In photos: A vintage car buff's dream come true in Calgary
Ron Carey spent years travelling everywhere to scour barnyards, farm sales and auctions, looking for anything related to the auto industry. Driving through Wyoming one year, he spotted a rare 1932 Tandem Federal stuck in the weeds in a farm yard. He pulled in to inquire about the truck but the owner was reluctant to sell. "The guy was one of those hoarders and wouldn't part with it unless I found him a tractor. So I found a John Deere tractor and made the trade," says Carey. Like all his other finds, Carey brought it home to restore, patch, reupholster, re-chrome, paint and polish before adding it to the collection. The collection represents the evolution of the automotive industry including memorabilia, gas pumps, supply trucks, family jalopies and tools. Trailer queens and luxury autos are a minor part of the collection but combining them all - he had too much. So he donated the entire $5-million collection to Heritage Park Historical Village. Heritage Park has sprawled along the shores of the Glenmore Reservoir for 50 years. A visit to Calgary would be incomplete without strolling the wooden sidewalks to pop into rustic buildings and mansions brought in from the towns and villages of Southern Alberta. An old amusement park entertains the kids with a classic carousel and a barnyard is full of chickens and pigs to admire. A steam train loops the village, the S.S. Moyie paddle wheeler plies the waters of the reservoir and antique autos and horse-drawn carriages share the dirt roads. With more than 180 attractions and exhibits, it's the largest living history museum in Canada, representing everything from the fur trade to the drive-in theatre of the 1950s. Almost everything has been donated to the park, with the largest and most valuable personal contribution coming from Carey. Alida Visbach, president and CEO of Heritage Park, says the donation helped reshape the facility. The resounding popularity of the collection was the catalyst to create a 75,000-square-foot replica of the Calgary Public Market in 2009. "Heritage Park is a charitable organization whose mission it is to connect people with the settlement of Western Canada," says Visbach. "With the construction of the entire new development that includes not only the Gasoline Alley Museum, but also the Haskayne Mercantile Block, the Engineered Air Plaza and the Bissett Heritage Wetlands, Heritage Park has become a year-round operation." More than 50 automobiles from Carey's collection are on display along with some from other car enthusiasts. Gasoline Alley, restaurants and the charming shops in Heritage Town Square are open year-round and will take a few hours to explore. The majority of the park is open seasonally from mid-May to late October. For more information, go to heritagepark.ca.
The 1926 White Shell Tanker is one of many from the Carey collection. This truck was restored with a bright “Shell Yellow” vintage 500-gallon fuel tank and 12 five-gallon fuel cans that line the oak-railed cargo area.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
The Gasoline Alley collection is a compilation of cars, trucks and auto-related memorabilia. Many of the autos were rusted and forgotten in old farm yards or bought at auctions as dilapidated junk. This 1923 International truck is waiting for its chance to visit the restoration room.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Carey’s collection included hundreds of restored garage signs. Getting customers to buy a car or to repair it is big business and attracting those people to your establishment is important. The signs dangling from the roof top and lining the walls chronicle the advancements from hand-painted tin plates to flashing neon.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Beneath the road-side signs are the signs of a town caught in the cross-hairs of modernization. Automated delivery trucks on “Main Street” wait impatiently as a horse slowly moves the dairy wagon out of the way.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Interested in picking out a new car? The first display is set up like a car lot. Fine autos from the 1912 bright red Little Roadster to the classic chassis of the 1915 Model T to the last of its kind – the sky blue 1928 Auburn 6-76 – have all been restored to working order. The Roosevelt Marmon has a radiator plaque from the Antique Auto Show at the 1986 World Fair in Vancouver.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Auto supply companies used every opportunity to be noticed and toys were the perfect tool. Mail-order catalogue companies like Sears Roebuck and Eaton’s had page after page of inexpensive toy cars, trucks and farm machinery. Carey’s collection contains many enviable samples of toys and promotional giveaways like road maps, key chains, cigarette lighters and calendars.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Speaking of full service stations, the far corner of Gasoline Alley is the “garage” where antique tools and vintage machinery line the walls. Carey found the two-seater 1905 Model E Cadillac in California. The prospector converted it for his own use and stored it in an abandoned coal mine. It still runs but could use a touch-up. In the back is a 1907 Mitchell loaded up for the road. That classic work horse had solid rubber tires.Joanne Evles/The Globe and Mail
Invent a car, you need roads. Invent roads and there are ditches. Invent ditches and you need a tow truck. The tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes of Tennessee. The garage worker and six men used blocks and ropes and the better part of a day to haul a Model T Ford from the ditch. Holmes decided there had to be a better way. He mounted three poles and a pulley onto the back of his 1913 Cadillac truck and the tow truck was born. The 1915 Cadillac Truck in Gasoline Alley was retrofitted in 1922 to be a tow truck.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Many visitors to Gasoline Alley have no idea that the basement is a hidden treasure of cars, trucks, signs and gas pumps. There is no chronological road map through the rows of vintage autos. But if you look for a yellow Benz Gaggenau you’ll find one of Carey’s favourite and most challenging finds. “The Benz Gag is pretty rare so we were lucky to find it. It was in really rough shape too, but we got it done,” says Carey.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
In competition with Ford and the inexpensive Model T, Chevrolet rolled out the Chevrolet 490 (or Four-Ninety) between 1915 and 1922. The Model T base price was $495. Priced $5 cheaper, the 490 took a bite out of Ford. And for only $60 more, the car came with electric lights, starter and horn. That didn’t last long. By 1921, the average price for the 490 was $820.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
The back wall of the basement has a random collection, including a 1927 Star Grain Truck recovered from an Alberta farm. Advertised as a sturdy choice for hauling grain, it didn’t live up to expectations.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Visitors to Gasoline Alley can try cranking over a Model T engine. In its heyday, if you didn’t do it right, the handle could snap back to break a thumb, arm or, if you stood wrong, crack a shin bone. Thankfully an electric starter was invented.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Many long-time Calgarians will know the classic logo of Calgary Beer on this 1933 Diamond T delivery truck. Diamond T trucks were frequently used as fleet trucks because of their study design and good looks.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Visbash says she loves the stories that so many of the automobiles bring with them. “‘Scruffy” is a 1930 Nash 450 Sedan donated by another Calgarian. The story of this car and the family that owned it during the Great Depression is an incredible one of courage and determination; one which I feel is so representative of the people who settled here in the ‘wild’ west.”Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
You can’t have a car without something to fill it. Standing like silent soldiers, Carey’s collection of old gas pumps from every era line the halls and walls of the museum. Maple Leaf, BA, Union 76, and hundreds of names and crests lost with the era come alive at Gasoline Alley. The collection of 134 pumps is the largest in the world. “Gasoline pumps used to be so unique,” says Carey. “I just got back from Phoenix where I found one that I’d never seen before so I’ll clean it up, fix what needs fixing and add it to the collection.” His collection of 134 gasoline pumps at Heritage Park is the largest in the world.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail
Someone had a sense of humour when they designed this pneumatic pump at Michelin and it became a standard fixture at many full service stations and was reincarnated many times – still with the mouth blowing on the hose.Joanne Elves/The Globe and Mail