Car enthusiasts come from far and wide to Hot July Nights.
While many of the classic cars come from the Interior of B.C., hot rodders and collectors from as far away as Vancouver Island, Alberta and the American Northwest are set to make an appearance this year. They come to the show thanks to the inviting nature of the South Cariboo.
"I think this will be fun, especially when they have a few things going on. It gives you a chance to meet everybody, that's what I go to (car shows) for," Harry Abbott of Oak Harbor, Washington, said. "All these people have an interest just like you do and, I hate to say it, but I like Canadians a lot better than Americans."
Abbott has been going to car shows for years now and said each summer he enjoys going on one big road trip to a new car show. This year he chose Hot July Nights after a previous road trip through the community. At 83 he noted he won't have too many more chances to attend car shows, quipping he lives in a community of the "newlywed and the nearly dead."
Fellow American Greg Roach will also be attending Hot July Nights for the first time this year. A native of Salem, Oregon, and organizer of the Salem Roadster Show, Roach is no stranger to the South Cariboo having vacationed at Bridge Lake since he was four years old. Now at 75, he continues to maintain the vacation property originally purchased by his parents in 1959.
"I've got four hot rods and this year I decided I wanted to go to a couple of car shows up here," Roach said. "I've brought cars before but that was when the 100 Mile show wasn't as big as it is now, so I've never been to that one (as a participant). I went to the show last year and I was very impressed by it. It was so well handled and done and I thought I need to bring a car to it one of these days."
This year marks the fourth time Powell River's Carl Trowsdale has come from Vancouver Island to attend Hot July Nights. A landscaper by trade, Powell said he enjoys coming up to show off his working 1952 Chevrolet, which sits on a 1981 Chevy Blazer frame.
"That's what the truck is all about, landscaping, it goes to work every day. I was looking for a truck on Vancouver Island (in 2000) and I was looking at a flatbed when my wife walked by this truck and asked if I was looking at it. I ended up bringing it home and I've used it for work ever since," Trowsdale said. "It was just coming out of the paint shop when I got it. I've always wanted a 52 and it's a daily driver, I drive it almost every day."
Trowsdale said he loves the shape and style of his truck and showing it off. He noted he also enjoys coming to Hot July Nights as a chance to visit family in the area including his stepson and his cousin.
"We look forward to going to the car show up there. I like the Show'N'Shine, walking the streets and looking at all the cars," Trowsdale remarked. "I just like it up there. (100 Mile) is a beautiful little town."
Roach first got into vintage cars at the age of 16 when he bought a vintage 1931 Chevrolet 5 hot rod from a friend, selling it in 1976 before buying it back in 1998. This year he's bringing his 1968 Ford 5100 pickup truck which he bought from his friend Mike Starck, who has since passed away from cancer. Roach noted that Starck put a lot of work into the Ford and he wants to showcase the "fabulous job" Starck did.
"I used to go to cruising all the time but I kind of got worn out. Just to go to someplace new and show a car people haven't seen (is a change of pace). A lot of the time you see the same cars every place you go and that's just the way it is," Roach said, noting he enjoys meeting new people at car shows.
Growing up in California Abbott said he naturally had an interest in the hot-rodding community. It was only after he stopped sailing, something he did for three decades, that he decided to get back into building cars. He's bringing the sixth car he's built from scratch to Hot July Nights this year, a White 1955 Chevy he's named White Lightning.
"I always wanted one so I thought 'this is it, this is the last one I'm building.' I've driven the heck out of it already," Abbott remarked. "I don't restore cars. I build cars the way I wanted them to be when I was a kid."
Abbott said he knows some vintage car collectors obsess over the small details and will do their best to ensure every single nut and bolt is an original piece and try to recreate a stock car "with terrible brakes and terrible steering." He prefers to build and update his classic cars with modern components. White Lightning has an engine out of a 2017 Chervolet, a new transmission, modern suspension and other creature comforts.
"It stops on a dime. You can't be out there on the road, if you ask me, in a 1955 Chevy that takes 300 feet to stop when the guy in front of you can stop in 100 feet," Abbott remarked.
Abbott plans to bring his bright red imitation boler trailer to camp in and display during the Show'N'Shine on Sunday, July 21. He noted he appreciates the fact that Hot July Nights takes place over three days as it makes the six-hour trip to get to 100 Mile House worth it. He invites anyone with an interest in his car to come say hello on Sunday.
The Show'N'Shine is on from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday along Birch Avenue.
