‘Car of the Month’ shows off community cars

BY Dawn Rankins

The Canyon Lake Car Club’s Car of the Month event is back and those who showed up were not only treated to classic cars, but some coffee and donuts as well.

Car enthusiasts came out to see the many cars and trucks that were on display Saturday at Sierra Park.

A great turn out perused the many classic cars in the parking lot at the park and enjoyed the perfect weather, donuts and coffee.

The winner for the Month of February was Howard Smith, who proudly put on display his ‘37 Ford pick-up. Howard said he and his wife Kathy Smith have had the truck since 1971.

“It was 1971, when I was looking for a ‘37 Ford coupe or sedan, when a friend turned me onto this 1937 Ford pick-up,” Howard said. “It was rugged, fenders broken, no grill and the bed was trashed, but the owner needed to sell it, so I was able to pick it up for a mere $125.00. It had a 1950’s Merc flathead, however, the rest was stock.”

He said the flathead was a boiler and eventually “gave up the ghost.”

On the left, cars line up on display at the February Car of the Month event sponsored by the Canyon Lake Car Club at Sierra Park Saturday. Classic cars from both club members and non-members were invited to participate. Below, Howard Smith sits in his 1937 Ford pickup during the Canyon Lake Car Club’s Car of the Month event at Sierra Park Saturday. His car was selected as the February Car of the Month. Photo by Dawn Rankins

“That’s when I decided to upgrade the drive train,” he said. “A Ford 289 small block w/C4 trans, Pontiac rear-end and eventually the Corbair front suspension with a Mustang II rack and disc brakes were installed.”

After a quick paint job, Howard used the truck during the 1970s to transport a small six-pac camper and to pull a flat-bottom ski boat back and forth to Canyon Lake from Orange County.

“In the early 80’s, it was time for a re-do,” he said. “I figured that repairing the fenders and bed properly and adding a nice paint job would provide me with a nice, reliable driver. As is normally the case, the further I got into it, the more I felt more sophisticated upgrades were needed. Soon the frame was bare.”

It was a long trek of designing, revising and parts searching for reassembly, he said. It took Kathy and him a long time to complete, but in November 2007, he finally heard it run for the first time since the re-do journey began.

“It was finished just in time to chug over to breakfast with the Canyon Lake Car Club,” Howard said. “After installing the power window, upholstery and other odds and ends, my wife and I have been driving the blazes out of it, continuously to this day.”

The Car Club is anticipating scheduling monthly Car of the Month events throughout the year.