TIMES COLONIST | timescolonist.com
N O R T H W E ST D E U C E DAY S
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019
More than 750 car enthusiasts from around the world gathered in downtown Victoria in 2007 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe.
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TIMES COLONIST
Victoria’s Clark started big show Gorge Kinsmen Park was first site; then it was Oak Bay; now at Inner Harbour PEDRO ARRAIS Times Colonist
T
he world’s largest gathering of 1932 Fords — called Deuces — will take place in Victoria for four days starting Thursday, with hundreds of the iconic hot rods set to gather for Northwest Deuce Days in the Inner Harbour. It’s the eighth time the cars have congregated in Victoria for the gathering, held once every three years. Almost 1,400 hot rods, street rods and rat rods vehicles — all built before 1951 — are set to fill the area around the Inner Harbour on Sunday. About 650 of them will be Deuces, the highlight of the show. Some of the colourful cars, with colours from mild to wild, have journeyed to Victoria from across Canada, almost every state in the U.S. — and even one from New Zealand. This grandaddy of car shows on Vancouver Island was started by Al Clark, who has been building and modifying hot rods for clients worldwide from his home garage in Fairfield since 1996. Clark, who turned 74 this week, said it all started with a meet at Gorge Kinsman Park in 1998. The show moved to Oak Bay Village in 2000, before ending up at its current location in the Inner Harbour in 2004. The show’s stature among fans
Al Clark, seen here with his 1932 Ford Roadster, has been building and modifying hot rods from his garage in Fairfield since 1996. TIMES COLONIST was evident in 2007, when more than 400 Deuces turned up in Victoria for that year’s Deuce Day — more than those who attended Ford’s 75th anniversary celebration in Detroit. It was so popular, it was expanded to three days in 2010. Since then, the show has continued to grow, drawing crowds of up to 100,000 spectators at last count. The high turnout speaks to the enduring appeal of hot-rod culture, which began in the 1950s. While there are younger owners — the youngest attendee this year is 16 — many are in their 70s and 80s and were teenagers when
hotrods were at their zenith. “Many of them wanted a hot rod when they were teenagers, but couldn’t afford them,” said Clark, who has built both chassis and whole cars for friends and clients over the years. “Now they’re grown up and can afford them.” The price of admission can be steep, however, with some desirable cars costing upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Two cars set to make their debut at the gathering this year reportedly cost more than $1 million US apiece. One has already won a number of awards, includ-
ing Street Rod of the Yearfrom the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association in 2017. For those who have always wanted a hot rod, there will be cars for sale at the show. Prices depend on a vehicle’s history and provenance and whether they are based on an original chassis or are essentially brand-new cars. While some of the cars might look similar, no two cars are exactly the same, with some owners spending considerable time and money to individualize their rides. Customizations run the gamut, limited only by the owner’s
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imagination and budget. Spectators have an opportunity to talk to owners who choose to stay with their cars. Some of those cars will be arriving in colourful convoys, picking up participants along the route. If you want to get a peek, hang around the Black Ball Ferry terminal and the Hotel Grand Pacific on Belleville Street at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, when 90 cars will disembark the Coho ferry. On Saturday, more than 500 cars will gather at Clover Point and along Dallas Road at 9 a.m. before embarking on a “Poker Run,” where participants receive a poker card at every stop. At the end of the drive, the car with the best poker hand gets a prize. This year, the run will take them into Langford for the first time. Spectators will be able to see participants on both sides of Goldstream Avenue (heading east from the fountain) from 10 a.m. to noon as the cars complete that section of the Poker Run. The road will be closed to regular traffic for two hours. Although the main Deuce Days show runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, owners will start arriving to park their cars at 3:30 a.m. Deuces will be parked along Belleville Street between Douglas and Pendray Streets, on the circle drive, side lawns in front and the parking lot behind the B.C. legislature. They will also be on Government Street from Superior to Broughton (and perhaps Fort Street), on Menzies from Belleville to Superior Street, on Wharf Street and in the parking lot beside Ship Point. Viewing any of the events is free. For information, go to northwestdeuceday.com parrais@timescolonist.com
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THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019
timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST
N O R T H W E ST D E U C E DAY S
Alan Vazquez, from Cancun, Mexico, checks out one of the cars on display outside the Hotel Grand Pacific. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
Shiny hubcaps and pristine engines — deuce owners keep their cars in mint condition.
Almost 1,400 hot rod, street rod and rat rod vehicles — all built before 1951 — will fill the area around the Inner Harbour on Sunday. About 650 of them will be deuces, the highlight of the show.
