The 2022 Hot Rod Reunion of BC
Happened August 27th 2022 at Mission Raceway Park, no plans for any future events
The Historic Hot Rod Reunion of BC Event panning committee, would like to thank all the volunteers that helped put on this event. The event was very successfull and lots of old friendship were rekindled, and new friendships formed.
Click here for the Gallery of a small amount of images fromt he event by Cam Hutchins
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More Great Stories
Lorne Kerr
Lorne was first introduced to hot rods in the early 50s when he was 10 years old. He lived a block away from the Horticultural Hall at 20th Avenue and Clark Drive in East Vancouver; the meeting place of the newly formed BCCCA.
Irv Ross
Irv Ross of Duncan, was reported to be the first Canadian on the cover of Hot Rod magazine. It was the inset photo but still very cool to be the builder of a cover car!
Don Smith
Don Smith grew up in Richmond and was a member of the Richmond Rod and Custom Club and raced at Digney Speedway. He was a very big part of the 40th and 50th Anniversaries of the BCHRA.
Updates to Ron Latham's post
Recently Ron provided a photos showing Himself and Harold Wellenbrink at an awards ceremnoy for a safety run in 1957
Westrods 2nd Annual Safe-Driving Rally, June 23rd 1957.
BCCCA in Hot Rod
I was lucky enough to find this copy of Hot Rod magazine at the recent Coastal Swap meet. Inside was a great aarticle about the BC Custom Car Association.
The history of the BCHRA through the decades
The BCHRA lost Bunny Jebault a number of years ago but he was a big part of Hot Rodding in the lower mainland. Here is his account of the history through the decadess from the BCHRA 50th anniversary.
Langley Loafer get GVMPS Award
Langley Loafers have been a tight group of hot rod and custom car enthusiasts for the past 58 years. They’ve been dedicated to creating a good image for hot rodding since the inception of the club in 1957.
By Alyn Edwards
Doug Curran
Doug Curran is one of the PISRA long time memebrs and a master at figuring stuff out. Sadly his health is failing and he may not make it out to the track for the show.
BC Custom Car Association
To the best of our knowledge the B.C.C.C.A is the oldest rod & custom car club in Canada. Originally formed in the late 1951, many names for the club were tossed around such as the B.C. Hot Rod Association and the Vancouver Hot Rod Association. However, as negative connotations then surrounded the words “Hot Rods”, the B.C. Custom Car Association was chosen
BC Hot Rod Association
The British Columbia Hot Rod Association is an organization formed in 1957 by young men and women interested in unifying the rapidly increasing number of hot rod enthusiasts.
Their aim was to promote the safe construction and use of motor vehicles with strict adherence to the governing law and regulations.
Langley Loafers
The Loafers Hot Rod Club was founded in 1957 and has been active in motorsports throughout its history. Our present membership is comprised of thirty active and enthusiastic street rod and race car hobbyists. The members come from diverse business and career backgrounds and includes several of the original founding members.
Pacific International Street Car Association
PISRA was founded in 1971 to unite street rod owners, promote activities which will encourage future street rod enthusiasts, and provide a medium for the exchange of information between members. It was also a way to promote safety in the maintenance and operation of street rods in accordance with the Motor Vehicle Code.
The Hot Rod Reunion of BC was a one-time event that took 4 clubs quite some time to organize. There and no concrete plans to hold this event again. The 2022 event was held in the pits at the 18-acre Mission Raceway Park, a fully sanctioned drag strip with a three-kilometer-long motocross course an hour east of downtown Vancouver. This will be the most historical and largest specialty vehicle
show ever held in British Columbia.
A committee drawn from some of Canada’s oldest car clubs began meeting in the fall of 2021 to set the stage for the event which will draw hot rods, custom cars, sports and race cars along with other special interest vehicles from all parts of British Columbia.
This will be a celebration like no other. The British Columbia Custom Car Association, which owns and operates Mission Raceway Park and was formed in January 1952, will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2022.
The British Columbia Hot Rod Association, formed in 1957, will celebrates the club’s 65th anniversary next year as does the Langley Loafers Car Club, also formed in 1957.
The Pacific International Street Rod Association, formed in 1971, is the fourth club involved in the organization of the reunion
Special Anniversaries for four B.C. Car Clubs
B.C.C.C.A. was founded in 1952 and is celebrating 70 years of it’s first meeting, the Langley Loafers and the B.C.H.R.A. are both celebrating 65 years and P.I.S.R.A. is celebrating 50 years.
Why we are so excited about
the Historic Hot Rod Reunion of BC
Bringing west coast car culture together on August 27th for a mega show may be history making on its own.
Imagine Mission Raceway Park lined with some of British Columbia’s legendary hot rods, customs, race cars and restored collector vehicles. There will be a special area for this amazing display.
Car club members are all invited to bring their cars for their own display area: Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, vintage, classic, race cars, pickup trucks and heavy haulers. They will all be on display at the Historic Hot Rod Reunion of BC.
But we need your help: We need you to tell us where to find the owners of these cars so we can give them a special invitation.
We want to put their stories and photos on the hhrrbc.com website to encourage others to register their special interest vehicles for display.
Where are British Columbia’s most historic cars? Please contact us if you own one or give us contact information for other owners.
They will all be displayed on this day to remember!
