20 - Southpoint Sun
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
1987 Buick Regal — brand new! Bob Knight called me from the local Chevrolet dealership in Leamington with the story of a 1987 Buick Regal Turbo T in showroom condition. And the car was parked in the showroom! I headed over and met the owner, Rod Durham, of nearby Wheatley. He spotted an ad on Kijiji eight months ago and bought the car from the original owner in Niagara Falls, Ontario, who never drove it in winter or in the rain. It is one of only 4268 built. The Deep Red Metallic finish is still brand new! The interior is still new! The odometer shows 41,000 carefully driven kilometers. Under the hood is a tur-
THE OLD CAR DETECTIVE Bill Sherk bo-charged V6 feeding power through an automatic transmission to a rear end with positraction. The front brakes are disc, the rear brakes have aluminum drums. The rated horsepower is 245, with 0-60 in 4.3 seconds. The factory classifies the car as “light weight” with even bumper supports in aluminum to save on weight.
It was the fastest production car in the U. S. at that time. Interesting features include roll-up windows and no power trunk. You have to use the key! Options include the Black-Out package which replaces the stainless trim around windows and wheel openings with flat black for that cool look! The Vector wheels have B. F. Goodrich T/A tires. The original AMFM radio is in the dash with a manually-operated aerial on the right front fender. Rod and I got together on December 11, 2020. By an amazing coincidence, the last rear-wheel-drive 1987 Buick Grand
National rolled off the assembly line on December 11, 1987, exactly thirty-three years earlier! It was the last Buick to have rear-wheel-drive. Rod is no stranger to the old car hobby. He bought his first 1987 Buick Grand National in 1995 at age 20. Since then, he has owned ten, including the one on display in the showroom and another one at home slated for use as a drag car at the Sparta drag strip near St. Thomas next summer. Rod Durham is living proof that in this hobby, the fun never ends! I’m always looking for stories. Email billtsherk@sympatico.ca.
Looking back on 2020
With 2020 in the rearview mirror, January is a good time to stop, acknowledge and pay tribute to some of the great music artists who have passed away. One in particular who I followed with the group Rush was drummer Neil Peart. Living just north of Toronto, some of my high school friends and I had the opporMac Davis was 78 years old when he tunity to see Rush play at the Piccadilly passed away on September 29th. His Tube in downtown Toronto on a numcareer was very diversified being an acber of occasions in the early 70’s. That tor, singer, songwriter and, as he often was before Peart joined them when used to joke, “an old country boy from they seemed to be, to some extent, just a Lubbock, Texas”. No doubt his biggest loud, over-amped garage band covering break came in the late 1960’s when he many Led Zeppelin songs penned several hit songs for Elvis PresHowever, they improved quickly over ley including “In The Ghetto”, “Don’t time and when Neil Peart joined Rush in Cry Daddy”, “Memories” and “A Lit1974, along with group members Gedtle Less Conversation”. Other big hits dy Lee and Alex Lifeson, the band was now solidly three strong. After having he wrote included Bobby Goldsboro’s released their first LP “Rush” in 1974 “Watching Scotty Grow”, Kenny Rogjust before Peart joined, they followed it er’s “Something’s Burning” along with up in 1975 with “Fly At Night” an album his own crossover songs, “Baby Don’t that started getting them significant air- Get Hooked On Me”, “Stop and Smell play in Canada. In fact, the single, “Fly the Roses” and “I Believe in Music”. By Night”, has become one of the most He also hosted his own TV Variety proplayed Rush songs on Canadian radio gram, “The Mac Davis Show”, for three years in the mid-70’s. since 1995. Another country singer who sold milOver the years since then, Peart has lions on both the country and top 40 become a well-respected and admired charts was Kenny Rogers. In fact, he had drummer and lyricist. Until 2012 with so many popular songs in his wheel well the final release, “Clockwork Angels”, that the biggest complaint his fans had Rush has recorded and released 19 Alwho went to see him in concert was that bums – many of which were very suche would shorten or leave out some of cessful right across North America. In his popular hits. The real problem was the last Rolling Stone magazine’s edithere wasn’t enough time for him in his tion of the Top 100 drummers of all time, 90 minute on-stage allotment to sing all Neil was rated number 4. In 2018, Rush of his hits. Now that’s a problem many agreed to call it a day, and following a other stars would love to have. Kenny three and a half year battle with brain cancer, Neil Peart died on January 7 at passed away last March. Among some of the other big names the age of 67. in the music industry who checked out Another great rocker, Eddie Van Hain 2020 included Helen Reddy, Bill Withlen, also died of cancer at the age of 65 ers, Trini Lopez, Charlie Daniels, Little on October 6th. Eddie and his brother Richard and Phil Phillips. May they all Alex Van Halen started playing togethrest in peace. er as teenagers but they really took off when David Lee Roth and bass player Michael Anthony joined them in 1974 and they changed their name to Van Halen. By 1978 they were making it big on the charts and peaked in 1983 SERVICING ALL MAKES & MODELS with “Jump”. But with all SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION the hit singles and albums they had, Eddie is by far BERNIE CORMIER probably best remembered 519.839.6102 for his scorching guitar Cell 226.280.2493 solo on Michael Jackson’s countycoolingandheating@gmail.com big hit “Beat It” in 1982.
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Bob Knight and Rod Durham with Rod’s 1987 Buick Regal.