PHOTOS BY ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
TIMES COLONIST
TONY GIOVENTU > answers your strata questions, Wednesdays in Condo Smarts
Deuce model cars built by Phil Dauphinee are set off against the B.C. Parliament Buildings. All are replicas of real cars. Except for the yellow car, the other four have been at past Deuce Days and may be back again this year. HELEN BRADLEY
August 25, 2019
See vehicles’ style on a smaller scale
10:00 - 4:00 Shawnigan Lake School
PEDRO ARRAIS Times Colonist They may be smaller, but all the hot rods you will see at the Deuce Days in Scale model car show are just as impressive as their fullsized cousins. The show runs Sunday at the Hotel Grand Pacific. Hosted by the Scale Plastic Automotive Modellers of Greater Victoria, the indoor model show is essentially a scale version of the car show taking place outside. As at the Deuce Days gathering, there will be models of cars from 1951 or earlier, with an emphasis on 1932 Fords, the Deuces. There will be a number of special displays, such as models of all 15 body styles offered by Ford in 1932. Two models will be featured with the song lyrics and album cover of the Beach Boys’
Every year, we strive to host a show that is unique and provides an exciting experience to keep our supporters intrigued. In the last 7 years, the show has grown from 85 cars to 600, gathered over 10,000 spectators and raised over $1 million dollars for our local families in need. With that also brings change and we are proud to announce the relaunch of the Motor Gathering as the Vancouver Island Concours d’Elegance & Motorcar Weekend. Our show will now feature various sections throughout the beautiful grounds of Shawnigan Lake School and showcase a variety of vehicles and motorcycles, including an incredible display of unique and rarely seen Concours automobiles.
Little Deuce Coupe. Visitors will find the first Deuce Coupe to appear in the first issue of The Rodder’s Journal and on its first poster. You can also trace the history of Deuce model-car building through a large assortment of ’32 Ford model kit boxes. Favourite models will be chosen for awards and there will be a ballot for spectators to pick their favourites. There will also be a special award for the most promising young modeller. Admission is by donation for adults and free for children ages 13 and under (they will receive a car poster to take home to colour). The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the North and South Pender Rooms of the Hotel Grand Pacific, 463 Belleville St. parrais@timescolonist.com
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TIMES COLONIST | timescolonist.com
N O R T H W E ST D E U C E DAY S
Norrie Spencer painstakingly restored the 1932 Ford cabriolet after he bought the vehicle, which was disassembled in pieces, in 1997.
Norrie Spencer’s ’32 cabriolet likely one of a kind at meet with the latter the more desirable because There will be hundreds of 1932 Fords at of its much smoother running, Spencer Deuce Days, but you likely won’t see said. Most owners converting their vehimore than one ’32 cabriolet in original cles into a hot rod would discard the four condition at the gathering. and drop in a V-8, anyway. Norrie Spencer is the owner of a lateA member of the local Early Ford V8 1932 cabriolet that he purchased — disasClub, Spencer’s black-with-gold striped sembled in pieces from Atlanta, Georgia car has been at every Deuce Day gather— in 1997. While the three- and five-wining since it began. The car has a set of dow coupes are the most common model for hot rodders, the open-top roadster and wire wheels at the moment, but he still has the original set of 18-inch apple green cabriolet are certainly desirable. wheels in storage. The cabriolet was the nicer of the two. While it is insured, he rarely drives his “It is a deluxe touring car compared to car. If he takes it to an out-of-town show, the roadster,” said Spencer, who has the Deuce is transported in a closed painstakingly restored his ride. “The container. roadsters were the cheapest cars, with no Occasionally, he takes his grandwindows in the doors. The all-weather children out for a ride but it becomes cabriolet had a full windshield, roll-up risky due to the car’s value. A few years windows, a walnut dash and a top that ago, a similar vehicle, with modifications, went down to stow in a space in front of sold for $317,000 US. the rumble seat.” Spencer will be at the meet with his Spencer said it is much more comfortcabriolet and his company vehicle, a 1932 able to drive on cooler days, as there are Ford pickup, which he still uses on seals so that no air leaks from the rumble Rosemead Farms in Saanichton. seats. Fewer than 6,000 were ever built, with — Pedro Arrais the more desirable ones equipped with a V-8 engine. “My cousin, Doane Spencer, always said that a cabriolet was the model to get,” said Spencer. “There are only six to 10 cars in the same condition as mine — and most of them are in museums.” Spencer said that the visual cue that his car was produced late in the year is the 25 louvres found on his engine hood. “The ’32 Fords had a cooling problem, hence the extra louvres,” he said. “At that time, Ford constantly improved on their cars over the year, with so many changes that at car shows, there are categories for early, mid and late