The Torque Masters Car Club took over most of the streets in Sidney this past weekend when they held their annual Auto Extravaganza. Hundreds of amazing cars and thousands of car enthusiasts gathered to watch the live entertainment, sample the great food, and browse along the avenues to check out the latest swag for the car fans in attendance.
But mostly, they came for the cars.
And those cars were amazing.
From vintage muscle cars with more horsepower, style and just plain coolness than anything on the road today, to original patina “rat rods”, to old-time station wagons (one sporting a sign saying, “No, I was never a hearse”) to the just fun VW bugs that used to beetle around our streets.
We caught up with a handful of the folks with cars in the show and asked them what drew them to the classic car game. Here are some of their responses.
Linda MacLeod
“This is a 1967 Cougar with a 289-four-barrel with only 91,000 miles on it,” Macleod told us.
“We (she and her husband) bought the car when we first started dating and still have it. This car reminds us of the music, the parties and the fun times. We call it our A&W car because that’s where we’d cruise to, sit in the car and just enjoy life.”
Graham Trafford
“When I’m in this car, I’m 18 again. It’s a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner with a 426 Hemi, four-speed,” Trafford said. “I had one when I graduated from high school. It ended up getting stolen, but now I have one back."
Of course, things have changed a bit.
“I remember that I used to be able to get in and out of the back seat with no problem. I get in the back now and it takes me a day and a half to get out.”
Rick Jaszab
“My buddy had a ’69 GTO convertible when I was in my early 20’s. I always loved it and I wanted to have one. Now I do and I guess it keeps me young at heart. Not many 65-year-olds would flip that switch and go straight headers down the road.”
Brian Hicking
“What we have here is a 1960 Nomad wagon. I got it several years ago as a body and frame and several boxes of bits and pieces.”
Hicking pieced together the wagon and kept the original patina – rat rod style.
“I appreciate the way things were done back then. They were better than new cars. I just drive this around with my arm hanging out the window, and I’m happy.”
Craig Nichol
“When I was 16, I had a ruby red beetle that I paid $150 for. It had been wrapped around a telephone pole, but I got it fixed up and I loved it. That’s how I got started with VW’s”.
Nichol’s VW is now a 1950 model with split windows and an open top.
“People love classic cars. It brings back memories. I started driving my father’s 1969 Toyota Corolla 1200 when I was twelve and a half years old. It had a stick shift, so I had to learn how to drive stick.”
Wayne Farey
Farey has had the Oldsmobile 442 W30 model for more than 25 years. He got it after chasing around trying to find one since his high school days.
“We love these cars because we grew up with them. They’re in our genes. There’s just something special about these older cars and they bring a lot of memories with them.”
Petia Forbes
“This is a 1959 Impala that my husband restored. He bought it as a pile of junk but he got parts from donor cars and fabricated some of the parts.”
“He first saw one when he was a boy in Manitoba, and he fell in love with it. It took him a long time to find one.”
“I grew up behind the Ion Curtain and only ever saw cars like this in ‘approved movies’. It’s a thing of beauty.”
