Around 1,300 classic hot rods are expected to arrive in Victoria over the next few days, for Northwest Deuce Days.
The event is to show off pre-1952 collector cars, especially the 932 Ford Deuce Coupe. It’s the 9th edition of Deuce Days, which happens every three years.
“You wait so long, I mean it takes two or three years to put this together, and they all start arriving, its a nice feeling,” says Northwest Deuce Days organizer Al Clark.
Clark has been putting the event together for 21-years.
And thousands of people, from local car lovers to international guests, always come out to see the spectacle.
“We’ve got them coming from all over North America, as far north as Yukon, as far south as Texas, and as far east as Vermont and there is a group coming from the [San Francisco] bay area, they’ve booked the whole Coho Ferry and they are arriving tomorrow,” said Clark.
The big numbers from the event are also a major bonus for the local economy.
“It means significant economic impact, this is almost 1,400 cars and their gusts and couples coming, [some] very wealthy people who own these cars, it means a great deal and we are excited to welcome them back,” said Destination Greater Victoria CEO Paul Nursey.
“It’s great, we are sold out, most of the city is sold out right now,” said Reid James, General Manager of Hotel Grand Pacific.
Some of the cars are incredibly valuable, ranging from six figures to more than a million dollars, so security is being stepped up.
“We monitor, extra monitor our parking lot during this weekend, we bring in extra coverage for it, we are pretty well locked down,” added Reid.
This future of this year’s event was uncertain, but after work with the Destination Greater Victoria the celebration went on.
Organizers say they will wait to make the call if Northwest Deuce Days will continue.
The colourful hot rods and other classics will be cruising around Greater Victoria over the next few days. The big car show will take place Sunday in the inner Harbour.
More details on the event can be found here
Julian Kolsut
