Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, start your engines!
The 49th Torque Masters Car Club’s car show is this Sunday, August 14 and it promises a bit of everything — for just about any car enthusiast.
Engines will roar to life after 8 a.m. at the Mary Winspear Centre — the registration and staging area for the estimated 350-plus drivers and their vehicles. Torque Masters Car Club Secretary Cam McLennan says the noise of the vehicles as they fill the streets of downtown Sidney is always something to hear — and to see. Registration takes place the morning of the event — as a Sidney Lions Club pancake breakfast feeds the masses — ending at 11 a.m.
Hot rods, modified vehicles of all sorts, classic cars, trucks, motorcycles and more will lines the sides of Beacon Avenue from Fifth to First streets, and Second Avenue to Bevan Avenue. The show also has vehicles lined up along Third and Fourth streets from Sidney Avenue to Bevan —and fills the municipal parking lots in those areas.
McLennan said the club years ago was focussed mainly on hot rods from the eras prior to the 1980s. They changed focus a few years ago and now welcome just about any vehicle that wants to shine during the car show.
It was done, he continued, to appeal to a broader variety of vehicle enthusiasts — attracting more people to the show, which has become one of Sidney’s busiest single-day events of the summer.
“It just makes for a better show,” he said.
As the Torque Masters event has grown (McLennan said they are hoping to attract close to 400 vehicles this time) more businesses have gotten on board and will be open on Sunday.
The downtown will be lined with people, checking out the vehicles, trying their hand at the VRX racing simulator, listening to live music and picking their favourite entries.
McLennan said there are a variety of prizes on offer again this year. The People’s Choice is always popular, as is Participants’ Choice and the Mayor’s Choice. There are also prizes awarded for Best pre-1929, 1930s, ‘40s and so on, Best in Show and Best Bike. The judges hit the streets after 11 a.m., basing their decisions on the vehicle themselves and how their owners present them during the show.
There will be vendors and the Tour de Rock Cops for Cancer will be on hand selling 50/50 tickets to raise money to support childhood cancer research.
McLennan added the club is looking forward already to its 50th anniversary in 2017. The club, he said, might look at expanding the show over three days, to include a poker run and dinner and dance.
This Sunday’s Torque Masters Car Show wraps up at around 3 p.m., with trophy presentations at 2 p.m. To learn more, visit torquemasters.ca.
