Amidst the glitter that can be Hall 1 at Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s Performance World Custom Car Show last March sat somewhat of an anomaly. That is, a stark display featuring a very traditionally-styled, understated hot rod. Specifically, Fabrice Monceaux’s Speedster Special. While not well known in English-speaking Canada, Fabrice is the editor/publisher of Quebec’s V8 Passion magazine. Together with Delson PQ’s CCR Technologie, Fabrice definitely made a statement and, in the process, created a beautiful tribute to the roots of hot rodding.

The car is based on a new 1931 Ford Roadster body with a Deuce radiator shell, a Model A frame, a 348 c.i. Chevy mated to a T5 transmission and a quick change rear end out back. The complete package features many tasty details.

Oh, by the way, the Speedster Special copped the Grand Champion honours.

For all the details of this car, click HERE (PDF document – Adobe Reader required)

Click to enlarge the thumbnails below and click HERE to access a full photo gallery of the Speedster Special (album photos courtesy of Brightwork Auto Art).

More photos from Performance World 2009 can be  This Canadian Rodder Photo Album.

This year’s Performance World Show will be held March 12-14 at Toronto’s International Centre. Visit them HERE.

There was no more appropriate truism for the 2009 Canadian Hot Rod Tour than “the one thing you can never plan for is the weather”. Leading up to our departure, the weather had been shaky at best and the forecast for our route was not much better. Despite that, on departure day, an enthusiastic group representing the first seventy cars assembled in Whitby Ontario with big smiles on their faces (and fingers crossed). As it turned out that day, the crossed fingers did absolutely nothing but the smiles remained that day and throughout the tour – with one major exception. More about that in Article 2.

Day 1: Whitby to Ottawa, Ontario

It had rained overnight and was overcast as we left Whitby but what a fabulous convoy of cars! The planned stops in Havelock and Kaladar went as planned and we picked up five more cars. Unfortunately, shortly after leaving Kaladar, en route to Perth, it started to rain and, by the time we arrived in Perth, it was raining hard. As fate would have it, it continued raining all afternoon and well into the evening – wiping out a planned event at the A&W in Ottawa. Bummer. Wouldn’t you know it though, by about 8:30 p.m. the sun came out.

Thanks to: The women and men of the Perth Curling Club for hosting a welcome soup and sandwich lunch.

Day 2: Ottawa to Riviere-du-Loup Quebec

Our itinerary for Day 2 was a pit stop in Cornwall then stops at the Chateauguay A&W, a visit to the CCR Technologie shop in Delson Quebec (both just south of the river from Montreal), a stop at the A&W in Levis, Quebec and our overnight stop in Riviere-du-Loup. Just before crossing into Quebec, the sun came out and we got to enjoy that beautiful golden orb (for a few hours at least).

At the Chateauguay A&W, we arrived to a nice reception of local cars and spectators and, after a too-short visit (tight schedule to keep) we made our way to the CCR Technologie shop in Delson for our lunch stop / shop tour. Once again, we arrived to a parking lot full of local cars and more great hospitality with lots of great shop projects to see. CCR very generously provided tech help to a number of our participants.

The sun was still shining as we left Delson but not for long. En route to Levis the rain started – hard rain. After Levis, the rain was accompanied by fog which made for very nasty driving. The good news? Everyone made it to Riviere-du-Loup safe and sound.

Thanks to: A&W Chateauguay and CCR Technologie.

Day 3: Riviere-du-Loup to Miramichi, New Brunswick

I could write a complete story about this day but you’re going to have to settle for a very condensed version. Theme of the day: East Coast hospitality. After a stop at the Campbellton New Brunswick A&W, we cruised down into Bathurst for lunch at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre. We were honoured not only by the friendly reception of cars and people but by the warm welcome delivered in person by Stephen Brunet – Mayor of The City of Bathurst.

After a police escort out of Bathurst and a short run down to the outskirts of Miramichi, we were met by Brenda and Richard Goguen of the Miramichi Rock and Roll Festival in their pink Caddy. Brenda and Rick passed us off to a Miramichi Chevy SSR police car which led us downtown where we were greeted by a public address system announcement, clapping festival goers and reserved parking in the town square. That evening, the Festival hosted a fabulous reception for us at Miramichi’s Goodie Restaurant with live music and Elvis! (That’s where he went…) A fabulous day overall.

Thanks to: Yvette Lavigne, The City of Bathurst, The Miramich Rock & Roll Festival and Goodie Restaurant.

