On the Road: Looking back on a year of project vehicles

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As we roll into 2023, let’s take a look back at 2022 and catch up with a few builders we discovered toiling away in Alberta garages. In late March, I wrote about a group of friends from High River’s Call of the West Museum. Every Monday, they meet in Al Millard’s shop near Okotoks. Alta., and work together to restore a 1924 Haynes automobile.

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The Call of the West Museum is dedicated to preserving cars, tractors and petroleum memorabilia, and in October 2021, the group acquired a sea can filled with three Haynes cars. Emptying out the container, they selected the ’24 Haynes sedan as it was the most complete project. Haynes cars are not a household name, and the Call of the West Museum thought resurrecting the automobile a worthy cause. As we caught up to Al Millard in March, the car’s chassis had been restored, and the inline six-cylinder engine was disassembled, rebuilt and had been running. They were moving on to pay attention to the body’s woodwork, and Millard recently sent me this update, “The Haynes project is ongoing and the body work as well as the mechanical is complete.

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“Today, the first coat of primer was applied which means we are making headway. It may be moving a little slow but we are making progress as we only work on it one day a week. The workmanship is top notch and I think we will be proud of it when we are done. If all goes well, I think this project will be complete by mid-summer 2023.”

In July, I wrote about hard-working Thane Walton and his 1972 BMW 2002tii project. Walton spent his life farming and working in the oilfield. After retiring three years ago, he started spending his days restoring vehicles in his 30-foot by 30-foot shop at his home just outside of Peace River, Alta.

Completely self-taught, Walton takes on all aspects of restoration himself, from welding, to painting, to engine rebuilding. It’s a hobby Walton started 10 years ago, when he completely overhauled a 1953 John Deere tractor his grandfather had purchased new. After completing the Deere, Walton restored a 1965 Volkswagen bus, then a Toyota Landcruiser, followed by a 1956 VW Beetle and another VW bus, this one a 1959.

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Walton bought the BMW 2002tii out of Regina and has well over 1,000 hours of work into rebuilding the car. He’s cut out and welded in fresh metal in the inner fender wells, rear shock towers, spare tire well and gas tank area, rocker panels and inner structural steel.

When I’d caught up to Walton, the running gear had been restored and the body painted BMW’s Fjord Blue. Walton recently wrote to me and said, “I have been putting it back together slowly. I got the engine, drivetrain in, lights and instruments working and got it running nice.” He continued, “These cars have a ton of mouldings that I refurbished. On the interior now, waiting for the carpet kit from the U.S. Should have it done for spring!”

And in late July, I caught up with Airdrie’s Brandon Hegedus. As a youngster, Hegedus was discouraged from watching television, and he and his siblings didn’t have video games. They were instead encouraged to spend time working on wood projects or the go-kart in the family’s well-organized single-car garage.

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Now 38, Hegedus has built several rat rod project cars in his 22-foot by 22-foot garage. He’d most recently finished a complete ground-up tribute build of a 1962 Ferrari 156 Sharknose Formula 1 race car. He next spent several hundred hours putting together the rolling chassis of a 1966 Ferrari Dino 206S/SP sports prototype racing car, powered by a highly modified Nissan V6 350Z engine. It’s running, and Hegedus has test driven it in a private lot.

When we chatted, he was at the point of preparing to carve the foam in order to make a mould for the carbon fibre body. He’s now done all of that work. Hegedus recently sent me this update, “There is a lot of work at this point to section the body into individual panels and make everything fit back together over the chassis with proper clearances and nice door gaps and so on.” He continues, “Some areas need a little fine tuning after moulding and the entire carbon body will get sanded and checked over inch by inch before paint prep begins.” He’s got the rear portion mounted and is working on lining up and mounting the front clip and will then cut out the doors and design hinges and latches.

“Now that I’m 90 per cent done,” he concludes, “I only have 90 per cent left to go. The car should be on the road by late this spring.”

If you or someone you know are working on an automotive or motorcycle project in the garage, send me a note. I’d enjoy sharing the story. All the best for 2023.

Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or [email protected]