by Sylene Argent
Around 250 head-turning vehicles were on display as the Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village (CTMHV) on Sunday for the fall flavoured Automotive Flea Market and Festival of Cars Show.
Local owners of classic, custom, and vintage automobiles parked their show pieces on four-wheels along the pathway that winds through the Heritage Village where many buildings, that are significant to the area’s history, stand.
One of the outstanding vehicles on display during the car show included a 1928 Model Q Plymouth, which happens to be known as the oldest Plymouth in the world.
Owner Michael Hunter said his vehicle was built in Windsor at the old Maxwell plant at the corner of Tecumseh Road and McDougall Street. He bought the car at auction in 2010 in Alberta. The purchase brought the car back home to where it was built.
“When I bought it, it was a total off-body-rebuild,” Hunter said, adding it would take eight years to get the car road ready and conditioned to its current state. As the original blue-like colour was no longer available, Hunter chose a bright, eye-catching green.
Hunter said the claim of the vehicle being the oldest Plymouth in the world has been traced through the Plymouth Owners Club. He plans to show the vehicle at the odd summer car show and enjoy riding around locally when the weather is nice.
When his Plymouth was originally built, Chrysler was putting in hydrologic breaks. At that time, other vehicles had mechanical brakes, he said. As such, Chrysler vehicles with hydronic brakes displayed a red triangle on their license plate. This was not to warn of a slow-moving vehicle, Hunter said, rather, the sign warned other drivers to give lots of space as the hydraulic brakes were able to stop much quicker.
In addition to the car show, the CTMHV also held an automotive flea-market. Mickey Moulder, Chairperson of the Museum, said the vendors were doing good business. The vendor area, he said, is a great asset to the show and certainly adds to the overall success of the event, he noted.
In order to keep the Museum running and to fund its Children’s Education Program, which gives hundreds of youth a hands-on history lesson every school year, volunteers host a myriad of events, like the Automotive Flea Market and Festival of Cars Show, to fundraise.
Coming up, the CTMHV will host its Militaria, Gun, and Sportsmen Show on Sunday, September 9, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. And, volunteers are also selling tickets for the 1965 Mercury convertible, the 2018 car raffle prize. The winning ticket will be drawn at the CTMHV’s New Years Eve Party.
Starting on Monday, September 10, the. CTMHV will host a 3D photographic display of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
For more information about the CTMHV, or to Learn about volunteer opportunities, log onto CTMHV.com.