AWARD-WINNING SASKATCHEWAN CAR ON AUCTION BLOCK
A rare Saskatchewan car that was once judged the best Canadian car in an international antique car rally is up for sale.
It’s a 1927 Star and was owned by the late Alex Gervais of Alida, near Estevan. The Star, made by Durant Motors from 1922 to 1928, was a basic, low-priced car and a competitor to the Ford Model T.
This particular Star was a star at Expo 67, the World’s Fair in Montreal during Canada’s Centennial Year in 1967.
This was the only Saskatchewan entry in an antique car rally that saw more than 100 cars built between 1902 and 1940 travel to Expo 67 in Montreal. Entries came from Canada, the U.S. and England.
Louis Gervais is auctioning off this car, as well as dozens of others his father owned, on August 4. He says no one in the family is interested in taking over the car collection, so everything is being put up for sale.
He says this Star was one of his dad’s favourites. “For a long time he kept in the garage attached to the house. My mom’s new car would stay outside. This was one of his special cars.”
His dad acquired this car in the early 1960s.
“Dad bought it from a widow in Virden, Manitoba. In her husband’s will, he said that Alex Gervais should have the first chance to buy the Star. He was a car dealer, and my dad had bought cars from him. When Dad went there to buy the Star, he also bought five other cars from the estate.”
This Star was a rare six-cylinder model (most are fourcylinders) in mint condition, and had only 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometres) on it.
“All he had to do was re-paint the trim on the wooden-spoked wheels,” Gervais says.
When Alex Gervais heard about the Canadian Tire Antique Car Rally during Canada’s Centennial Year, he decided to enter his Star. This was the only Star in the rally.
At the time, Canadian Tire had not expanded to Western Canada. There were three starting points: Halifax, N.S., Windsor, Ont., and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Entrants then drove their antique cars to Expo in Montreal, and stopped along the way in various communities to show them off.
“Dad bought a new three-ton Ford truck and put the Star in the back of the truck, and then drove to Sault Ste. Marie,” he recalls.
This was one of only four cars from Western Canada; there was also one from Alberta and two from Manitoba. The rest were from Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. There were also nine entries from the United States and five entries from England, including a 1909 Rolls-royce owned by Lord Montagu, the founder of the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, about 120 kilometres southwest of London. Lord Montagu made the trip to Canada and drove in the rally.
Louis Gervais, who was a teenager at the time, didn’t make the trip so that he could stay home and look after the family farm. His parents and younger brother went to Sault Ste. Marie, and then drove the Star to Expo in Montreal.
In all, about 25 cars left Sault Ste. Marie, including a 1908 Cadillac, a 1931 Ford Coupe and a 1940 Packard. The route snaked through a number of communities — including Sudbury, North Bay, Barrie and Newmarket — and usually included stops at local Canadian Tire stores and parks, where residents could come and look at the antique cars.
In Toronto, they met up with the participants who had started in Windsor. Then the two groups headed off to Expo in Montreal.
When these participants, as well as the group from Atlantic Canada, arrived at Expo in Montreal, all of the cars were judged.
Gervais’ 1927 Star finished third overall, behind two cars from England, a 1922 Morris Oxford and a 1928 Bentley — making this Star the top Canadian car.
When they returned home from Expo, the Gervais family and their car were warmly welcomed.
“There was a big dance when he got back home. And then we went to a lot of fairs in the area and he showed off that 1927 Star, the car that went to Expo,” Gervais remembers.
He says his father continued to show off the car in parades and fairs in the area for many years.