With the summer sun in Victoria comes a never-ending stream of tourists, protesters and concerts across the lawn of the legislature – and every three years or so, hundreds of 1932 Fords, better known as the deuce coupe.
On a recent July weekend about 950 classic Ford cars and trucks – the majority are ’32s, but about half were manufactured up until 1951 – lined Victoria’s Inner Harbour and legislative grounds during Northwest Deuce Days, an event organized by life-long deuce lover, Al Clark.
“They put these events on all over the world and I figured (Victoria) was a good destination,” says Clark, a classic car restorer.
What began as a one-day car show in Oak Bay grew in size, moving to the mainland in 2002 and back to Victoria in 2004. In 2010 it ballooned into a three-day event.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” Clark adds, citing an estimated 50,000 spectators at the last event in 2010.
Vic Edelbrock, CEO of automotive parts giant Edelbrock Corporation was among the visitors this year, parking three sets of wheels at the legislative grounds. The son and namesake of the company founder brought two roadsters and a deuce coupe from Torrance, Calif.
Other southern guests included a 148-member group representing Roy Brizio Street Rods in San Francisco. The Brizio clan booked an entire sailing on the M.V. Coho ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria the day before the show.
And while another 228 enthusiasts from the L.A. Roadster Club – including one 88-year-old veteran of the classic car scene – made the drive from the Golden State, it was a relative jaunt compared to the lengths some autophiles went to put their Fords on display next to the world’s best in our capital city.
Deuce coupes were shipped to town from as far away as Nova Scotia, North Carolina and Europe for the seventh iteration of the event since it began in 1998.
“I’ve been fooling around with these cars forever,” Clark says. “They’re cars you only read about in magazines.” The show included a poker run, gala dinner and of course, the main attraction, the public show downtown.
More details about this event can be found at northwestdeuceday.com.