Hundreds of classic cars, drivers and spectators made their way to 8th Street in Saskatoon on Saturday for the city’s Drive and Shine event.
The cars cruised a stretch of the road while people sat on lawn chairs on the roadside to watch.
It was part of this year’s tribute, of sorts, to the annual Show and Shine event, which takes place downtown. It typically draws thousands of cars and people yearly from across Canada.
The event has been a staple in the city for the last 39 years and organizers said it simply wasn’t an option to cancel the event this year.
“We thought we had to do something so we did something called the Drive and Shine, where you go around with your classic cars to all these different businesses (along 8th Street),” said co-organizer and Rock 102 personality Mark (Shack) Loshack.
He says people were encouraged to take pictures of their favourite rides and submit them online for their chance to win prizes — a virtual show and shine, in a sense.
There were multiple pit stops where cars parked to allow people to check out what was under the hood of a bevy of vehicles including Mustangs, Lamborghinis, muscle cars, roadsters — you name it.
The cruising theme brought car enthusiast Marv Friesen back to his childhood, when he said people would grab an ice cream or a burger and check out the vintage vehicles driving up and down the strip.
“It’s really a spectacle to see how many cars going up and down 8th Street,” Friesen said.
“Really takes you back to 30 years, 35 years ago when I was in high school. It’s what a person did if you were a car guy.”
Commonly known as the Mustang man, Friesen said it was a great way to have some sort of a show while being safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like Friesen, Brian Kendall has been participating in the show for over three decades. He says there isn’t any other place in the city where you can see any make and model vehicle.
“It’s the project cars and they all show up and it just gives you access to every car you might want to see.”
Organizers and participants hope the biggest outdoor car show in Western Canada is back to normal next year, but no one was complaining about the 2020 edition. A couple of people told Global News that 8th Street has been the spot to check out classic cars for decades.
Loshack says this admiration was a driving force in not cancelling the event.
“This year we just wanted people to get there out and drive while being safe and showing their vehicles.”