THUNDER BAY - It was all spit and polish a block down from Ribfest on Sunday, as the chrome from hotrods and speedsters glistened in the sun.
The always popular Canadian Tire Thunder By the Lake Bike Show returned to Red River Road, along with the Red River Rumble Car Show in its second year.
This year there were more than 100 registered cars and more than 60 bikes on display. The shows partner with Our Kids Count and includes a 50/50 draw. On Sunday, the pot was more than $18,000 and climbing.
This year also included a special treat, with Ryan Evans, star of the History Channel’s Counts Custom on hand for photos and autographs.
Chair of Motors and Muscles, John Trevisanutto, said that with so many cars and bikes this year it was almost impossible to pick a favourite.
“We’ve got some beautiful bikes,” he said. “Some of them are very unique. With the cars, there are so many, I don’t know if I could pick a highlighted vehicle at the risk of being tortured by the people I didn’t pick.”
One of the popular bikes on display was Doug McMillan’s custom built Harley Davidson. What started out as an electric glide classic, the custom hog won first place in its class at the bike show last year and won first place in its class in a bike show in Chicago.
McMillan said that the bike is his own design and is his first custom bike.
“It’s different,” McMillan said. “It has your own personal touches on it. You are not going to see another one passing you on the highway.”
While the hot roads and custom bikes are always a hit, the Red River Rumble also allows people to step back in time.
Russ Wanzuk of Murillo was back at the car show again to show off his 1915 Ford speedster. Known as one of the first hotrods, anyone who could afford one would peel the fenders off and take the it out on the dirt track to race.
“I always wanted one,” Wanzuk said. “I was in the states and I saw one, but when I looked at the price, I just couldn’t afford that price, so I came home and found a frame.”
With that frame, Wanzuk first fabricated the rest of the car with cardboard to make sure everything would fit. Once everything looked right, he bought the steel and or the next three years worked on bringing the 1915 speedster back to life.
“I own about 40 cars,” he said. “This one gets more attention than anything I’ve ever owned. Kids wave, I think they figure it’s a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, police officers wave and people wave. It’s just something unique, something different. You don’t know what’s coming or what’s going. It gets a lot of attention.”
