talking of the award last Saturday, Mike Callihan, president of the Gunnison Car Club, said, “Mr. Iacocca feels the time is right to retire this prestigious award, making it a limited edition.” Callihan, who fell in love with Gunnison when he attended college there more than 40 years ago, for eight years served as Colorado lieutenant governor under Gov. Roy Romer.
Best-known among Iacocca recipients around the country have been Jay Leno, Carroll Shelby and Big Daddy Don Garlits.
Best of Show winner among Saturday’s 400 cars at Gunnison was a 1961 Volkswagen Beetle, owned by Gary and Kathee Thompson of Montrose. It is powered by a Ford 302-cubic-inch V-8 engine, is built on a custom tube frame with a reverse-opening hood.
Their customized 1961 Volkswagen Beetle V-8 brought “best of show” honors to Gary and Kathee Thompson of Montrose.
The redesigned 2015 Chrysler 300S, in all-wheel-drive form, was a standout on the weekend drive. It is available with either the V-6 or the powerful 5.7-liter V-8. The V-6 and 8-speed combination averaged almost 30 miles per gallon for the run to Gunnison and back, somewhat amazing for a sedan this size. In 700 miles of overall driving, including 100 miles of in-town maneuvering, it averaged 26.4 miles per gallon. It burns regular unleaded fuel. The Chrysler uses a capless fuel-filler tube, similar to that installed by Ford several years ago.
The Chrysler 300 was born 60 years ago. To create a credible vehicle for Chrysler’s upgraded 331-cubic-inch Hemi V-8 engine, company designer Virgil Exner placed the front of a ’55 Chrysler Imperial on the body of a ’55 Chrysler Windsor. That Hemi was the first mass-produced American car to reach the 300-horsepower mark, hence, the 300 name. The 300 dominated the NASCAR race circuit with 51 victories in the 1955 and ’56 seasons.
Today, more and more purchasers are opting for the economical V-6 over the Hemi. For us, it handled the climbs with little effort; it is of 300 horsepower and 265 lb.-ft. of torque. I did notice its speed varied considerably in acceleration and deceleration demands of the uneven terrain with the cruise set.
The 3.6-liter V-6 engine is gaining popularity in the 2015 Chrysler 300.
The four-door is roomy as can be, with trunk space for six bags or more. It is of 16.3 cubic feet.
The 300 comes in four trim levels – the Limited, the 300S, the 300C and the upscale 300C Platinum. The S model we drove comes with
dual sport exhaust,
the sport driving mode and shift paddles,
remote start,
black-out styling elements,
foglights,
sport front bucket seats,
a rearview camera and
a 10-speaker Beats Audio sound system, including subwoofer in the trunk.
The sport mode speeds shifts and firms up the sport suspension; even with that, the 300 is one of the most comfortable sedans in the full-size field. It gets little pitch or roll in curves.
The Chrysler weighs in at 4,235 pounds on a wheelbase of 120.2 inches.
Sticker price on the 300S is $39,560, including the 8.4-inch UConnect display with audio, Bluetooth and navigation.
Though my drive to Gunnison three years ago was in the ultimate – a $120,000 Mercedes-Benz SL550 – this year’s $39,000 Chrysler drew its share of positive comments from showgoers. Several mentioned in particular the jazz blue exterior finish.
Keith Martin of Portland visits with Ron Heberling of Overbrook, Kan., regarding Heberling’s rare 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Super Bird.
An attraction at the car show was the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C, powered by a 1.8-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine mounted behind the driver and passenger seats. (Photos by Bud Wells)The Ford Mustang was a big draw again this year at the Colorado Convention Center.Toyota showed off its 2016 Tacoma pickup, which won’t go on sale until this fall.One of the best-looking sedans, to go on sale in the fall, is the 2016 Nissan Maxima.The Burton snowboard package adds outdoor appeal to the 2015 Mini Cooper Countryman.The 2015 Chrysler 200 AWD was named Car of the Year at the Denver Auto Show.Truck of the Year honors went to the 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel.The long-popular Subaru Outback wagon was selected SUV of the Year.
The 2015 Chrysler 300C Platinum sedan in Four Mile Canyon, west of Boulder. (Bud Wells photo)
Chrysler showed off four models of its 300 flagship sedan at a gathering in Boulder Thursday evening.
