This year’s Great Race was a circumnavigation of the Great Lakes. Starting in Traverse City Michigan, the race had an overnight stop at the end of Day 4 in Kanata, Ontario (a suburb of Ottawa). It’s only about a 45-minute ride so as soon as I heard the Race was coming here I put it in my calendar. When you have 90 vintage cars arriving on your (almost) doorstep, some of which you’ll never, ever see otherwise, of course you have to go.I’m not sure if it was planned this way, but the Ottawa stop, and the venue, coincided with the regular Tuesday Kanata Cruise Night. So not only were there these amazing vintage racers to drool over but there were about 350 local drivers showing off their vintage cars, hot rods, and custom cruisers as well. It was a gearhead’s dream come true!
Now all I have to do is sort through the videos and still photos to make some sense of them, but as a teaser, here are a couple of my favourites.
BARN FND – This car was part of the Cruise Night. According to the owner(?) this car is pretty much just the way he found it a few years ago. Aside from some basic mechanical work to get it running and stopping safely, the car is “as found” hence the plate. What was most amazing to me was how little serious rust there was on the vehicle; even the chrome pieces, while pitted, were in great condition. Doesn’t everyone dream of coming across something like this one day?
TEVIE’S TERMITE TAXI – The hand painted sign says it all. This car was in the Great Race (and judging from the old decals still on the car, is a multi-year competitor). Compared to the others cars, many of which are well into 6 figures in value, this old Chrysler tells me that the driver(s) are in the Race for the fun of it and not necessarily the glory of winning, and so they get my vote.
Canajun,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you made a damned fine decision heading over. I like how in Canada 45 miles is basically on your doorstep - it's about the same in MN, maybe not quite on the same scale, but similar. It's a challenge to remember after a year in Germany where 45 miles is like 1000 towns away. Cool cars by the way. That sign kind of warms me up. Nice to see there are still things that can be touched and used out there.
Brady
Behind Bars
Brady - It was very cool. Driving in Europe is totally different to be sure and distances always caught me by surprise. I'd think the next town is 45 minutes away, and then, 5 minutes later I'd be surprised by the town sign. O worse, miss it entirely because I wasn't expecting it so soon. Never really did adapt for all the times I've driven there.
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