Wayne Strutt couldn’t believe his luck when he came across a 1979 Chevy Camaro in Vancouver and brought it back to Westlock to restore.
Eight years later, he’s completely replaced the front end and interior and given the car a shiny orange paint job, fulfilling a dream he’s had since high school.
“I had one when I was a kid,” he said. “So I wanted to build one that I would have wanted then, if I had the money.”
Strutt is not alone. He and dozens of other classic car lovers showed off their rides at the fourth annual Precision Collision Outlaw Rod and Restoration Show & Shine July 14, one day after the Alberta government declared “Collector Car Appreciation Day” across the province.
While an early morning rain put some drivers on edge as they contemplated how much polishing they would need to do after, others like Wayne Snellgrove were happy to just have a fun vehicle to drive.
“I’m going to paint it and fix a few things, but it’s never going to be a concourse quality. I just want to drive it,” said Snellgrove of his 1958 Chevrolet Apache truck, which he bought last year. “It was a sweetheart deal that I couldn’t turn down. The tires and cab look new and I siphoned all the gas out and the fuel tank is spotless.”
Veteran rat rod enthusiast Gord MacComb showed off his fifth classic, a 1932 Ford five-window coupe.
“I found it fully restored in Illinois and drove it back,” he said. “I’ve already put 18,000 miles on it. It’s rare because it’s all steel, there aren’t a lot of classics that have all their steel anymore.”
Some of the drivers were motivated to find specific cars from their youth. Other simply found cars they remembered seeing as kids.
“I always wanted a coupe and I always wanted a ‘65,” said Steve Jubinville, who worked on his 1965 Mustang for five years. “It was on was on my bucket list. Now I need a new bucket list.”
While some were happy to drive their cars throughout the summer, others cared for their rides like rare treasures. As car owners checked out each others rides and enjoyed barbecued food, most agreed they were reclaiming something from their past.
Ken Krykow with his classic 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS.
“I had a Chevelle in high school, but I sold it,” said Ken Krykow. “I’ve regretted it ever since.”
Krykow, who was at his first show & shine, came across his second Chevy Chevelle SS five years ago with much of the work already done. He finished work on the interior, decorated and started taking it for spins, though he noted he was very careful with it as he probably wouldn’t be able to find a third one.
“I actually took it out to the Castrol Raceway once, but then I found out if anything happened to it on there it wasn’t insured, so I kiboshed that idea,” he said.
“If something happened to it, I would probably end up divorced.”
