Unique vehicles draw crowds to Battlefords car show weekend

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It was a fixer-upper, but that didn’t matter. He spent countless hours tinkering away, turning the old truck into something he was proud to call his own. 

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Unique vehicles draw crowds to Battlefords car show weekend

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His girlfriend at the time was just as fond of the truck as he was. 

“We were heading out to the farm, and I asked her if she wanted to drive,” Parkinson recalled. 

She eagerly hopped behind the wheel and took off down a grid road. Unfortunately, the drive didn’t last long. 

“She hit a patch of gravel, the truck caught and ended up rolling. It totaled the truck off.” 

While Parkinson eventually found another vehicle, the accident stuck with his girlfriend. Even after they married, she never completely got over being the one behind the wheel when it rolled. 

Then, decades later, she stumbled across a familiar-looking truck during a trip to Craik, Sask. 

“She happened to see a truck in a compound,” said Parkinson. “The guy there told her, ‘That’s not my truck, it belongs to a collector, and there’s no way he’d ever sell it.’” 

She shared the story of the truck she had rolled as a teenager and left her contact information behind. 

The collector was touched by the tale and eventually called her back to make a deal. A few weeks later, Parkinson’s wife headed off on what he believed was another horse trip. 

“She called me and said there was something wrong with the truck she was driving,” he said. 

When Parkinson stepped outside to see what had happened to the vehicle, he instead found a surprise waiting for him – a truck nearly identical to the one he had lost all those years ago, strapped to a trailer. 

“I just couldn’t believe it. I asked, ‘Well, whose is it?’ She said, ‘It’s yours, dummy. I bought it for you.’” 

After restoring the interior, dressing up the engine compartment and bringing the body back to life, Parkinson and his long-lost truck have become regulars on the local car show circuit. 

Interior of Kelly Parkinson’s truck. (Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

Kelly Parkinson has also restored a 1970 Honda CT70 K0 to match his truck. (Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

1953 tow truck reveal 

During the weekend, BVAC’s 1953 tow truck was revealed.  

The vehicle was originally owned by Fred Light and used at his service station, Lighthouse Service. After the Light family shared it with BVAC, members quickly got to work, determined to preserve a piece of local history that might otherwise have been lost. 

(Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

They proudly revealed the truck during their show on Saturday, and received over $700 in donations to covering the cost of repairs.

During the shows: photo gallery

(Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

(Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

(Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com