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Matt Sager is our guest on the latest edition of Today in BC. The native of Vancouver Island leads an ambitious team of classic car hunters that scour deeper into Canada’s northern wilderness than any car hunter has gone before. Their mission is to recover rare vehicles fabled to be hiding in the bush, before the cars are lost forever to history.
When asked about his best-ever find in B.C., Sager said: “I have to say, my best find is not so much dictated on the value. When I find a car, what I’m looking for is a car that no one else knows where it is, or a car that’s truly lost undeniably. One that has basically fell through the cracks of time, been encapsulated in a barn or abandoned over a ravine. Could be under two feet of leaves and you never see it.”
The team travels by air in his 1948 Stinson and by land to extract the vehicles from their forgotten resting places.
Each team member plays a crucial role, the pilot Jess; Steve (The Wrench); autobody expert Dave; and crane operator Lee. Together they achieve the impossible, uncovering rare automotive gems and preserving the cars and the stories of the places and the people who have lived there for generations.
Sager has spent years searching out vehicles and host Peter McCully asked what happens to the vehicles they have been rescued.
“I have a very large list of people that have reached out several hundred people, really all over the world,” said Sager. “Basically we place cars almost like an adoption agency.”
A few vehicles have made it to Sager’s personal collection for restoration.
“It was a really a long time coming to find that 1936 Cord. It’s going to be probably a five-to-six-year restoration just to find parts, to actually finish it off. It’s weird cool.”
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