O’DADDY! COME FOR THE CARS AND ENJOY A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Bob Pomerantz, Special to MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — The 31st annual Chamber of Commerce car show provided plenty of eye candy — like the 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Retractable hardtop convertible; or the ’68 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow; or the R.E.O. (for company founder Ransom Eli Olds) Speed Wagons or even the odd, amphibious cars wading into the water at Gull Lake Rotary Park.

Automotive art pieces, everyone.

Bob Pomerantz took a ride down memory lane Saturday at the 31st annual car show with friend Brian Kendall. It’s an annual pilgrimage for the cottage writers whose first stop was this glorious ’57 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Retractable hardtop convertible.

But I don’t go to the car show to marvel at shiny chrome or tail fins or other extinct innovations.

No. This Baby Boomer goes every year to try and re-capture a few cherished childhood and teen memories.

On this particular sun-kissed Saturday of the Father’s Day weekend, I’m wandering the show listening to “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” — the 1970 hit by my then-favourite band, CCR — when I spy a 1972 Cutlass Supreme convertible. It’s almost identical to the one my late dad drove. The one that smelled like cigars and had one of those Italian horned good-luck charms hanging from the rear-view mirror.

I hear John Fogerty sing:

“Bother Me Tomorrow, Today I’ll Buy No Sorrows

Doot Doot Doo, Lookin’ Out My Back Door.”

I move on, and soon see a 1966 Ford Galaxie, not black like the one my mom drove, but otherwise the same car. The tears are welling up as I’m suddenly transported from Gravenhurst to Toronto, to my 10th birthday party. And I’m riding in that Galaxie to the Bathurst Street Bowlerama. Five-pin, of course. Back then, I’d roll the ball between my legs. Hell, I’ve got this goofy smile on my face.

And I see this same, goofy smile on the faces of many of the older men and women strolling the lawns with their children and grandchildren.

They officially came to see the cars and show their family a good time.

But, secretly, they’re here to take a sweet ride down memory lane.

One of the most expensive automobiles on display was this 1953 Packard parked under the pines.
Valued at about $90,000, no wonder it’s owner Joey was smiling while huffing his big stogey.
How about this home on Phillip Street with an incredible view of Gull Lake and an equally fine classic car show on your front lawn.
Cars weren’t the only thing making a splash. A GAP dunk tank was a popular attraction with MuskokaTODAY.com’s Mark Clairmont taking the plunge quite a few times. He said the water in the tank was colder than the lake. Photo Brian Clairmont