Alix is a village of under 1000 people in Central Alberta that punches well above its weight with their annual Show and Shine event.
It takes a village of people to run a successful gig like the Alix Show and Shine, and the locals are enthusiastically behind their car show.
There are plenty of volunteers who double as good will ambassadors for Alix while guiding the car entrants to their parking spots on Main Street and pointing them toward the registration venue.
Jim Sutherland
The net result is a car show that has grown tremendously since MyStarCollectorCar last visited the Alix Show and Shine in 2016. As a result, we were able to get some very interesting retro ride stories at their car show.
One of the more striking cars in attendance at the Alix show was a yellow 1964 Pontiac Parisienne convertible restored to a very high level. A few Poncho fans may not recognize the Parisienne name because it was only built and sold in the Canadian car market during its initial production run, although it was available for American buyers from 1983 to 1986.
The 1965 Auto Pact agreement between Canada and the United States ended tariffs on both sides of the border when it came to the automotive industry and melded the car markets in both countries. One can assume that General Motors liked the Parisienne name enough to offer it on American models.
However, in 1964, a Pontiac Parisienne was strictly a Canadian model and was built on a Chevy chassis to cut costs, so it is a unique part of Poncho history.
Learn all about this very cool Canuck convertible in a future MyStarCollectorCar article.
The second car on our Alix Show and Shine list was a 1947 Oldsmobile four-door sedan restored right back to its original glory. In fact, this beauty was running so smoothly that we barely heard it running down the street, even though it still had its factory flattie six-banger.
The husband-and-wife team who owned the ‘47 Olds totally believe the car needed to be driven and take every opportunity to hit the road in their 79-year-old sedan. This stylish upper end GM model was an education in retro automotive technology for us here at MyStarCollectorCar. We will share our newly acquired knowledge about the car’s very unique features in a future MyStar owner’s story about this amazing 1947 Oldsmobile sedan.
A 1971 Javelin SST caught our eye at the Alix show, mainly because it looked like a T-roof car when it was on the street. Closer examination proved otherwise, but its owner had been asked whether it was a T-roof car on several occasions.
For the record, American Motors did not build a T-roof 1971 Javelin, but the owner provided his explanation for the reason behind the confusion and MyStarCollectorCar will provide the answer in a future article.
The Alix Show and Shine proved why small towns are one of our favorite venues for car shows. The local hospitality is off the charts and so is the event.
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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