builds.” Spencer once won best-car award at a Vintage Car Club For heavier work, the most common type of sewing machine is the competition, beating giants such single needle, walking foot (compound feed) lockstitch machine. The as Packards, with a score of 980 top and bottom feed and a higher foot lift allows you to sew from points out of a perfect 1,000, he medium to heavy weight fabric. This makes it the ideal machine for said. sewing leather, upholstery, canvas, and synthetics. He has one of the most original running ’32s, owing to the priced fact that his car has its original from carburetor. The carb was so troublesome, many owners swapped them out for carburetors from 1934 or 1935. Visit us at sawyersewing.com Spencer’s vehicle also has the original fuel pump. The 1932s came with either a four-cylinder or the optional V-8,
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019
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DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
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N O R T H W E ST D E U C E DAY S
timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST
Deuce grabbed public’s imagination Easy-to-modify coupes offered style, potential for speed at the right price PEDRO ARRAIS Times Colonist What is a Deuce and what makes it so popular? The name Deuce, which stands for deux — French for two — is a reference to the 1932 Ford coupe. Deuces started off as hotrods, vehicles typically from the 1930s modified for greater speed. The genre originated in the period after the Second World War and continued into the 1960s on a large scale. Hot rods were part of the cruising and rock ’n’ roll generation that came of age in the early 1960s. Musicians sang about the phenomenon — Little Deuce Coupe was a 1963 hit for the Beach Boys. Later, Hollywood encapsulated the era in the 1973 film American Graffiti. A Deuce typically refers to a 1932 to 1934 Ford. Roadsters and coupes (both three or five window) are the most sought-after body styles. The Ford coupe was a popular car to modify into a hotrod at that time, because they were cheap and plentiful to buy after the war. While the competition still offered wooden bodies with steel panels attached, the ’32 Ford offered consumers a reinforced steel body. These bodies held up better than wood, which meant many of them were still around by the time young men returned from the war. 1932 was also the first year Ford offered a flathead V-8 engine in a mass-market vehicle. These engines were simple to work on and were easily hopped up to provide as much power as a young man could afford. To lighten their cars, many early racers would remove the fenders, running boards and engine cowlings. To everybody’s surprise, the nearly naked cars looked good with their styled frame rails showing. A whole industry sprang up to cater to the need for speed, such
Today’s Deuces are less about speed and performance than an expression of vision and personal taste, such as this yellow ‘32 Ford Roadster. No two cars are alike. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST as cylinder heads from Vic Edelbrock and Offenhauser. As the supply of original bodies dried up over the years, hotrod enthusiasts have tended to replace the originals with reproduction pieces made of fibreglass. That has generated a cottage industry for some individuals, such as Victoria’s Al Clark, who has spent more than 25 years building chassis and complete cars out of his Fairfield workshop for customers worldwide. Today’s Deuces have become less about speed and performance than an expression of vision and personal taste. No two cars are alike. Though many are very fast, hotrods have become Street Rods, where style and individuality are more important than raw power. There is also a sub-category — or a separate category, depending on who you ask — called a Rat
Rod. The owner of a Rat Rod isn’t there for show quality. Their rides have a more unfinished appearance, which can include faded paint and a hodge-podge of parts. As far as styling, the 1932 Ford makes the quintessential hotrod because it was the last year of vertical grills, tops and doors. Even the next year featured more laid-back grills and windshields, clamshell-like body styling and more streamlined styling. Vehicles also started to get larger after 1932 — and size and weight are a racer’s enemy. The 1932 Ford endured because it was smaller, lighter, easier to modify and most importantly, plentiful and inexpensive. Their young owners became the nucleus of a growing demographic in the ’50s and ’60s and eventually a part of American history and culture. parrais@timescolonist.com
This ad extolling the Ford coupe’s features appeared in The Daily Colonist on June 7, 1932. TIMES COLONIST
The City of Langford Welcomes All Deuce Days Participants from Around the World
Saturday July 20th, 10am to Noon
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Bring your lawn chair and show your support for the biggest car show event in North America!
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ROUTE MAP 500 amazing cars will cruise through Langford, with a poker card stop on Goldstream Avenue at the fountain. Cars are expected to cruise by between 10am and Noon. Goldstream Avenue will be closed during this time.
For more info & full route map: Langford.ca