Two young people walked down the main street of Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village looking at cars in the annual show and shine.
“Gorgeous,” said one of them. The other nodded approval.
Weather in the form of thunder and rain threatened to spoil the day but organizer Rob Downton said “It turned out to be a fairly decent day.’’
The 62 registered entries and a half dozen non-registered cars were less than some years but “everybody had a good time.”
He thought the threat of bad weather may have deterred some owners from coming.
The show of vehicles 1980 or older offered plenty of variety.
“We had some muscle cars, some classic, some old, and some special interest. We didn’t have many hot rods.’’
Cars included Douglas Smith’s 1972 Mercury Marquis Deluxe sold by Maccam Motors of Moose Jaw in 1971 for $5,595 to Ken and Lily Smith. Still in the family, it has driven 63,286 miles.
Gord and Elaine Green of Regina had their 1956 Thunderbird made in Michigan and sold by a California dealer.
It boasts a three-speed tranny, 215 hp engine, retractable soft-top convertible, magic air heater, air conditioning, padded dash and visors.
Greg Down had a 1962 s55 Mercury Monterey convertible with 390 hp engine, power windows, electric clock, two speed wipers and remote control mirror.
The museum’s new shop was buzzing with noise from steam engines at the model show..
“The exhibitors were pleased with the new shop,” said organizer Dean Redman. “They liked the concrete floors. They liked having more exposure.”
Five exhibitors showed the result of their painstaking work. The real stationary steam engines were used to drive pumps, factories or generate power until gas-powered engines took over.
Merv Young. a retired teacher from Estevan, is one of the newest at model engine building.
He became interested in machine lathing while helping his cousin in his shop and took a short course at the Weyburn Community College.
He was convinced to attend a model show in Rapid City, North Dakota. “I was sold on it. The people who wrote the magazines would sit down and talk to you. I had a lot to learn.’’
The hobby needs “patience and lots and lots of hours’’ making parts from scratch and from drawings.
“Sometimes you make a part several times. I like solving problems.”
Winner of the 50-50 draw for $195 was Tyler Barbour.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