The Canadian Hot Rod Tour is presented by Canadian Rodder Inc. in conjunction with A&W / Cruisin’the Dub.

Points East was sponsored by: Classic Car Insurance, Performance World, Brightwork Auto Art, Horton Hot Rod Parts and Canadian Hot Rods Magazine.

Photos Row 1: Kickoff in Whitby, the fog en route to Riviere-du-Loup, A&W Chateauguay

Photos Row 1: Arriving at CCR Technologie, Mayor Stephen Brunet of Bathurst NB, Following the Pink Cadillac into Miramichi NB

Check out the Tour DVD, with over 400 slides, HERE

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About Registration
For those that have registered, thank you very much. For those that have not, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of registering as soon as possible if you intend to participate in this event. Why? With only just over 150 days until we kick off, we need to plan for tour consumables, create an itinerary based upon participation levels AND hotels will only continue to hold group block space if reservations are active. These blocks are only available to registered tour participants.

If you haven’t registered yet but are planning to in the very near future, please let us know so that we can track numbers and plan for supplies, venues/events, etc.. Once again, this is extremely important to the organization of the event – critical in fact.

About The Lethbridge Stop
If you’ve looked at the itinerary, you’ll know that we are planning on gathering in Lethbridge Alberta to start our trek. Coincidentally, that weekend is the Streetwheelers “Street Machine” weekend. You can check out their weekend activities HERE. Note that, if can arrive in town on Friday, July 9, they have their parade-style cruise on 3rd. Ave. We also look forward to hooking up with The Le Barons Car Club of Lethbridge while in Lethbridge.

Amongst other things, we will likely have a group dinner on Saturday July 10 and are planning for a rod run to Waterton Lakes National Park on Sunday July 11.

Other Tour Stops
Another update will follow with information about our stops in Calgary, Kamloops and Langley and Victoria.

About Friday July 16 on Vancouver Island
I would like to hear from you about this day so read on. You might be aware that Northwest Deuce Days has a cruise to Courtenay BC planned for this day. You may also be aware that this event has been sold out for some time.

So, if you are planning on joining The Canadian Hot Rod Tour Points West group to Victoria, I would like to know if you are interested in a separate Friday rod run activity for Tour participants.

About BC Ferries
We have been keeping an eye on availability of schedules and reservations for July and can now report that BC Ferries are accepting reservations.

For those travelling to the Island on Thursday July 15, we are suggesting the 1:00 PM sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. Return trips will be dependant upon your length of stay on the Island. We will be there until Monday morning (July 19) and have reserved passage on the 10:00 AM sailing from Swartz Bay back to Tsawwassen. You can access the BC Ferries site and make reservations HERE.

Answers To Two Commonly Asked Questions
1. All makes, models and years of vehicles are welcome.

2. You can “drive a little or drive a lot”. In other words, it doesn’t matter whether you’re out for a day or the week. We’d love to have you along.>

In Summary
- If you haven’t registered but plan to, we’d really appreciate that you do so ASAP
- Let us know if you are planning on registering
- Let us know if you’re interested in an activity for Friday July 16.

Anything else, just let me know. I look forward to hearing from you and joining you on the road. Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested and might not be on the distribution list.

Points West Tour page with registration, accommodation and who’s coming is HERE.

On May 26th 2009, an announcement was made about the new ownership of Performance World Custom Car & Truck Show.

Excerpt of press release: Canada’s largest in door Custom Car show has been presenting the best in custom cars and trucks since 1964, at the Toronto International Centre. The previous owners have passed the torch onto a group of car enthusiasts committed to the industry and hobby, who will be managing the day to day business for The Justus Group Inc. This new life blood will ensure incredible visibility this year and in the years to come with its “Take it to the Streets” promotion campaign, as well as a grass roots enthusiast approach to the business. “We want to build a business to support the hobby and its enthusiasts. Today we are looking at all aspects of the economy, the industry and the ability to deliver the best cars, vendors, and entertainment value for our partners”.

With PW now in the hands of car enthusiasts, look for a bright future for this long-running show. We’re happy to have them on board as a 2009 Canadian Hot Rod Tour sponsor. Complete release HERE.

