Collectors strut stuff in winter
Car-show season is over. But Alberta enthusiasts with specialinterest vehicles can look forward to Auto Value’s 47th-annual World of Wheels in February.
While the Calgary event seems far off, show chairman Bill Knecht is currently hard at work.
And he’d like some help from the province’s car community.
“We need to get the word out,” Knecht says.
“The show has gone through some changes, but we’re back on program. And we’d like to put a new face on the show.”
Knecht first got involved with the World of Wheels in 1992, and soon became the organizer and main contact for this Calgary hotrod, truck and motorcycle show.
Knecht, as commercial chairman, isn’t working alone. Tom Meheden is the vehicle-entry chairman, and together the pair printed more than 2,700 show flyers and handed them out at many of the late summer and early fall car shows around Alberta and B.C.
“We personally handed out all of those show flyers,” Knecht says. “We approached several cars that we’d never seen before at our show — and if it’s new, we need to see it at the World of Wheels.”
Calgary’s World of Wheels often gets criticized for being a staid show, one where the same vehicles return each year.
Knecht admits the show does need to see more action. To give adrenalin junkies a fix he has booked acts into the “action arena,” including a motorcycle stunt show and a monster truck car crush.
There’s also the return of Zeebs’ battle of the techs, an engine-building competition that pits gearheads against the clock as they race to assemble and start a V-8 engine.
“The big thing is to get fresh, new cars each year,” Knecht says. “Before I stepped down in ’08, we had 90 to 95 per cent new vehicles each year. That means that of 300 cars on display, maybe 30 of them weren’t new.
“Yes, you are going to get some repeats, but not many.”
He continues, “We want to see neat new stuff this year, and we’ve had a great response so far.”
If you’ve been working on a vehicle and would like to share it in Calgary’s World of Wheels Feb. 22 to 24, the cost to register is $52.50. For that money, an entrant gets a goody bag, T-shirt, a 10-by-20-foot space to showcase their ride and two weekend passes to the show (worldofwheels.com, or email worldofwheels@shaw.ca).
Judging is done independently by the International Show Car Association (ISCA), and there are several vehicle award categories, including the Jim Leslie Award worth $2,500. This award, sponsored by Kal Tire, is only for never-seen-before vehicles, and builders must be residents of Alberta.
To encourage youths (between the ages of 15 and 25) to enter a vehicle they’ve customized or restored, there are the ISCA Rising Star Awards, with categories including overall rising star, paint, engine, interior, individual class and display.
And completely new this year is the Diesel Powerplant Performance Corner presented by Diesel Performance Specialists.
“There’ll be clubs with theme displays (awards by Competition Insurance) and we’re talking to new commercial vendors, as well,” Knecht says.
“We’d like to take the show up another notch.”