A group of friends on Grace Street who are vintage car enthusiasts recently decided to show off their sweet rides to the rest of their neighbourhood.
The Grace Street Gentleman’s Car Club held its inaugural show and shine on the 1100 block of that street on Aug. 14 and attracted 32 cars and trucks to the event.
“It was pretty well attended,” said member Robert William Reid, who displayed a 1952 two-toned green Pontiac.
The four members of the group — who collectively own eight vintage vehicles — told their neighbours ahead of time that they would block off the street and were welcome to check out the show, he continued. A group of women from the neighbourhood even sold hot dogs and water to passersby, which was helpful since it was a hot day.
The car club is composed of individuals from one end of the street who hang out together. During a recent upbeat conversation, they decided to call themselves the Grace Street Gentleman’s Car Club. One of the members suggested they hold a show and shine, so he went to city hall to request permission to block the street. The municipality gave the go-ahead if he purchased insurance to cover the event.
One of the main reasons the group held the show and shine is because the pandemic virtually eliminated such large-scale events during the past year, said Reid. In pre-pandemic times, there were car rallies and show and shines almost every other weekend in the summer.
“When you have an old car, you got to be in the mindset (of if) you have an old car, you like it and you like other people to look at it and they hopefully like it,” he remarked. “So that’s why it’s called a show and shine: you clean them (cars) up and put them out on the street and everybody can look at them.”
Reid added that the group plans to make this show and shine an annual event, especially since it was so well received this time.