With the 2009 Canadian Hot Rod Tour “Points East” fast approaching, what better time to look back at our last endeavour.  Specifically, “Gone Roddin’ ” – summer 2008’s Canadian Hot Rod Tour Event.  Gone Roddin’ was a four-day, Ontario, extended long-weekend event that started in Vaughan, Ontario (launching at NASCAR Speedpark as in 2007) with overnight stops in Sarnia, Bracebridge and Napanee and a wrap-up in Oshawa.  If you check these locations out on a map and plot the distance, you’ll see that we covered some fairly serious ground over four days. Hey, when you’re in good company…

On day 1, we made our way west from NASCAR Speedpark to Georgetown for our first pit stop at the Georgetown A&W. The weather was cooperating. In fact, it would all this day. From Georgetown, we continued west and south through Guelph into Hespeler for lunch and tour at Hilton Motorsports / Lowdown Hot Rod. Thanks to Bob Hilton for doing BBQ chores. The parking lot was packed as we had over sixty cars with us at this point. After lunch, we continued our journey west and our afternoon pit stop at the A&W Stratford. From there it was about a two hour run into Sarnia. At about the half way point, members of the Sarnia Street Machines met us and escorted us in.  After settling in at the hotel, we cruised over to the Pathways Health Centre for Children where the Sarnia Street Machines were holding a special evening charity event in honour of our visit to Sarnia. Very cool and for a very worthy cause. Thanks guys and gals!

On Saturday morning, day two, we discovered that we had had overnight rain (this would be a “theme” of this trip). In fact, as we left Sarnia and headed north, we had some light rain up through Grand Bend but by the time we reached Goderich the sun was shining. At our pit stop at the Goderich A&W there was a nice collection of local cars there to greet us. We carried on northeast stopping for lunch in Hanover. By the time we reached our afternoon pit stop at the Orillia A&W it had clouded over. Shortly after, light rain started. It wouldn’t stay light however. While en route north to Bracebridge, all you-know-what broke loose as an incredibly intense thunderstorm passed through. Exciting to say the least. I’m being sarcastic. As we approached Bracebridge, we found dry roads again. Fortunately, there were no incidents. That evening, the Mondays in Muskoka Cruise Night group put on a very well attended event at the Bracebridge Independent Grocers. Our thanks to them for the hospitality.

Once again, it rained overnight but was clearing when we hit the parking lot the next morning and was sunny by the time we left. It was a beautiful Sunday drive up through Dorset and then Algonquin Park. The Bancroft Cruisers Car Club had secured Bancroft’s Millenium Park for our use at lunch and there was a really nice turn out of local cars there to greet us. Thanks to them. After Bancroft, we headed east to Denbigh and then south for the drive down to Napanee. That evening, the brand new A&W held their inaugural Cuisin’ event in conjunction with the Napanee Valley Cruisers. Once again, a terrific turnout for this inaugural event. Thanks. We were honoured to be part of it.

Following the pattern of the previous two nights, it rained overnight and was raining lightly as we packed up our cars for departure and our last day. It stopped, however, just in time for a group photo (see below). With a mid-day destination of Oshawa, we travelled through Belleville, Trenton, Brighton, Colborne, Grafton , Cobourg and into Port Hope for a pit stop. After Port Hope, we stopped once more for a photo op at the nostalgic B/A station in Newtonville and then carried on into Oshawa for our wrap-up. We were greeted at Lakeview Park by the Motor City Car Club and the Autofest Trailer. Our thanks to them for organizing the park for our use.

With very dark clouds looming in the west (Yes, more rain for the drive home / even a rainbow. Thanks for the pic Donna), we wrapped up and said our goodbyes. What rain we had over the four days didn’t dampen the spirits of a great bunch of people.

A footnote: After the fact, we were sorry to hear that Gary & Katherine had had a minor accident with some damage (could have been worse apparently) with their Model A sedan delivery after they left the group. Gary, Katherine and their canine travelling companion were shaken up by the experience but were fine thankfully.

Thanks go to:

• Our presenting sponsor Cruisin’ The Dub / A&W
• Sponsors: Classic Car Insurance, Hilton Motorsports/Lowdown Hot Rods
• Prize sponsors: Performance Garages, Brightwork Auto Art, Horton Hot Rod Parts & Canadian Hot Rods Magazine
• Brightwork Auto Art for the fabulous T-Shirt and sticker art (as usual)
• The Trailer Shop for the use of the support trailer
• Jamie Burns for piloting the support vehicle/trailer
• Everyone who submitted photos
• And, of course, all the participants

Want to have a look at the  group? Check them out below just before departing from Napanee on day four:

So, are you ready for some photos? There’s photo galleries for all four days HERE.

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