Antique cars bring Le Renaissance-manoir Stfrancis residents for a trip down memory lane
On Tuesday evening members of the Eastern Townships Vintage Automobile Club (ETVAC) took a detour from their usual hangout at St. Andrew’s Church in Lennoxville and instead cruised over to Le Renaissancemanoir St-francis to offer an antique car show to the residents.
While the weather posed somewhat of a deterrent, half a dozen members rolled into the parking lot of the manor between 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Residents were able to sit out on their balconies and have a look at the vintage vehicles, which included a mustang, an MG, and a 1966 Ford Econoline truck, among others.
More passionate auto enthusiasts came outside for a closer look.
“I learned to drive in a 1957 Chev,” one manor resident said, while admiring ETVAC member Alan Sharman’s green Mustang. “It had an automatic transmission with a push button on the dash,” she added.
Another resident said when she was younger she used to drive a 1972 Mustang similar to Sharman’s.
“Wow, you were rich,” a friend remarked. “No, I was single,” she replied, chuckling.
Looking at the vintage cars, the residents reminisced about driving around in their younger days. They also remembered how hard those large wide vehicles were to park.
ETVAC President Don Watson said the club, established in 1977 has around 45 members, 29 of which are fairly active.
Club members usually do a Tuesday cruise and park in the lot next to St. Andrew’s Church in Lennoxville.
Watson explained that Renaissance Manor resident Ron Olsen contacted a club member and suggested they swing by the residence.
“We put the call out,” Watson said. “It’s difficult to see who will show up. Sometimes there are 10, sometimes 20, sometimes three.”
When asked if the cars are usually up on blocks under lock and key, Watson said not at all.
“They’re not show queens. They’re all what we call drivers,” Watson said. While some vintage car owners meticulously rebuild engines and transport their vehicles to and from shows on flatbeds, Watson said most of the ETVAC members drive their cars fairly regularly.
They do, however, take very good care of them, he added.
“This is like a new car. It’s as clean underneath as it is on top,” Watson said, pointing to his canary yellow MG.
“This is something we’ll probably repeat at some point,” Watson said, happy to take another trip to the manor.