It was a big two days on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds July 8-9 as both the “National Truck Show” and “Hot Rod Saturday” drew people to the area.
The B.C. Vintage Truck Museum hosted the truck show July 8 - 9 in the parking lot adjacent to the museum on the Fairgrounds.
Anna Dean, president of the Surrey Heritage Society, said she was pleased with the turnout for the event. The Surrey Heritage Society is the organization that runs the truck museum.
“Things are going great,” Dean said. “We’ve had a bit of a slow start, but we’ve got some nice old trucks.”
Most of the trucks were set up outside the museum, but Dean also brought in a “really old, beautiful Packard” for the show, which was stored inside. That Packard was a 1909 TC three-ton. It is the oldest known Packard to exist and only one of 104 built that year.
Dean said the trucks outside the B.C. Vintage Truck Museum were all privately owned and driven down to the show from all over B.C.
“These trucks came so far,” she added. “We’re just really happy they decided to come here. It’s expensive to come over on the ferry or down from the Interior.”
Some vehicles were not drivable, such as the 1911 Rumely steam tractor, and had to be brought in on flatbeds.
Another highlight was the 1937 Hayes-Anderseon bus, or “Teardrop.” The fan-favorite is one of only 17 ever built and used to do runs from Vancouver to Seattle and from Vancouver to Harrison Hot Springs.
Dean said even though some of the trucks are very old and some are hard to drive, the owners get a kick out of driving the vehicles to the show.
“They love it,” she said. “They really do. Owners are very passionate about their trucks and we wouldn’t have a show without them.”
Dean even drove down one of her prized possessions, a 1929 Ford Model A Roadster pickup, which she endearingly calls “Rose.”
While the National Truck Show is a yearly event, this year’s incarnation celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Hayes-Anderson truck and the 75th Anniversary of the Pacific truck.
“Hayes-Anderson and Pacific were both British Columbia companies,” explained Dean. “They don’t exist anymore, but because of the unique anniversaries, we wanted to put on this special show.”
Dean said normally the turck show is one day and doesn’t highlight specific trucks.
There were many unique trucks at the show and the truck museum stayed open for tours while the show was on.
On July 9, the second day of the truck show, Dean opened the gates between the truck museum lot and the Elements Casino lot, so visitors to the truck show could easily access the hot rod show, and vice versa.
HOT RODS
The sixth annual B.C. Hot Rod Association’s Hot Rod Saturday Car & Truck Show was held July 9 in the Elements Casino parking lot.
Keith Biddlecombe, president of the B.C. Hot Rod Association, said thousands attended the one-day show.
“It was our biggest turnout yet and we had the most cars we ever had, about 325.”
The Hot Rod show ran from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There was live music at the show along with a BBQ area and a beer garden.
“We’re super happy with this year’s outcome and the way things went,” Biddlecombe added. “We’re looking forward to putting it on next year.”
Vehicle types on display included: classic cars, collectables, vintage, hot rod cars and trucks, dragsters, fire trucks, RCMP cars, military vehicles, and motorcycles.
And while both the hot rod show and truck show will be back next year in July, the B.C. Vintage Truck Museum is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The museum is located on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds at 6022- 176th Street. Admission is by donation. Visit bctruckmuseum.org for more info.
For more info on the hot rod show, or the B.C. Hot Rod Association, visit bchra.ca.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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