Among row after row of old, unusual and downright ostentatious cars lining downtown Amherstburg Sunday sat one vehicle, in particular, that Bill Ball calls his pride and joy.
The bulky, dark Plymouth Model PE coupe was built in Windsor in 1934, in the very factory Ball’s father worked at. He said he’ll never know for sure if his father was the one who built the shiny, old-fashioned body, but he’ll always wonder.
“That always blows me away,” he said. “That makes it a little family history. My dad and I bought this together.”
A 1934 Plymouth P.E. Business Coupe, owned by Bill Ball, is pictured at Amherstburg’s Gone Car Crazy Show ‘n’ Shine, Sunday, July 27, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Ball drives it every year to Amhersburg’s “Gone Car Crazy” show, and said it always evokes interest and questions from the thousands of passersby who attend. He said he often recites the story of purchasing it with his father, and tears up each time.
Ball’s father passed away 20 years ago, but the car, with its gunmetal-coloured body and unusual suicide doors, is as pristine and well-maintained as ever.
“I promised my dad that I’d keep it and not make a hot rod out of it,” he said.
But Ball’s car was one of hundreds of others with long histories parked along Amherstburg’s streets Sunday. Tom Delmore brought his 1931 Ford Model A and 1964 Chevelle Malibu to the show, and said the latter was by all accounts a “hot rod,” and proudly so.
Attendees check out the engines of classic cars at Amherstburg’s Gone Car Crazy Show ‘n’ Shine, Sunday, July 27, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Delmore said he mostly keeps the Malibu wrapped up in the garage nowadays, but he’s had it for around 50 years and has fond memories of racing it in the ’60s.
“I made it into a little hot rod and drove it up and down the lane a million times a day,” he said. “I’ll leave it to my daughters … they’d better take care of it. I’ll come up from my grave and come after them.”
Event chair Eleanor Renaud said the owners’ stories of their vehicles is partly what makes the show such a success every year. Around 8,000 people came out on Sunday to view the more than 500 cars on display, and each year brings hundreds more.
Now in its ninth year, the car show originated from a desire to bring tourism into Amherstburg. Since its inception, Renaud said, businesses have boomed from the amount of attendees roaming through the downtown streets, and its known as the town’s highlight of the year.
“We hear it all the time — this is the best show in southern Ontario. And it’s because of our location,” she said.
“They get to park among historic homes … it’s a very community-minded event.”
mmark@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @michelleamark.
Three men have a conversation among rows of classic cars at Amherstburg’s Gone Car Crazy Show ‘n’ Shine, Sunday, July 27, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Attendees check out a 1960 BMW Isetta at Amherstburg’s Gone Car Crazy Show ‘n’ Shine, Sunday, July 27, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Hundreds of people line Dalhousie St. at Amherstburg’s Gone Car Crazy Show ‘n’ Shine, Sunday, July 27, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
