Father and son Ivon Chaumont and Sean Chaumont exhibited their twin cars at the Sudbury Classic Cruisers 31st annual Autorama show in Copper Cliff Park Aug. 4.
Ivon explains that he and his wife bought a new 1969 GTO Judge muscle car early in their marriage. “I’ve had the car since then, so I always kept it,” he said.
Last week, though, his youngest son, 39-year-old Sean, surprised his dad by purchasing another 1969 GTO Judge, which, like his dad’s car, is also bright orange.
“It’s always been my childhood muscle car that I’ve always been around, right?” said Sean, adding that he always admired the car, and it took him awhile to track down another one.
He invited his dad to come down south with him, telling him he was buying a tractor, except he was actually picking up the car.
“I was a bit surprised, because I expected a piece of farming equipment, and here I spotted the car in the driveway,” said Ivon.
“There was no tractor,” laughs Sean, adding that it’s “awesome” to own his own 1969 GTO Judge. “It still hasn't set in yet. Actually, it's my first ride today. So it's our first ride that we drove side by side together, which was kind of cool this morning on the Maley Drive bypass.”
The Chaumonts’ twin GTOs were only two of around 300 vehicles being exhibited at Autorama in Copper Cliff this weekend, all of them with a story.
“This is one of the biggest car shows in Northern Ontario,” said Sudbury Classic Cruisers president Joe Gervais, adding that he had people from as far away as Windsor, Rouyn-Noranda, Toronto and even Edmonton taking part.
Gervais drove Sudbury.com around the park in the golf cart he was using to sell 50-50 tickets at the event, introducing us to the car owners.
“Some people, it's a car that they've wanted all their lives,” said Gervais, who owns a 1956 Thunderbird himself.
“They find it, they fix it up, and it’s a baby. When you get into a classic car, and you start up that v8, and you and you go for a ride, there isn't a psychiatrist in the world that could make your feelings any better."
Asked if he knows that through experience, Gervais said “I lost my job. I went home and took my car for a ride, and then I was happy.”
He said Autorama is not only a great opportunity for car people to show off their rides, it also raises money for charity. Last year’s 50-50 tickets raised $30,000 for charity.
This year, the money is being split between Independent Living Sudbury-Manitoulin and a number of other charities, including Maison Sudbury Hospice, the Elgin Street Mission, the Sudbury Food Bank and YWCA Genevra House.
“The goal of the Classic Cruisers for the last 31 years has been nothing but to donate to local charities,” said Gervais.
On the other side of the park from the Chaumonts’ GTOs was John Montpellier, the son of the late Greater Sudbury city councillor and noted car buff Gerry Montpellier.
John was showing his dad’s 1923 Ford Model T Bucket, a “hyper-modified” vehicle that features parts from the 1920s through the 1970s, as well as a couple of Gerry’s chopper motorcycles - a 1960 AJS and a 1967 Honda.
A mechanic himself, John said his own summer ride is a 1967 Chevrolet Biscayne four-door sedan that was a former police car in Tennessee, though he didn't have it at the show.
“To say it's in my DNA would be not an exaggeration in the least,” said John, adding that his dad Gerry, who passed away in February, would have definitely been at the Autorama show in Copper Cliff.
“That's my life, that's me, and then it having been such a big part of my father's life, it’s just always an honor to kind of go to these shows and talk to people and tell stories and all that good stuff.”
Also in the park Aug. 4 was Claude Daoust, a volunteer firefighter in Chelmsford with 51 years of service. He and other firefighters were exhibiting a 1939 Ford fire truck.
Daoust explains that this now-classic vehicle was actually in service locally for a short period of time when he was first a firefighter.
He said the fire truck, which he describes as “dependable,” was bought by the Chelmsford station in 1954, and stayed in service as a front-line truck until 1974, and then used for bush fires for a couple of years after that.
“Now it's being used only for special occasions, parades or display like we're having today,” said Daoust.
“It’s an antique, and I’m part of it,” he said. Asked jokingly if he’s an antique as well, Daoust answered “well, I’ve got 51 years as a volunteer, and I'm still there.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor.