During warm summer months, more often than not, people can be seen in cars that look like they should be on an old Hollywood movie set, riding the roads of cities and towns throughout North America.
The drivers most likely belong to one of the 23 chapters of the Vintage Car Club of Canada (VCCC). In the qathet region, VCCC’s Powell River chapter has 50 active members who meet once a month at Westview Flying Club, which is located at Powell River Airport.
The group, which consists of women and men, not only promotes the restoration, preservation and maintenance of vehicles 25 years old and older, they are members of a social group who can be seen regularly at events around town, perhaps showing off a mint condition 1929 Hudson Super Six Phaeton or a 1952 Chrysler Imperial, for example.
"I love the club and I love the people, particularly here," said local VCCC chapter vice-president Paul Lavigne. "It's not only just about being under the engine of the car, but it's about being social."
The summer months are when the club members are most active. The once per month meeting is usually a time for discussion about future car events and/or a visual look back at past events.
"We have a regular picnic that we do down in Lang Bay, and two of our members who live there organize that at the community centre," said Lavigne. "Once a year we bring our old cars into the Evergreen [Extended Care] centre by the hospital. We park outside for a couple of hours and the residents there come out, and they certainly enjoy the cars."
In August, the club is organizing a day trip down to Sechelt on the lower Sunshine Coast.
"We were very surprised at the number of people we got out at the car show in Townsite this year," said Lavigne. "It far exceeded our expectations."
The third annual Showtime and Shine event took place on Saturday, July 20. Lavigne said vintage car club members from Vancouver Island, Mission, Sechelt and Gibsons were all at the local show, as well as local vintage car enthusiasts and tourists.
Criteria for obtaining collector plates is that the vehicle must be 25 years old, but Lavigne believes the definition of what an old or classic car is might have to be adjusted.
"We want to preserve what used to be, in terms of styling, vehicles that are 50 years and 75 years old," he said. “Cars that are from a certain era, they are unique and look much different than any cars around today, and the fact that they're still running on the road is something."
One of the big attractions to maintaining a classic car is the mechanics and the absence of computerization that all modern vehicles have today.
"It's just very straightforward and very specific,” said Lavigne. "The requirements to have it run properly are simpler, and a lot of people in our club are incredible mechanics."
Another highlight of the car club is that members share information and knowledge about the cars, and people work on other people's vehicles as well as their own.
“There's a certain nostalgia about vehicles, and a lot of people will buy a vehicle that they knew when they were growing up, or maybe the year they were born," said Lavigne. "There are iconic collector cars from the 1950s, for instance, the ’57 Chevy is very iconic."
Lavigne said cars from the early 1940s are quite sought after because during the war, vehicles were not produced.
"All of that manufacturing went into military vehicles, and then again, at the end of the Second World War," he added.
But what is it like riding in a vintage car compared to a modern one?
"Riding in a vintage vehicle, your energy and your speed just diminishes; it's a quiet time,” said Lavigne. “My car [1952 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe] doesn't have a radio, which is good. I like just hearing the car and having my arm out the open windows, because there's certainly no air conditioning.
“It’s actually like going back in time. I think nostalgia is a big draw, too. There we are, back in a quieter time."
To find out more about VCCC’s Powell River chapter, go to vccc.com/powell-river-chapter.
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