The stories behind five of the vehicles at the Cruisers car shows

Alan Lecourtois of St. Thomas looks at the 283 engine in his 1956 Chevrolet pick-up, accentuated with the addition of some chrome. He assembled the vehicle from pieces. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Each of the 150-or-so cars on display at the Tillsonburg Cruisers’ weekly car shows has a story.

The event draws car enthusiasts from across southern Ontario, with people coming from London, Tavistock, Aylmer, Simcoe and further afield. While the journeys down the back roads to get to the event on Simcoe Street can be tricky, it adds another element when the driver is trying to do it without gaining a stone chip, and is sometimes traveling at less than the speed limit.

Gerland Sandham’s 1951 Lincoln Sports Sedan has an interesting story. He purchased it after it was found by a worker in the warehouse of a company he was working with.

“It was in an old warehouse, covered up in packing blankets,” he said.

Sandham bought the car in 2008. Restoration was half completed at the time, and he completed it.

Mike Pfeiffer of Belgrave has a different story with his 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 that looks like it just came out of the showroom. He purchased the car after seeing it advertised in AutoTrader 40 years ago and restored it with a friend. ‘Restoration’ included overboring the engine to add a little more zip to what was already a fast car.

When Alan Courtois of St. Thomas purchased his 1956 Chevrolet 3200 truck, it was literally in pieces. The vehicle belonged to a friend of his who started on the project, tore the truck apart intending to rebuild it, and then passed away. Courtois said the vehicle came home with him on a truck, with the axles and cab off, amongst other parts being disassembled.

It took him about three years to reassemble and paint it. Along the way, he switched the original 256 cubic-inch engine out for a 283.

Dale Preston of Tillsonburg had the opposite situation with his 1936 Chevrolet Standard Coupe. It was complete when he bought it from Foldens, but he put about 100 hours into further restoration. Set up as a hot rod, it had no brakes, which he had to change. It had a six-cylinder 250.

The 1919 Ford Model T Touring owned by Mark Hill of Vienna was likely the oldest vehicle on the lot that day. Cruising at 50 km/h, it took him 40 minutes to travel from Vienna to Tillsonburg. There is no speedometer in the car, and he uses a detachable GPS stuck on the windshield for this purpose.

“They’re a very simple, utilitarian vehicle to get you from point A to point B,” he said.

Model Ts were built with the same track width as a horse and buggy to take advantage of the roads of the day. Between 1908 and 1927, 15 million of the vehicles were made. Hill’s has a 170 cubic-inch four-cylinder flathead engine that generates 20 horsepower.

The weekly shows will continue every Tuesday evening until mid-September.