Anyone who believes the current economic and regulatory environment has sucked all the fun out of trucking has never spent a Canada Day weekend in Clifford, Ont.
Nostalgia reigns supreme at the Clifford Truck show, hosted by the Great Lakes Truck Club. If you were born with the diesel gene and can distinguish a Caterpillar engine from a Cummins or a Detroit by the way they sound, Clifford is a relief from today’s mostly plastic “iron.”
About 300 like-minded souls trekked to Clifford, located in the heart of Southwestern Ontario’s agricultural community. Trucks and trucking still matter there. Trucks are part of the fabric of society, not just noisy slow-moving nuisances. And drivers remain valued and respected.
It was interesting milling through the crowds photographing the trucks. I wasn’t just taking pictures; I was listening to the conversations. I wasn’t asking the questions, steering the conversations. I was eavesdropping — taking the pulse of the crowd.
People weren’t talking about freight rates, crooked brokers, fuel prices, or Driver Inc. They were talking about companies they had worked for over the years — some fondly, some not.
They were catching up with friends they had known since the 70s. And they were debating the merits of Cat and Cummins engines, and 13-speeds versus 15-speeds.
Clifford is all about the trucks. There are no prizes for best chrome or best paint. Politics are absent here. It’s a bunch of old guys, and a surprising number of young ones, with one thing in common, a fondness for old trucks.
“The trucks are the equalizers,” Clifford Truck Show organizer, Chris Hall, told trucknews.com. “We have folks here who will spend a half-million dollars restoring a truck parked beside guys who’ve had a truck under a tarp in their driveway for five years. It’s really neat how everybody sort of meets in the middle with these with these shows.”
Indeed, it’s refreshing, really.
“I love Clifford,” echoes Eli Pitawanakwatt of South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. “Nobody has a problem talking with each other. I’ve been to many big competition shows where if you aren’t social media famous, nobody will talk to you. Not here.”
Eli and his father, Victor, brought a pair of Macks to Clifford. Eli’s truck, a 2000 Mack RB 688 was purchased as a tri-axle dump truck. He stripped it down, did some frame work, rebuilt the rear-ends and then installed a log rack and a loader.
Five months passed between the time they bought the truck and when it hauled its first load of logs.
“Between my dad and I, and a couple of welders on The Island, we pretty much rebuilt the whole truck from front to back, and it was all done outside. No garage; just cardboard and plywood on top of the dirt to lay on,” he told trucknews.com.
While Clifford has become an early-summer hangout for old-truck aficionados, Hall says he’s amazed at how many “new” antique trucks show up at the gates every year.
“I guess these guys have been bitten by the bug and are now trying their hand at it,” he told me. “Barn finds, an uncle’s old truck, or something captured half-restored online somewhere. I mean, there are only so many of these things around. But new ones keep showing up.”
It wouldn’t be reasonable to pick any favorites here. I enjoy the waltz down memory lane with the trucks I once drove.
There’s a red R-Model Mack that frequently appears at Clifford; it’s nearly identical to the truck I learned to drive on.
This year I saw a pale green ’62 Freightliner very similar in appearance to the ’73 I once drove at Liquid Cargo Lines in the early ’80s. And there are always a few International Transtar IIs on display. That was another truck I really enjoyed driving.
I love seeing the regulars show up with some new work or looking just the same as they were last year. My personal favorites, collectively, are the trucks restored to factory condition, with maybe just a little chrome for added appeal. Many have been restored with factory paint schemes. And some of that paint work is extraordinary.
Hall mentioned a GMC Astro cabover, which I somehow missed, that had been painted to look like the day it drove off the lot. “And he did it outside on his driveway,” Hall marveled.
“It’s flawless. It’s a beautiful factory restoration. That’s something that’s kind of come on board the last two years. Honestly, there’s a beehive of activity everywhere in the province of people building trucks. It’s not slowing down.”
Notable this year, mostly for the rarity, were three – count’em, three — Canadian Kenworth 923s. These three were built in Burnaby, B.C. in the late ’50s and early ’60s.
We borrowed a couple of photographs from Richar Poulin this year. He drove nine hours to get to Clifford. He says he took more than 800 photographs.
“Don’t think for a second I go there to drink beer,” he chuckles.
But how about the amazing Lions Club french fries?
There’s still one more big show on the calendar this year, The Athens Truck Show. It’s slated for August 21-22 in Athens, Ont., about a half-hour north of Brockville. It’s sponsored by the Upper Canada chapter of the Antique Truck Club of America and proudly hosted by Charlie Tackaberry at his yard on Washburn Road.
See ya there!
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