20th annual Lang Pioneer Village vintage car show features diversity of old autos. Words and photos by Gerry Malloy
Cruise nights and local car shows tend to be heavy on the usual suspects – Mustangs, Camaros, tri-five Chevys and all manner of muscle cars – but they can be a rich source of less-common classics as well. That's a '54 Mercury in the foreground and a Zimmer in the background.
Proof of point: the twentieth annual Lang Pioneer Village vintage car show, near Keene in Canada’s south-central Ontario region, had plenty of the usual fare, but it also featured a broad array of interesting vehicles just a little out of the collector car mainstream. Here’s a look at some of them.
Believe it or not, there was a car called the Gatsby, but it was from the era of the movie, not the character. It was built in very low volumes, initially on a late ‘70s Ford Thunderbird/Mercury Cougar chassis, and later sold as a kit car.
While the Mustang hogged all the publicity and sold in far greater numbers, its under-the-skin twin, the Mercury Cougar, was arguably the better-looking member of the family to many eyes.
Another pony-car competitor from the same era was this seldom-seen second-generation AMC AMX, the two-seater coupe based on the AMC Javelin.
From a couple decades earlier, this is not the more-common 1949 Ford but a ’49 Meteor, the first model year of its Canadian-only counterpart sold by Mercury dealers.
From the same era, there seem to be fewer surviving Chevrolets than Fords. This ’52 Chevy is an exception.
While most of the cars on display were in original form, or nearly so, there were a few rods and customs, including this chopped ’54 Pontiac, modified by the legendary Gene Winfield’s shop in California.
The hot rod set was represented by this traditional 1932 Ford Lowboy, shown here against the background of the Pioneer village entrance.
The picturesque site made an ideal setting for the diversity of cars on display.
Tesla wasn't the first automaker to offer a model X. This '74 AMC Gremlin X reflects its era with its lime green colouring and the use of tape stripes.
Most of the cars in the show were from the ‘50s and ‘60s but this 21st-century Chrysler Crossfire was equally rare, if not more so. That’s a Pontiac GTO Judge behind it.
From the 1990s there was this now seldom-seen Plymouth Prowler – aptly identified by its licence plate.
Towards the other end of the age spectrum was this impeccable and very rare 1929 Durant, one of the last automotive hurrahs of Billy Durant, the founder of General Motors. Adding to its distinctiveness, this car was built in Canada, in Leaside, Ontario – now part of Toronto.
From the same period, this gangster-era DeSoto displayed faux (we think) bullet holes in its side and a tommy-gun (also faux, we think) out front. It arrived on a trailer towed by the Fargo truck in the foreground.
That wasn’t the only Fargo in the show. There was also this immaculate circa-1939 Fargo Sedan Delivery model.
They weren’t the only trucks in the show either. The biggest of them all was this vintage tandem-wheeled Mack cab for a tractor trailer rig.
This row of Studebakers also features a pair of trucks, Lark-based circa 1960s Champs, one of which is decked out as a tow truck.
Not all the cars were American. When is the last time you saw a 1950 Austin A40 Devon? They were very popular in Canada in the early ‘50s.
Or a 1961 Triumph TR3? A twin to this one was the first real sports car I ever drove.
On the subject of real sports cars, clones of the Anglo-American Shelby Cobra are so commonplace these days that they hardly warrant a second glance. This one did because it’s no clone. It’s a genuine Cobra 427!
It’s compete with the obligatory Carroll Shelby signature glovebox door.
From the outside, this 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 looks pretty mundane. But that little emblem ahead of the front wheel well gives away a big secret…
Under the hood it’s powered by a genuine NASCAR spec 427 cubic-inch engine – similar to that in the 427 Cobra and the Le Mans-winning Ford GTs.
Ford was big on performance back in those days, as reflected by this 260 V-8 powered ’64 Fairlane Sports Coupe – the same 260 used in the Mustang introduced in mid-year 1964. The licence plate pays tribute to the drag-strip conquering Ford Thunderbolt, which was also a Fairlane derivative.
Still in the Ford camp, pre-Mustang, the Falcon was the brand’s small car of choice and this pretty ’63 convertible shows why.
Other convertibles from outside the usual norm included this 1955 Pontiac…
… and it’s 1957 Star Chief counterpart.
c…
I know, it’s a tri-five Chevy and I promised alternatives, but the ’56 model is the forgotten middle child, though the most attractive of the three to many eyes, and this Bel Air is unusual in that its not a hardtop but a pillared coupe. It’s also a monochrome yellow rather than the usual two-tone.
Chevy had tough competition from Ford when it came to looks in 1956, as this Crown Victoria coupe clearly demonstrates.
Still in the ‘50s, at first glance one familiar with that era might assume this car is a Mercury, but it’s not. It’s a ’59 Monarch Lucerne, a Canadian-only variant of the Mercury, sold by Ford dealers. Mercurys had their own separate dealership network, which also offered Ford-derived Meteors.
Another Canadian-exclusive car is this ’63 Pontiac Parisienne. It looks like a Bonneville but under the skin it’s built on a Chevrolet chassis and it’s powered by a Chevrolet engine. It was one of Canada’s most popular cars in its time.
OK. There's nothing very unusual about a '67 Sting Ray. They're relatively common at old car shows. But it's just too pretty a car not to include in this collection.
Chances are, there's a cruise night or old car show going on somewhere near where you live. Treat yourself and check it out. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
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