Alyn Edwards, publicity chairman: aedwards@peakco.com 604 908-7231
Historic ‘Deuce Coupe’ to be featured at the Historic Hot Rod Reunion
Glen May has owned this iconic hot rod for the past 37 years. After driving it for 10 years, he restored the 1932 Ford three window coupe back to the way it was when it hit the streets of Vancouver more than 65 years ago – with certain improvements.
The radically modified red coupe had been built in the early 1950’s for West Point Kustoms car club member Ross Jackson. It was extra special because the body had been lowered over the frame six inches and then the fenders and running boards had been molded to the body.
About the Venue
Mission Raceway Park is owned by the BC Custom Car Association. The track was originally built a bit closer to the City of Mission than where it is located now, by the River. BCCCA’s importance to the local drag racing scene is profound.
B.C.C.C.A. hosted the first organized drag racing in Canada in 1952 at the Abbotsford Airport. Here they ran on a regular basis until 1957 when the Royal Canadian Air Force took over the facility. There were numerous outstanding cars and many featured in U.S. rod and custom magazines. During the 1950′s the club banked every dollar made at the Abbotsford drag races, car shows, seat belt drives, and many other events to raise money for a permanent drag strip.
-The track has Drag Racing including Drag Strip & Drifting Private Rentals.
-Road racing events are run by the Sports Car Club of BC, and take place on the 1.2 mile, 9-turn road course that winds its way through the drag strips’s cool down section.
-Motorcycle road racing events are run by the Westwood Motorcycle Racing Club and also runs on road course. The WMRC offers several classes of racing from Vintage motorcycles to Superbikes with everything in between.
-Motocross, Mission Raceway is home of the Lower Mainland Motocross Association.
Stories from the past
Cars, motorcycles and boats
-By Dave Wilson
In 1957, two years after I graduated from North Vancouver High, I was 19 years old. I had a good job as a carpenter apprentice, worked overtime and owned a 1953 chopped, lowered and hopped up Oldsmobile 98 street rod, a 650 cc BSA Road Rocket Motorcycle and a 16 ft outboard waterski boat which I moored at Bay’s Boats in Horseshoe Bay.
A new highway was built joining North Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay (Upper Levels) which had many long straight-aways often used as a drag strip by local street- rodders and bikers much to the annoyance of
the local police.
“Roundy Rounding” from my memories
Bunny Jeboult
When Andy Digney opened his speedway on MacPherson Street in Burnaby in the
late ‘40s, it was my ‘place to be’ most Friday and Saturday nights. If you showed your
‘Student’s Card’ Andy gave us teens a break and I often rode my bike to get there. I loved the “Hot Rod’ races and Dave Clark’s ‘8 Ball’, a ’32 hi-boy was my favorite.
Dave was a hard charger, but often broke, it was Larry McBride who took it to the winner’s circle most of the time. The rods were sparse in number, racing parts were hard
to get, expensive and the ‘purse’ was pretty light.
EARLY DAYS OF HOT RODDING IN BC
Ron Latham
My initial involvement with hot rod clubs began in 1952 when Chuck Chapman, Ron Clark, several others and myself started the Norburn Auto Safety Club. We had 10-12 members at the start, most with cars, some just expectant. The RCMP sponsored the club by providing the meeting space at the beginning ( but no funding and we didn’t get off on tickets! ) The club was quite sophisticated with its own letterhead, an active social program – we raised enough money at one dance to buy a set of welding torches for the club.
The Old Car Love Affair Started Early
By -Alyn Edwards
The year 1957 may go down as the all time great year for cars. My closest car buddy and I turned 13 and I had just returned to my Toronto home after two summer months visiting relatives in Vancouver.
To a kid that grew up in Toronto reading about West Coast cruisers in magazines like Car Craft and Hot Rod, seeing the hundreds of customs that cruised Vancouver’s streets was nothing short of amazing. It is part of the reason I moved to Vancouver in 1971.
Apache
The Apache street rod built in 1952 from a 1932 Ford roadster looks good at any angle. In 1957, the Apache carried Jim McGowan and his bride, Mary, ontheir honeymoon. McGowan rebuilt it in the 1980s after a disastrous fire.
It wasn’t a good situation in 1952 that led to Jim McGowan’s purchase of a partially built 1932 Ford roadster hotrod.
STAR OF HOTROD HISTORY
ALYN EDWARDS Victoria’s Keith Smith shows off his historic hot rod Bloody Mary, originally customized in 1956.
Keith Smith believes his 1939 Ford coupe has a soul. As such, he considers himself merely the current custodian of this rolling piece of B.C.’s hot rod history.
Dave Boyce
Dave Boyce got his first car at the age of 13. His neighbour in Richmond said he could have the 1932 Chevrolet coupe if he could make it run. Boyce worked all summer rebuilding the engine and finally got it going.
When his excavating contractor father caught Boyce driving the car, he dug a hole and buried the car when his son was at school
Collectors Corner: Friends complete dream Model A restoration for dying hotrod lover
The distinctive custom grille and headlights are featured on Bob Diachuk’s street rod.
Bob Diachuk had been working for 12 years to have his very special hotrod debut at Grand National Roadster Show in California next January. But when he was diagnosed with liver cancer earlier this year, he decided to aim instead for the mid-July Victoria show.
