38th Spring Thaw set for April 21 at Heritage Park

Spring Thaw at Heritage Park is a much-anticipated gathering of special interest vehicles for Calgary and area enthusiasts. Hosted by the Nifty Fifty’s Ford Club of Calgary, the event has been held since 2018 on the paved parking lots of Heritage Park. The venue, which is an ideal location for a large car show, can showcase some 515 vehicles. The 38th edition is set to run this year on April 21 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a rain date of April 28. There are a couple of new features this year, says Heritage Park communications manager Dominic Terry.

“Our friends with the Nifty Fifty’s will, of course, be here with their amazing collection of antiques,” Terry says. “But we’ll also have a live band, Peter and the Wolves, on site that day, more food offerings, and some of our own collection of cars and trucks in the plaza for people to have a look at.”

While the park brings out some of its own vehicles, enthusiast Neil Beckett plans to showcase his 1950 Ford F-47. He bought the truck in Alberta in 2000 as a disassembled project, and had it shipped to his home in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he’d been transferred for work. “I’m an Albertan born and raised, but lived in Nova Scotia for six years,” he says. “While I had the truck there, I hadn’t really started on anything except for gathering some of the parts I’d need.”

Although he moved to Calgary in 2003, and brought the Ford with him, it was while living in Nova Scotia that he chose a direction to take with the project. At first, he thought he’d restore it to original specification. “But I met a guy there with a similar truck he’d restored, and he told me he didn’t enjoy driving it with the original straight axle front end,” Beckett says. “So, I chose to build mine as a resto-mod.”

In 2004, Beckett began assembling the 1950 Ford with a Heidts Mustang II front suspension featuring a two-inch drop in ride height. For the rear, he narrowed a 1981 Ford F-150 axle, taking 1 3/8-inch from each side. This gave him disc brakes up front, and drums on the rear. He paired the 296 cubic-inch bored and stroked flathead V8 with a Chevrolet S10 5-speed manual transmission. A Strathmore body shop replaced metal in both the front and rear fenders, cab corners and cab mounts. Paint was applied by Jannett’s Autobody Services in Bowness.

“I had the truck on the road in 2014 and have added more than 70,000 kilometres since then,” Beckett says. “We’ve driven it to Devils Lake in North Dakota, and three times out to Victoria for Deuce Days. It’s a daily driver in the summer.”

Beckett joined the Nifty Fifty’s group in 2017 and is currently activities director and vice-president. “Spring Thaw is a great way not only for our club to showcase our cars early in the year, but for other builders and clubs to gather,” Beckett says. “So many people look forward to the show.”

Another Nifty Fifty’s club member looking forward to the event is Barry Osborne. He’s owned a Ford Model A for many years, but during COVID, chose to buy a 1950s Ford product. Osborne found a 1957 Mercury Monterey two-door that is mostly original, except for fresh paint on the roof.

“It had been stored under another car on a lift, and brake fluid leaked onto the rooftop,” Osborne says. “That required a respray, and when I bought it, I had a major tune up done professionally. I’d have done it myself, but I was in a hurry to get it on the road, and what would have taken me a few weeks took the garage far less time.”

The Mercury has about 90,000 miles on it now, and Osborne says he adds close to 3,000 each driving season. It will be at Spring Thaw this year — an event Osborne says he appreciates for its charitable angle – non-perishable food and cash donations will be accepted on-site for the Calgary Food Bank. “I like the charity Spring Thaw supports, and I think it’s important,” Osborne says.

Heritage Park’s Dominic Terry sums up the event. “Spring Thaw is the unofficial kick-off to the summer season at Heritage Park,” he says. “More than 6,000 people were on site last year and for our 60th anniversary, we’ve added to the things to do and see this year. It’s always a pleasure to work with our friends in the Nifty Fifty’s Ford Club of Calgary.”

Exhibitor registration for Spring Thaw is from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and costs $20.? That includes one guest admission to Gasoline Alley. Spectators are welcome free of charge, but Heritage Park’s $8 parking fee applies. Visit www.niftyfiftysfordclub.ca for more information.

Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or gregwilliams@shaw.ca

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