The editor’s Blowin’ Smoke – 1-Jan-2010

In 1980 Victoria car builder, drag racer and ’32 Ford aficionado Al Clark attended a Deuce Days show in California and thought “It’d be neat to have one at home.”

It was 1998 before he organized the first Northwest Deuce Day event. It was the same summer that he started Deuces Northwest Street Rods (www.deucesnorthwest.com) and he gathered 33, ’32 Fords and 65 other pre-‘52 hot rods at Kinsmen Gorge Park.

That success led to another event in 2000 at Oak Bay Village which attracted 48 Deuces. In 2002 the event was held in Chilliwack, but came back to Victoria’s Inner Harbour in 2004, where the registered attendance mushroomed to 288 cars, including 127 ’32 Fords.

Despite the two-year intervals, Clark delayed the next Northwest Deuce Day event one extra year to coincide with this year’s 75th Anniversary of the ’32 Ford.

It was a good decision.

This year’s event, (July 29 at Victoria’s Inner Harbour) already has more than 650 registered vehicles, more than half of which are ’32 Fords.

“It’s gone way beyond what I ever expected,” says Clark of the growth of the event.

Cars are coming from not just throughout Canada, but all over the world, including England and Australia. One English couple have stored their car in L.A. and will fly there and drive the car to Victoria.

Of course there’s always the automotive celebrity element unique to a Northwest Deuce Day event.

More than 20 years ago, Clark met and befriended Roy Brizio of Roy Brizio Street Rods in San Francisco, CA and this year the Brizio contingent at Northwest Deuce Day will include 82 rods – double the number that drove down in 2004.

Vic Edelbrock is not only driving down with three other cars in his group, but will have his 110ft yacht in Victoria. (Edelbrock owns a home on Quadra Island). The “star” list this year also includes Gary Beck and Steve Moal.

Of course, the real stars are the cars and Clark figures the cars will attract as many as 40,000 spectators July 29, though unofficially events Friday and Saturday night make it a three-day event.

Friday night many of the U.S. cars will arrive at the Sidney Ferry terminal from Anacortes, WA sometime after 5 p.m. and the procession of cars debarking should be impressive.

A Saturday night dinner (already sold out) at Bear Mountain will include a hot rod show that the public can take in.

A number of the cars at this year’s event, including Clark’s recently “tiddled” up ’32 Tudor, were built by Clark and Deuces Northwest has a couple currently under construction that were commissioned just for the Northwest Deuce Day event.

There might be a lot of cars making their debut, so it’ll be a can’t miss event. See you there.

Register now at www.deucesnorthwest.com.

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A collection of cars at this year’s Northwest Deuce Day event will hail from Ontario, arriving via the Canadian Rodder Hot Rod tour.

You might remember from last issue that Canadian Rodder website creator Frank Colgoni (www.canadianrodder.com) is building a ’32 roadster specifically to make the trip to Victoria. The Deuce Odyssey project is nearing the finish line and Colgoni says wiring and upholstery are the biggest jobs left undone. The desire to attend Northwest Deuce Day led to the creation of the Canadian Rodder Hot Rod tour, which now includes 70 participants.

While many are starting the tour July 17 in Ontario, Colgoni says a “nice contingent” of cars is joining the tour in Calgary, then an even bigger group joins from Kamloops.

Colgoni used his best B.C. vernacular when he said he’s getting “stoked” about the tour, but that attending to tour details and trying to finish the Deuce on time mean a bit of “Oh, my God!” anxiety is mixed in.

See details in the ad on the previous page. See the Deuce during the Hot Rod Tour. CHC is a proud sponsor – so we’ll see you on the road this summer.

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Speaking of big events – this is our 12th issue and it marks the second anniversary of Canadian Hot Rods & Classics magazine. I have to say I’m very proud of the strides we’ve made in our last four issues. Hopefully, you noticed the difference.

Had to ditch the day job to give the magazine the attention I felt it and its readers deserved. Scary move, but I’ve always read the key to success is to make your career your passion. So, we’ll give it a go.

I know many readers are wondering when we’re going to become a glossy, monthly magazine and I can only answer that by saying more subscribers and ad sales will dictate those changes.

I’m still working on new features (regular tech features, what’s new in the aftermarket) and tweaking some old features (What’s in your Garage?) so look for the changes in future issues. I’d love to get your feedback at mycarpublications@shaw.ca