Labour of love for local car enthusiasts at Atlantic Nationals

RIVERVIEW, N.B. – As Atlantic Nationals gets underway in Moncton, many local car-lovers will be showing off their antique automobiles at the show.

Trevor Copp, from Riverview, converted a 1942 Chevrolet firetruck into a tow-truck, by removing the holder for the fire-hoses and adding a wrecker — a vintage towing attachment — that he found on Kijiji.

“There’s a lot of man hours in it,” Copp said. “My father and I would come here on Sundays and work on it, some evenings. That was the fun part.”

Copp found the firetruck at a scrap-yard two years ago. He said the previous owner had restored it 20 years ago and only drove it once. That owner mainly used it for advertisement and the truck was in disrepair.

“The paint was in bad shape,” Copp said. “There was chips in the windshield from when the snowplow would go by. It would knock up the gravel off the road.”

Copp works as a mechanic at his father’s shop, Riverview Truck Repair, where the truck also acts as an advertisement for them. He’s been a volunteer firefighter for more than 20 years which was another reason Copp was so drawn to the truck.

“It’s part of who you are,” he said referring to seeing the old firetruck for the first time. “You don’t want to see it at a scrap yard, so you bring it home and it’s like a lost puppy dog.”

Copp will be displaying his truck to the public at Centennial Park on Saturday and Sunday.

Atlantic Nationals is the biggest car show east of Montreal. It runs from Thursday until Sunday at several sites around the city of Moncton, including Centennial Park, Casino NB and Main Street.

This year’s show is honouring RCMP officers Cst. Douglas James Larche, Cst. Dave Joseph Ross, and Cst. Fabrice Georges Gévaudan who were killed in the shootings in Moncton on June 4.

Atlantic Nationals draws people from across Canada and the United States and organizers say it typically sees foot-traffic of about 100,000 people over its four days.

“It promises to be another great show this year,” Atlantic Nationals Chair Bill Doherty told Global News on Tuesday. “We’ve got a fantastic line-up of celebrities at the show… a little bit of everything, a little bit of something for everyone.”

This year’s guests include automative customizers Voodoo Larry and Gene Winfield. The latter is an 87-year-old whose cars have been featured in Hollywood movies like Blade Runner and Robocop. Rick and Kelly Dale from the television show American Restorations will also be signing autographs and talking to fans.

Copp took his truck to Atlantic Nationals last year and said people love coming over to see him.

“This is one of those cars that you can walk up to and lean on or jump right inside,” he said, explaining that his car cost only a few thousand dollars to restore and visitors often cannot touch more expensive cars.