I never got the chance to meet Rob McDonald, but I\u2019ve seen his car and I feel like I know something about him because of it. McDonald\u2019s Pontageous – on the front cover and on pages 29-33 of this issue – is beautifully conceived and realized by a guy who obviously was a craftsman when it came to turning wrenches and shaping and finishing metal.<\/p>\n
As his friend Steve Foster writes on page 29, McDonald was a man of few words, but the car speaks volumes about his passion for cars and his creativity and ingenuity. Every person hopes to leave a legacy – to be somebody or do something that keeps them alive even after they\u2019ve shuffled off this mortal coil. Friends and family no doubt have many reasons to fondly remember Rob, but for those of us who never had a chance to meet him, we\u2019ll see Pontageous and think, \u201cWow, who was the cool dude who built this car?\u201d For any diehard gearhead, that\u2019s a worthy legacy. My condolences to his wife Denise and his family and friends.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve received about 100 votes on the four colour concepts for Project \u201957 Courier Delivery in the last issue and the overwhelming leader is the black and yellow #1 version. (See page 5). Now, you would think I would be knee deep into the project by now, but I\u2019ve been a little sidetracked lately. You see, last year I fulfilled a lifelong desire to go stock car racing, but it was short lived. After winning two races in one night at Black Creek, B.C.\u2019s Saratoga Speedway, my 1979 Monte Carlo Claimer Class car was, you guessed it, claimed. I drove home that night towing an empty trailer and cursing the claimee. Now, I could have gone back the next week and reclaimed the car, but that wasn\u2019t the way I wanted to race. (Plus, it really was an ugly car. Class rules required it to be painted school bus yellow and run only an unmodified 305ci or less and a two barrel carb – boring). I wanted my own car. A car I built (the Claimer Car was almost ready to race when I bought it) and a car I could build on and, most importantly, a car I wasn\u2019t in danger of losing every race night. So, I decided to move up to the Bomber Car class where you get to use a 350ci, four barrel carb and you can play a little with the suspension. Since Camaros seem to be the most popular car in the class, I found a partially gutted 1981 T-top Camaro for $300 hauled it home and began gathering the pieces necessary to make it a Bomber Car. The passing of my mom last June and the launch of this magazine put the project on hold for several months.<\/p>\n
But lately I\u2019ve found time to get the car in the garage and my crew, buddies Dan, John and Kevin and I have the T-top gutted and ready for assembly. Last summer, during the great parts gathering, I bought a $700 running, junkyard 350ci that had an Edelbrock intake and a rebuilt Quadrajet and discovered during disassembly it had a set of World Performance S\/R Torquer heads. Sweet, but alas I can\u2019t use the heads in this class. The heads will probably end up on the engine I will eventually put in the \u201984 Suburban tow\/junk truck my wife wishes I\u2019d scrap. Anyway, I brought all the rotating pieces to Mike Dunn at Nanaimo’s Western Drivetrain for balancing and he\u2019s since tracked down a set of Chevy heads that should be adequate to the task. In about nine hours (imagine me madly typing this minutes before deadline and an hour before I have to show up for the day job) we\u2019ll be putting the roll cage together. My goal is to have it on the track by the end of June. It\u2019s June 9 today. Stay tuned So, once that\u2019s done, I\u2019ll get into the \u201957 Ford. Honest.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
You might notice a few new features in this issue. Dick Wallace\u2019s MotoGraphics (page 51) and Daryle Sorenson\u2019s Sketchpad (page 46). Both features take an artsy view of this great hobby. Dick is a retired professional newspaper photographer\/designer and his images are a stunning, different take on car photography. Regular readers already know about Sorenson\u2019s artistic abilities – and now they\u2019ll be able to peruse (and purchase) the pics every issue. Hope you enjoy it.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Well, car show season is now in full swing and you\u2019ll see from this issue we\u2019ve already travelled to B.C.\u2019s interior to the excellent Summerland Blossom Run and Peachland World of Wheels shows. We will be quite busy this season. You can see us at the Father\u2019s Day show \u2019n shine in Qualicum Beach, B.C., Canadian Street Nationals in Barrie, ON, July 21-23, the Rockin\u2019 in Red Deer show Red Deer, AB August 4-6 and Kamloops and Vernon Aug. 12-13. Come by our booth and say hi – and of course, subscribe.<\/p>\n
Terry Denomme<\/p>\n
Blowing smoke
\n4 CHC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I never got the chance to meet Rob McDonald, but I\u2019ve seen his car and I feel like I know<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n