Parked out front of the Rembrandt Yard Art Gallery & Event Center for 30 members of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press were the 300 Limited, 300S, 300C and 300C Platinum. A larger grille dominates the front end of the new 300.
With Bob Sweeney and Donald Bain as passengers, I drove the high-end 300C Platinum edition several miles up Boulder Canyon, then several more miles up Four Mile Canyon west of Boulder.
The fully loaded Chrysler, equipped with all-wheel drive, was powered by a 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 and 8-speed automatic transmission, which is shifted with a rotary selector. To maintain more secure control in the sharp turns on the steep climb up the Four Mile roadway, I used paddle shifters for 2nd and 3rd gears. As full-sized cars go, the Chrysler is a good handler, and the V-6 power is strong.
Bain and Sweeney each took their turns in the driver’s seat on our descent into Boulder and around the University of Colorado campus before returning to the Rembrandt Yard for dinner.
The 300C Platinum tops out at $50,175. Base prices are $31,395 for the Limited, $34,895 for the sporty S, $37,895 for the C and $42,395 for the C Platinum.
Andy Love of Chrysler Brand Marketing, Detroit, listed the Toyota Avalon, Chevrolet Impala and Ford Taurus as chief competitors for the 300, though neither the Avalon or Impala offer all-wheel drive.
Thirty-two percent of Chrysler 300s sold in the 2014 model year were equipped with all-wheel drive. More than 50 percent of those sold in Colorado are AWD models. For 2015, only the V-6 models will be available with the AWD feature. The Hemi V-8, with 363 horsepower, is of rear-wheel-drive configuration.
Chrysler 300’s AWD uses an active transfer case and front-axle-disconnect system aimed at improving fuel efficiency. It transitions between rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive with no driver intervention. When AWD is not needed, the front axle is automatically disconnected to maximize fuel economy.
The 2015 Camry XSE helped Toyota outsell Ford in new-car registrations in Colorado in 2014. (Bud Wells photo)
Toyota, Ford and Subaru were the biggest sellers of new cars and trucks in Colorado during the past year, while Jeep, Audi and Ram posted large increases in sales.
Registrations of new cars and trucks in the state increased by 6.8 percent in 2014, from 176,433 a year earlier to 188,416 in 2014, according to figures from the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. The total is the highest since 2002, when 192,415 new units were registered.
The top 10 individual makes in registrations were Toyota with 25,001, Ford 22,208, Subaru 20,806, Honda 14,524, Chevrolet 13,940, Jeep 13,126, Nissan 12,298, Ram 7,538, Kia 6,065 and Hyundai 6,043.
Jeep achieved its sixth-place rating by increasing its registrations 2,849 units during the year, followed by Subaru with 2,531, Toyota 1,918 and Ram 1,291. In percentage of increase, Jeep led with 27.7, Audi 23.6 and Ram 20.7.
Colorado has been one of Subaru’s strongest sales markets for more than 35 years. Its third-highest status in Colorado compares with a ranking of ninth nationally for Subaru.
Low fuel prices and interest rates and gains in the job market were factors cited by Tim Jackson, president of CADA, in assessing the jump in sales, along with incentives from dealers and manufacturers.
Of the 188,416 registrations, 73,111 were cars and 115,305 were trucks and SUVs.
Following are the 2014 new car and trucks registrations by make:
Chris and JoAnne Jones, right, of Castle Pines, show their 2015 Ford Platinum F-150 truck, the first of the new aluminum-bodied Ford trucks sold in Colorado. Jones, who traded in a 2006 F-150 with 191,000 miles, has been a Ford owner since 1982, when he bought a used F-100. He has owned five F-150s, two Expeditions and a Bronco. Shown with him and his wife are their son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Julie, with their 2010 F-150 and mother-in-law Hazel with her 2012 model. Personnel at AutoNation Ford in Littleton helped Jones find the fully loaded truck, which is 700 pounds lighter than the previous steel-bodied version. “My favorite features on the new one are the 5.0-liter V-8 engine and the automatic four-wheel drive,” said Jones. (Photo from SummitInfo.net)
I was crawling over a snow-covered trail in a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Hard Rock the same day the final 2014 U.S. car/truck sales results were announced from Detroit.
Jeep showed the largest sales jump among all makes in the country – from 490,454 units the previous year to 692,348, a 41 percent increase. The Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee accounted for almost 80 percent of the Jeep total.
Ram, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Audi followed with 28, 25, 21 and 15 percent, respectively, behind Jeep’s 41 percent gain.
