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Poor weather and classic cars don’t mix

Fort Langley Model A show suffers reduced turnout
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Bill Casey braved threatening weather with his 1926 truck t0 attend the return of the Model A car show in Fort Langley on Sunday, June 5. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)

It was less than ideal weather for a car show, and the result was a lower than expected turnout for the first post-COVID Model A car show in Fort Langley on Sunday, June 5, at the B.C. Farm Museum, with 15 cars showing up compared to the usual 40 to 50.

Organizer Mike McVay was disappointed.

“Not as many as I’d like to see,” McVay told the Langley Advance Times, “but we can’t control the weather.”

Around noon, he said, the clouds opened up and heavily drenched the area for about 15 minutes, then cleared up.

“By then, it was too late,” McVay remarked.

Some of the cars that showed up for a rain-drenched Model A car show in Fort Langley on Sunday, June 5. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)
Some of the cars that showed up for a rain-drenched Model A car show in Fort Langley on Sunday, June 5. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)

Brookswood’s Bill Casey was one of the old car owners who took a chance.

Casey brought his black 1926 Chevy one-ton truck, which he bought from the first owner, a farmer who was still using it as a work vehicle.

“He bought it brand new,” Casey recalled.

“I was hauling feed up in the Interior, and one driver told me, you ought to see the truck this old guy was driving.”

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Country Car show returns to Aldergrove

Since Casey acquired it, his distinctive antique truck has found a second life as a prop, in films like A Christmas Carol 3 and 1922, and the Amazon series, The Man in the High Castle.

Casey estimates he’s made around $15,000 renting it out through the years, and offers are still coming in.

He has also had to step in on occasion to drive the vehicle, when actors proved unable to manage the square-cut gears.

More photos from the day can be viewed at the Langley Advance Times Facebook page.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Thousands attend Brookswood Secondary car show

Organizers of an upcoming Langley car show are also keeping a way eye on the weather, with the Sunday, June 12 “Pontiac Performance” show and shine planned for KMS tools at #300 – 19600 Langley Bypass.

It will be the 32nd edition of the show, which went on a two-year hiatus during the pandemic.

Terry Beale, president of the Maple Ridge-based Pacific Performance Pontiac Car club that organizes the annual event, said the show would draw 60 to 80 cars before it was shut down by COVID.

“With this kind of weather, if I get 30 [vehicles], I’ll be happy,” Beale said.

The show will be open to the public at 9 a.m., when the entries start arriving, with judging at 2 p.m.

Beale said the show is also open to classic Olds and Buick owners, “because they don’t have car shows of their own.”

Some GMC trucks, which were built by Pontiac at one point, are also allowed.

For more information, email tbeale58@telus.net.


Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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