Collector Classics
Silver Avenue named for brothers Hugh and Will, whose property is now covered by giant Metrotown Shopping Centre
They were once one of the most influential families in B. C., but all that remains, discovers Alyn Edwards, are a handful of classic cars.
In the early part of the last century, William Silver was a Burnaby alderman and one of the municipality’s first property developers.
He and his wife Belle, along with their four sons, occupied a large house on sprawling property at the corner of Kingsway and McKay streets. Much of that property is now occupied by Burnaby’s giant Metrotown Shopping Centre.
Silver became wealthy selling property fronting Kingsway that had increased in value with the opening of the Inter Urban rail line that ran down the middle of the road linking Vancouver to New Westminster.
Silver never drove. But he loved the beauty and style of the best automobiles of the time. He purchased new luxury Winton automobiles in both 1911 and 1912 to be followed by a magnificent 1913 Peerless touring car and a 1917 Pierce Arrow. These were luxury automobiles costing between $ 5,000 and $ 6,500 at a time when a Model T Ford cost $ 500. He relied on his oldest son to drive the family cars.
Two of his sons, Will and Hugh, operated Silver’s Garage on Kingsway near the family home, selling gasoline and doing automotive repairs. Although he never drove, Hugh claimed he had been trained as a race car mechanic in the United States.
In 1929, Will Silver purchased a 1915 Pierce Arrow automobile that had been originally owned by Vancouver sugar magnate Benjamin T. Rogers. The original cost of the roadster was $ 6,500 and it had been factory fitted with a cast aluminum removable winter top.
Early photographs show the car on property at Vancouver’s Granville Street and 57th Avenue while construction of Rogers’ new home was underway. B. T. Rogers had named his new estate Shannon. Sadly, he died before the house was completed. The original home still exists in what is now the Shannon Mews townhouse development.
By 1936, bachelor brothers Will and Hugh Silver had lost their parents and lived alone in the family home. Inexplicably, they left all the cars in longterm storage on the property, never to drive them again.
The 1915 and 1917 Pierce Arrow cars, along with a 1924 Stutz Speedway Six automobile they had acquired, were stored in a wood frame garage at the rear of their property. The 1913 Peerless and a 1930 Stutz Blackhawk were left in the basement of the house.
In January 1965, a heavy snowfall caused the roof of the garage to collapse leaving the ancient cars exposed to the elements. Members of the Vancouver Chapter of the Vintage Car Club of Canada were quick to come to the rescue led by George Wood, owner of Carson Truck Lines.
Paul Bolam was president of the car club at that time. He recalls Hugh Silver as a quiet lame man who had polio when he was young. His older brother Will was very deaf.
Hugh Silver was very protective of the cars and wouldn’t let anyone see them up until the time of the garage collapse. But he loved to talk about the cars.
“The furniture in the house was covered by sheets with dust on everything,” Bolam recalls. “I asked Hugh why there was still a calendar from 1936 on the wall and he said that was the year their mother died. Nothing got done after that.”
The two Pierce Arrow cars along with the Stutz were still in original condition when removed from the garage to temporary storage in two highway trailers parked at the Carson Truck Lines Burnaby yard on Myrtle Street.
A nine- minute film of the cars being rescued was taken at the time and tells the story. The garage was eventually rebuilt and, in 1970, the cars were returned to the Silver’s property.
But by that time, Will had died. Hugh died in early 1971. He had left each of the five cars to separate people. The City of Burnaby got the property for unpaid taxes.
The Stutz Blackhawk was bequeathed to the lady who lived next door to the Silver brothers, while the 1924 Stutz Speedway Six was given to a man who had painted their house in the 1930s.
George Wood got the 1915 Pierce Arrow roadster and fellow Vintage Car Club member Alex Thompson received the 1917 Pierce Arrow touring. Both Pierce Arrows and the 1924 Stutz Speedway Six are now in a private collection in the Cariboo region. The 1930 Stutz Blackhawk sedan is owned by a family in Powell River.
The 1913 Peerless six- passenger torpedo went to Wilf Sheetz, a mechanic who had impressed the Silver brothers with his talents. He also got the residue of Hugh Silver’s estate. When Wilf died, Nigel Leedham of Coquitlam purchased the car.
The 5,000- pound touring car is all original except for new paint applied by the previous owner. It has been driven on several vintage car tours by Leedham and his son Michael.
All five cars that had been stored out of sight for decades by the eccentric brothers who operated Silver’s Garage on Kingsway, remain in British Columbia as a lasting legacy.
A bigger part of what they left behind is the property occupied by much of Burnaby’s Metrotown Shopping Centre. The only physical reminder of the pioneer family that once owned the property along Kingsway is Silver Avenue, named in their honour.