The Ford F-series, with 753,851 sales, was the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for the 32nd consecutive year and the top-selling pickup for the 43rd straight year. Other category leaders were the Toyota Camry among cars with 428,606 sales, the Honda CR-V among SUVs with 335,019 and the Chrysler Town & Country among vans with 138,040 sales.
Ford said if all the F-series trucks sold last year were parked bumper-to-bumper, they would stretch from Los Angeles to New York City, with 50 miles to spare.
The weather was ideal (for a Jeep, anyway) the week I spent with the Wrangler; below-freezing cold and lots of snow. I engaged low range to access one steep, snow-covered hill and again in the descent of that hill. The two-door Wrangler’s wheelbase (only 95.4 inches), short overhangs and tight turn radius lend opportunity to successfully tackle most any type terrain. Jeep is protective of Wrangler’s stiff frame/body and offroad ways, even as those 4wd qualities and stiff suspension are detriments to a better ride in town and on the highway.
The Rubicon is equipped with red tow hooks in front and back, as well as removable end wings on the front bumper for increased access in rugged territory and BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain LT 255/75R17 tires.
Jeep bumper shows removable end wings.
Moving the Wrangler about is a 3.6-liter V-6 engine (285 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque) with 6-speed manual transmission. It’s not overly powerful, yet easily outperforms Jeep’s former 3.8-liter V-6 in acceleration and torque. The Wrangler carries an EPA fuel mileage estimate of 17/21; I averaged 16.9 miles per gallon.
Interior highlights with the Hard Rock package are an Alpine nine-speaker audio system with all-weather subwoofer and UConnect voice command with Bluetooth, along with heated leather front seats with embroidered logos, black leather-wrapped steering wheel and quick silver HVAC accents.
I remember back in 1994 driving a new Wrangler with one of those tall manual floor shifters, priced at less than $15,000.
Sticker on the ’15 Rubicon Hard Rock edition was $39,255, including heavy-duty front and rear axles, skid plates for transfer case and fuel tank, all-weather slush mats, power windows/locks/mirrors, rear window wiper/washer/defroster.
Base price for a 2015 Wrangler 4×4 is $21,695, with a soft top.
Following are sales leaders of new cars, SUVs, trucks and vans in the U.S. in 2014:
Scott Ehrlich, whose family ties to the automotive business in northern Colorado go back almost 70 years, is in San Francisco this week to receive the Colorado Time Dealer of the Year award for 2015.
Ehrlich operates Toyota, Nissan and Volkswagen dealerships in Greeley, a Toyota store in Fort Morgan and Kia in Longmont.
Ehrlich is the second Greeley dealer to win the award back-to-back; Bob Ghent, Chevrolet and Cadillac dealer in Greeley, earned the honor for 2014.
Ehrlich will be among winners from other states in the U.S. to receive the award at the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Expo in San Francisco, which runs Thursday, Jan. 22, through Sunday, Jan. 25. The award is sponsored by Time, in association with Ally Financial.
After opening an auto repair shop in LaSalle in 1946, Ehrlich’s father Swede expanded and eventually established a Datsun dealership in Greeley in 1963. Datsun took on the name Nissan in the early 1980s. Scott Ehrlich began working at his father’s business while in school and by 1996 had become general manager.
Bob and Gerri Sweeney with “The 100-Year Deal” at the Denver Press Club. (Jan Wells photo)
“What a deal,” said an exuberant Bob Sweeney when his name was drawn as recipient of a copy of the just-published Colorado Automobile Dealers Association’s 100th anniversary history book.
The 336-page, coffee-table-type book, “The 100-Year Deal,” was handed to Sweeney and his wife, Gerri, during the annual holiday party of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press at the Denver Press Club. Sweeneys are publishers of The Villager newspaper in Greenwood Village.
Included in the group of 40 persons at the party were writers, bloggers and photographers of automotive interest, along with several automobile manufacturer representatives.
Andre Smirnov, president of the automotive press association, directed the dinner party. Tim Jackson, who for 10 years has headed the state’s dealer association, drew Sweeney’s name from a collection of names of all those in attendance.
In addition to celebrating the 100 years of the Colorado car dealers association, the volume includes a reprint of The Colorado Car Book (1996) by Bud Wells.
For more information regarding the book, or to order it, visit cadaat100.org. The book is priced at $59.95.
