In pictures: Yellowknife’s vintage car show

For the first time in at least a decade, Yellowknifers assembled their vintage vehicles for a public car show.

A total of 72 people registered for Saturday afternoon’s gathering, hosted by seniors’ care group Avens. Organizer Lindsey Dwojak said she initially expected fewer than 20 participants when she began planning.

“I wanted something that can bring everybody out together, and who doesn’t love a little nostalgia, right?” Dwojak told Cabin Radio.

“So, I thought let’s try a car-truck show – and it just got so much bigger than I had ever anticipated.”

The lineup featured a wide range of vehicles from classics to trucks, jeeps, sports cars and imports, spanning model years from 1931 to 2024. Not quite vintage but still a head-turner, Dwojak’s 2019 Challenger was also on display.

“Everybody coming in is like, ‘This is going to be an annual thing now, isn’t it?’ So I don’t think we can stop it after this year,” she said.

All photos in this article by Aastha Sethi/Cabin Radio.

Gene Drouin bought his white 1966 Chrysler 300 Convertible, nicknamed Mopar, from its original owner in 1978, who had purchased it in Edmonton.

At the time, Drouin already owned a 1965 Chrysler Tudor Hardtop, but when he spotted the newer model while driving past the dealership, he “just had to have it.” He said Chrysler made exactly 2,500 of the convertibles in 1966.

Drouin was just finishing university and had to borrow $3,500 – an amount he noted was equivalent to the price of a house back then – from his parents, who generously lent it to him so he could make the deal. The model was sold for approximately $6,700 when new.

Drouin usually takes the car out each summer and for the Canada Day Parade on July 1. It sees less than 60 miles of use each year.

“Even after all the years I have owned it, and all the money I have spent on it, it’s still a lot of fun to own something like this,” he said.

“When people come by and I say, ‘It’s got air conditioning, cruise control, power windows, power seats, leather interior, vacuum trunk release, an FM radio, rear speaker, reverberator, power antenna, a Twilight Sentinel system that turns your headlights on and off automatically, power door locks’ – and they say, ‘1966?’ – I’m like, ‘Oh yeah.'”

Disc brakes are the only feature the model lacks, as Chrysler began offering them that year.

The car’s name, Mopar, comes from Chrysler Motor Parts, which was established in 1937 to provide replacement parts for the brand. While many people don’t know what the term means, Drouin flew south to get a special licence plate for it.

“I was just fortunate to be there at the right time and right place. And you wonder now, after all this time has gone by, what is it worth?” he said. “I don’t know. It’s worth, I suppose, what somebody would pay for it. But for me? It’s priceless.”

Peter Arychuk’s father bought a bright yellow 1970 Ford F250 while in Fort Providence in 1972 that has stayed in the family ever since. He believes the vehicle must have cost between $1,500 and $2,000.

Peter, a co-founder of Air Tindi, inherited the truck and got it repainted in 1990. It does not require much maintenance because he only drives it seasonally, he said.

Continuing the family tradition, Peter said his youngest son has already claimed the truck, meaning they’ve no intention of reselling. If the car show happens again next year, he intends to showcase his other cars.

Carol Edgar’s “Senior Harley” has been sitting in her living room for the past two years. A surgery left her unable to use it, but she says she can’t wait to take it out again. She only managed to use it once before.

Though it only reaches a speed of 15 km/h, the scooter is perfect for her needs.

Buffalo Airways owner Joe McBryan bought his 1951 Mercury roughly 35 years ago. The car sits on the subframe of a 1978 Mercury Cougar.

McBryan worked with the original owner to make a number of custom modifications, including a chopped top, shaved body and distinctive headlights. He used to drive it often while living in Alberta but tries not to use it as much these days.

In fact, he said, Saturday’s event marked the first time he had brought it out in years.

“I had an interest in cars, and God made me buy it. I went to church that day,” McBryan said.

NWT Riders Association president Robin Weber believes the collection displayed on Saturday wasn’t even half of the vintage cars present in the city. She brought two of her own vehicles: a 1931 Chevrolet and a 1985 Ford Short Box.

“There’s a lot of beautiful cars out today and the parking lots are full. There’s a lot more to see,” Weber said.

More: Fort Smith plans August vintage car show

Drouin recalls organizing car shows in Yellowknife in 2001 and 2017 alongside a friend who has since passed away. In his experience, hosting such an event required significant effort and time.

The earliest model he ever saw in Yellowknife was from the 1920s.

“You sort-of wonder where people bury these things away,” he said, having seen vehicles on Saturday that he did not know existed in the city.

“Yellowknife is not that big. It’s only 20,000 of us, so where are all these cars hiding?”