One of our favorite car shows is held in one of the smallest communities we visit each year.
Donalda, Alberta, Canada is a friendly little village of about 300 people that hosts an annual car show in an area around their giant lamp tourist attraction.
The show is well attended by local car guys and also has a sizable number of car visitors from cities like Edmonton, Red Deer and nearby Camrose.
The reason the car guys return every year is the warm reception they receive from the locals. The hosts are laid-back and welcome visitors to their town with a generous dose of small town hospitality.
We drove through a monsoon on the way to the show but, as advertised by an pre-travel phone inquiry to the local museum employee, it was warm and dry when we reached Donalda.
One of the first vehicles we spotted was a 1967 Ford Falcon station wagon and once again it was a vehicle we had seen a couple of years ago without its owner at a show.
This time its owners and car were in close proximity so we were able to get an interesting story behind this bone stock family hauler form the 60s. Look for its story in a future MSCC article.
A 1957 Morris Minor is not a typical guest at any car show, let alone one found in a small farming community in east Central Alberta. The story about how this little British import ended up as a flawlessly perfect restoration has a lot to do with its current owner, a Irish car guy who moved to Canada in the late 60s.
Look for a future MSCC feature on why and how the Morris Minor came into the world of its current owner. It’s a good story explained very well by the colorful owner.
A 1961 Plymouth Belvedere two-door hardtop was also an honored guest at the car show. Some people would understand why a “plucked chicken with a leaning tower of power” would be a huge hit at a car show, but the rest of you will have to read why in a future MSCC article.
The ’61 Plymouth’s friendly owner was a second generation Mopar guy and has another car for a future MSCC story; a 1958 Plymouth with a long family history. You will want to read this story for sentimental reasons.
We spotted a beautiful 1956 GMC Fleetside pickup with all of its good looks still intact, but with some enhancements that made the 58-year-old truck look cooler and tougher.
What the GMC had under the hood helped a great deal in that “tougher” department, along with the owners’ great choice in wheels for the truck.
The story about how this former shop truck got to be a show winning killer machine will be revealed in a future MSCC piece.
We will continue to give previews of future MSCC stories as we continue to collect them at 2014 car shows.
We are very excited about the new stories because they just keep getting better and better.
Jim Sutherland
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