Once again the Lakers Car Club pulled off another great Show and Shine in Williams Lake.
Even though it officially started at 10 a.m. by 8:30 a.m. the public had begun to filter through and by 11 a.m. the show was packed.
Two blocks of Oliver Street and two blocks of First Avenue, plus Spirit Square were lined with vehicles of various vintages and capabilities and their owners eager to answer questions.
Joe Geensen of Williams Lake bought his 1967 Acadian Sport Deluxe when he was 18. It was his very first car.
He drove it for five summers then parked it for 29 years in his dad’s garage.
“I’d worked doing industrial construction out of town for many years and then found a local guy - Rod Froberg - to restore it for me,” Geensen said. “He’s Cariboo Street Rods and he’s done a lot of the cars in town."
He said Scott Stargenberg of Dream Metal and Paint did the paint job, he said, adding it was a six-year restoration project finished up in 2014.
Larry New from Lac La Hache brought his 1935 Plymouth Coup. He purchased it 15 years ago and did most of the restoration himself.
“When I got it, it didn’t steer, didn’t break and didn’t go,” he recalled.
New installed a 6.1 HEMI engine in it and has been able to get it up to 120 miles per hour in it, he said. He also owns a 1970 Mustang, 1949 Mercury and a 1935 Bucket T.
Williams Laker Rick Giesbrecht was showing his 1969 Pontiac Firebird, which had the original 400HO motor.
“The Firebird was the hot rod of the day,” he explained. “It has the 700R4 transmission.”
He’s owned the car since 2008, he added.
Chuck Melanson, who left Williams Lake in 1996, travelled from Armstrong with his 1966 Corvette.
After he and his wife bought it they did some work to it.
“I chased it for 10 years,” he said, noting he bought it from someone in Seattle. “I had one when I was a kid and it was a 1966 too."
Across First Avenue, Lisa Royter of Williams Lake was excited to pose for a photograph with the 1936 Chevrolet pickup she has owned for one month.
“We got it from a friend and were happy he asked us if we wanted to buy it,” she said. “We also have a 1951 Ford truck that needs to be restored.”
Royter said you can’t go wrong with old trucks because they are investments.
Williams Lake Stampeder Dylan Richardson bought his 1952 Ford F100 a years ago from Greg Cockwill who had done a lot of work on it.
Richardson and his wife drove the truck Saturday in the Lakers Car Club Cruise where their vehicle sparked a lot of appreciation from the folks watching from Seniors Village.
Geoff Reed of Williams Lake had a unique entry in the show - a 1944 Chevrolet CMP C15A - Canadian Military vehicle that he purchased it in 2001 in Atlin, B.C.
“I assume it travelled up the Alaska Highway during the Second World War,” he said. “It was abandoned on my parents’ property so I tracked down the owner and bought it.”
Al Kennedy from 150 Mile House brought a Waukesha 50-ton power unit that came from a 50-ton grade W-Eerie Crane Boy Bucyrus Mount Polley Mine where he worked as a mechanic. He had hauled it in on a flatbed he placed near the Potato House close to where some of the big trucks that were parked for display.
“It just sat there for 11 years and I couldn’t let it go,” he said.
For anyone who was interested, Kennedy turned it on to show not only does "it look good but it runs."
Dennis Henschel sat smiling directly behind a 1989 Panther, he purchased in 2013 from the original owner in Northern England and had it shipped the United Arab Emirates where he was working at the time.
When he left he had it shipped to Vancouver in 2016.
“I loved British cars but they were too small for me so when I first saw a Panther I fit into it and looked for one to buy,” he said.
Describing it as a go-cart for adults, he admitted while it is not practical and he doesn’t drive it in the rain, it is really fun to drive.
A retired aircraft engineer, Henschel worked in many different places in the world, before retiring to Springhouse because of the Springhouse Airport.
