We at MyStarCollectorCar have become local experts in the Christmas parade field in our area.
We attended our first 2024 Christmas parade about 10 days ago and attended our second Yuletide parade in Sylvan Lake, Alberta yesterday.
Once again, we used a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere as our parade vehicle and were blown away by the amount of attention the old sedan receives at these events.
Jim Sutherland
We are used to attention whenever we hit the road in the ’63 Plymouth, but there was one entry in the parade that became an instant hit with everyone, including us. The Sylvan Lake parade rock star was a very large Holstein steer (a former bull that underwent a life-changing event early in life) ridden by a young woman who had grown up with the big bovine.
The sky-scraping Holstein stole the show for obvious reasons, but he was positioned at the front of the parade, and we were near the back of the parade, so we were also under the spotlight when we drove by thousands of onlookers in a 61-year-old car at the Sylvan Lake Christmas parade.
A 1963 Plymouth Belvedere sedan is essentially a large brick on four wheels. Nevertheless, we loved their style when we were impressionable kids, but we were always a day late and a dollar short in the cool factor. The good news is a formerly uncool sedan from the early 1960s is now very cool in the 21st century because most 1963 Plymouth Belvederes disappeared from the road many years ago.
The reaction from the people at the Sylvan Lake Christmas parade was entertaining, to say the least. It is not a huge reach to say Christmas is for kids and a parade specifically geared for the Yuletide season is a huge event for them.
Kids reacted in a variety of ways when the old Plymouth rolled by them in the parade. It was a shock and awe moment for them a triggered many responses ranging from many “Wow! Cool car!” reactions to one “What the heck is that?!” question. It was a legitimate question, given their ancestors (many of whom are no longer with us) might have bought a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere new out of the showroom in 1963.
Consequently, a kid in 2024 would be seeing an ancient car from the Kennedy years for the first time and he or she would give an honest reaction to the Plymouth. In a nutshell, they loved the car because it was so different from new vehicles and most assuredly stood out in a crowd.
The parade slowed to a stop on one occasion and a group of kids wanted to know whether the Plymouth was for sale. They were a long way from even a driver’s license (age wise), but they wanted the old Belvey in a completely irrational car kid way.
Many adults at the parade were also too young to know anything about a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere, but some of them read the Belvedere script on the side of the car and were at least able to pronounce it correctly.
True confession: we had the only old car in the Sylvan Lake Christmas parade because most local car guys are not maniacs who subject a 61-year-old car to winter in our neck of the woods.
But we rode in our family’s 1963 Plymouth when we were kids at Christmas, and this replacement sedan brought back the old magic from our childhood Christmas season to a new group of kids at the Sylvan Lake parade.
To quote Dean Martin, “Memories are made of this”.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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