Jack Williams

Museum shines light on vintage vehicles hidden away for years

• 1 Nov 2011
• Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver- based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com

Legendary hotrod, custom car and drag racer Jack Williams with one of his many racers on display at his museum in Aldergrove, B.C.

Motorists passing through Aldergrove, B.C., are doing a double-take as they see drag racers, hotrods and memorabilia in the showroom of an old warehouse turned museum. The sign on the highway leading them there reads, “Syndicate Scuderia Hot Rod & Race Car Museum.”

The owner is Jack Williams, who started building hotrods all the way back in 1946, and built a series of dragsters under the name Syndicate Scuderia. These cars and much more are in the showroom.

The parking lot was jammed one recent Friday for the opening of the museum, the custom cars and hotrods in rows as their owners milled around the museum. Many of those attending remember the iconic hot cars on display and the man who engineered so much horsepower into them and others for more than 60 years.

In the front window is a 1923 Model T roadster that was cut down and built into a hotrod in 1947. This may be British Columbia’s oldest surviving hotrod. The lightweight roadster powered by a Mercury V-8 engine was built by a young enthusiast named Bob Scott, who never put it on the road. In 1952, Stu Braddick bought the car and began prowling popular haunts with the hotrod he called “Toy T.” Williams acquired the car to display in his museum.

A 1970 Hemi ’Cuda that has only travelled 500 kilometres since new sits alongside one wall. The orange ’Cuda campaigned on drag strips all over the Pacific Northwest.

The car was driven by Terry Mckay, with Cal Wrench in the pits and Williams adding the horsepower. Williams gained full ownership of the car about 30 years ago and plans to restore it.

This is one of only 284 Plymouth Barracuda muscle cars delivered in the 1970 model year with the monster 426-cubic-inch Hemi engine coupled to a four-speed transmission. A similar car owned by screen actor Nicholas Cage sold at auction in January 2009 for $440,000. These cars can command prices of up to $1 million.

Also on display is the famous Hemi-powered Syndicate Scuderia dragster built by Williams to com- pete in the 1963 Winternationals at California’s Pomona race track. The internationally-recognized drag racers had never heard of Williams, and probably didn’t know anything about Vancouver, when his dragster unofficially broke the track record and won the best-appearing dragster award.

Williams got permission to test the car before going to California from city officials and ran the car on Great Northern Way before it was opened to traffic. He went on to become the first British Columbian to set an international drag racing record speed of 168.22 miles per hour in a standing quarter mile.

“This museum is an opportunity for people to see the cars that have been part of local history and have largely been hidden from view,” the octogenarian says.

His collection also includes two restored dirt track racers from the 1930s and ’40s. A period-correct flame-painted Ford Model T roadster looks like it just dropped into the showroom from the 1950s. A modern 300-km/h-plus dragster built by Williams is also on display. The car is driven by Jack’s daughter, Wendy Anne.

The back part of the warehouse is filled with nostalgic speed equipment that will be organized and displayed. Local hotrod and custom car enthusiast Ken Ransford has been helping with the displays. “There is only one Jack Williams, and one person with a collection like this that should be seen by people who are interested in hotrod history,” he says.

The Syndicate Scuderia Hot Rod and Race Car Museum has loose hours with admission by donation. “If I’m here, people are welcome to drop by,” Williams grins.

It’s a great place for hotrod and custom car enthusiasts to go as a cruise destination. “I’ll always be here for that,” the proprietor says.