Fred Turner with his 2002 Corvette Roadster. He also owns several other Corvettes, including a 1957 and 1971, that are “all in pieces.”
If you thought you'd never see them on stage together again - well, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet.
As leaders of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner earned 120 platinum, gold and silver albums and hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts with hits such as Takin' Care of Business, Let It Ride and Roll On Down the Highway. Now, the two rock icons have reunited as Bachman & Turner - they're on an international tour and set to release their first CD together in more than 20 years.
But for Turner, music isn't his only passion - he's also a car junkie.
"I've always been tied in with cars and Corvettes in particular because when I was 14 there was a neighbour who bought a '57 Corvette and that sold me. I started there and never turned back. I thought I'd grow out of it, but I never did," says Turner.
His daily driver is a 2002 Corvette Roadster. But he owns several other Corvettes, including a 1957 and 1971 that are "all in pieces.
"I spend more time fixing them than I do driving them. I wonder now that I'm back to work whether I'm ever going to get a chance to drive them," says Turner. At the height of BTO's popularity during the 1970s, the band sold more than 30 million records.
"My '57, I pulled it off the frame and took the front end out and bought a new front end with disc brakes, coilovers and a Mustang steering and put that in the frame. Now I'm working on the back end of it - putting disc brakes on the back. Then I'll put it back to together," says Turner.
"I've got a '67 427 big-block that I'm going to mount in it instead of the small block that was in it. I put the small block in plastic and I'm keeping it," he laughs. "I like to tinker. I have no idea whether I would sell them or not or whether or not I'll actually finish them.
"Things that I own usually don't stay authentic for too long. It's not an interest in classic cars. It's an interest in street rodding. I've always liked the horsepower. It's more of just messing with the things and having fun with them and working on them.
"I'm old enough now I'll be lucky if I get them out on the road, especially now that Randy and I have committed to working three years together. By the time I get done with that, I'm going to be almost 70 years old," he laughs. "The main thing about street rodding is it keeps you young at heart."
Turner won't tinker with his 2002 Vette. "I've thought about getting an aftermarket exhaust for it, but at my age I don't need to change that car. … I've got a car that I can drive that is nice enough that I don't want to take it apart and put it in pieces so I will have something that's nice to drive.
"The nicest thing about the C5 roadster is it does everything it's supposed to. It handles nice. It rides fast. It's a nice all-around car.
"The old Vettes were pretty rough and they were pretty cantankerous - they'd do a lot of things on you that you didn't expect from them. The newer ones are very nice cars. It's got enough goof in it to scare me if I jump on it. That's good enough for me. It's a nice bright-blue convertible."
Over the years, Turner has owned 11 Corvettes. "The '66 and '67 coupe Corvettes I had for a long time. They're sitting - I'm not doing anything with them and I thought I should sell them. I sold them before they really became collectors. I sold them for $20,000 and now those two cars would probably bring in a couple hundred thousand. It's too bad they're not still here," he says by telephone from his home in Winnipeg.
"You'll put so much money into them to bring them to the point where you can sell them. You'll spend a ton of money and you probably will make a little money on it, but it won't be what you think it is."
Turner also owns a half-tonne GMC Sierra pickup truck, a Saturn Vue SUV and a 1981 Mercedes-Benz 380 SEL sedan, which he retired at his second home in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Turner's first car was a 1955 Pontiac two-door Coach. "I went to the General and I bought a 327 Corvette small block and I stuffed it in that '55.
"I drove it and really enjoyed it. It was a fun car. I took it through a corner, a 20-mile turn at 80-90 miles an hour and put it over the railing and bent the front end pretty bad. It was sold off as parts. That was a crazy thing to do back then. You know young guys - they can get crazy!" he laughs.
His favourite vehicle is the 1971 Corvette. "I've had it since 1975.
"I've put Trans Am flares on it. I've taken the suspension out and changed it to a new-style suspension. I've changed engines in it. It's a big-block car and it's scary as heck when you get on it. It gets the juices running and it feels like you're 20 years old! It's got headers and outside pipes on it - there's hardly any muzzling on it. It sounds like four Harleys running.
"I can only stand it for about half an hour. But boy, it's a great half an hour!" he says excitedly.
On the road, Turner listens to Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, Supertramp, Paul Rodgers, Joe Cocker and the Beatles, but he won't listen to his own CDs. "I hear all the flaws. It's time to move on to something else and keep writing."
Turner has one more car he'd like to add to his collection.
"I keep looking at this new Corvette ZR1 and I keep thinking to myself, boy one day - that's the dream I guess. But what am I going to do with it? I have enough projects."
pgentile@globeandmail.com
Petrina Gentile