Dave Taylor and Liz, his wife, in their 1927 Bugatti.
Dave Rogers firmly believes that most vintage car club members not only love to show off their toys, but themselves as well.
And, in order to best accomplish that, the incoming president of the Victoria chapter of the Vintage Car Club of Canada says that half of the organization's members kit themselves out in period costumes to match their rides.
"When my wife and I take out our '27 Bugatti, for instance, she wears a bright pink jacket, along with a bright pink almost period crash helmet, and I wear an old classic leather jacket with a matching black true period crash helmet. There's no legal reason to wear the crash helmets, but the looks we get driving down the road are great," says Rogers. It's pure vintage Roaring Twenties.
Nostalgia for the past is the appeal of classic cars, says Paul Taylor, the club's outgoing president. "Driving an older car connects you with your youth."
Exhibit A: the 1938 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible in Taylor's garage. It's the same make and model year as the one he and his wife Liz took on their honeymoon. "I sold the original years ago," Taylor says, "but when the chance to buy another '38 Olds came up, I jumped at the opportunity."
Gary Catherwood, president of the Vancouver branch of the Vintage Car Club, shares Taylor's thoughts. "It's about evoking memories of days gone by absolutely – that, and appearance. These cars just look great."
His two collector-plated cars are a 1938 Buick Convertible Coupe and a 1965 Lincoln.
The Vintage Car Club of Canada's name is something of a misnomer because all its 23 branches are located in British Columbia. Founded in 1958, the club has more than 1,300 members, and the Victoria branch, created in 1960, has 90. The Vancouver club has 200. However, the club's vintage status is not just because its members own antique automobiles. Most members are relatively antique as well. "I'm 62," Taylor says, "and I am sort of a spring chicken around here. Some of the guys are in their 90s."
For Rogers, part of the problem is the cost associated with owning and maintaining older cars. "It's not cheap, it's an expensive hobby," he says. However, the club has a new, young vice-president and is hoping to attract a younger demographic.
Most members of the Victoria club have one or two vintage cars but some are serious collectors. One member of the Vancouver chapter has 120 automobiles. Rogers's own collection numbers 13, and it includes a 1926 Oakland, a 1927 Bugatti and the rarest of them all, a 1914 Cartercar with its friction drive transmission. "There are only three left in the world and mine is the only one that is driven," he says.
Rogers doesn't view his collection as an investment. "Mind you, the '26 Oakland and the Cartercar are certainly part of my retirement planning. Expect to triple my investment."
Last spring, the Victoria club did a Pacific Circle Tour: Victoria and back via Sooke, Port Renfrew and Cowichan Lake. Unlike vintage clubs elsewhere in Canada, British Columbia's vintage clubs don't hibernate in winter. "But don't publish that," says Catherwood, "or everyone back east will be moving here."
Ultimately, the appeal of vintage cars is "pure ego." "We like showing off," says Rogers. "Remember the classic exchange between Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in Smokey and the Bandit? Burt: 'I just go from place to place and do what I do best.' Sally: 'What's that?' Burt: 'Show off.'"
Ditto for the Vintage Car Club of Canada.
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