Garry Singbeil was a 16-year-old walking to high school in early 1967 when he spotted a “For Sale” sign in the window of a 1954 Ford.
The Lancer Maroon sedan with V8 power and an automatic transmission was in showroom condition.
Mr. Gillis, a local farmer, was selling the car he had owned since new for $100. It had travelled just 76,800 kilometres and the seats had been protected with dealer-installed seat covers since new.
A budding entrepreneur, Singbeil managed 15 carriers delivering the Regina Leader-Post newspaper which arrived by train in his hometown of Assiniboia, Sask. — an hour south of Moose Jaw.
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Garry Singbeils 1954 sat in a wheat field at his grandparents Saskatchewan farm for more than three decades before he rescued it.
Alyn Edwards, Driving
Singbeil bought the car and drove it throughout his high school years. He rolled up the kilometres and memories with his Ford. The car would convey Singbeil and his friends to weekend country dances held in southern Saskatchewan villages like Mossbank, Rockglen, Willowbunch and Limerick.
“The big thing was to get in the cars during the dance intermission, drive into a stubble field and drink beer,” he said.
On one occasion, he realized there wasn’t enough beer to go around for his friends. The quick-thinking teenager reached for a red plug-in emergency beacon stored in the glove compartment.
As he drove across a field toward a group of teenage drinkers, he turned on the red flashing beacon and the teenagers ran to their cars leaving their beer behind.
“At 16, you do all kinds of stupid stuff,” Singbeil grins.
Singbeil joined the Canadian military after high school and, unable to take the car to boot camp, parked it in a shed on his grandparents’ farm.
As he pursued a career in military policing, the car migrated from the shed into an area beside the barn and finally into a field. Singbeil left the Canadian Forces after eight years to manage loss prevention for Eaton’s stores and worked as a senior investigator for TransLink’s Coast Mountain
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Gary Singbeil and son with the rescued 1954 Ford.
Alyn Edwards, Driving
Bus Company before retiring to Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast in April of this year.
He had often thought about his old Ford and hated the thought of it rotting away in a wheat field. Ten years ago, his brother-in-law called to say the old car was attracting attention and people were asking if it was for sale.
“He was concerned that parts were going to go missing,” Singbeil says.
He took 24 hours to think about what to do with the car and then made the decision to retrieve the old Ford he had owned since he was 16.
It sat in his garage for several years after he trailered it to Gibsons. The car was in good shape except for rotted front floor panels and some rust in the lower rear fenders.
He began the restoration with help from his son’s father-in-law, an experienced body man. He bet his brother $100 the job would be done in two years. Singbeil lost the bet. The scope of work on the car expanded and the job took seven years and cost nearly $40,000.
“My wife and I have an agreement to discuss any expenditures over $250,” he says. “She went over that several times without discussion and I went $10,000 over budget with the car.”
The restoration costs soared as Singbeil worked to modernize the 60-year-old Ford. The old drum brakes and manual steering were replaced with a power rack-and-pinion steering system with a new steering column. Disc brakes were installed for safety.
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The 1954 Ford was totally disassembled for restoration.
Alyn Edwards, Driving
Creature comforts were added, including power windows and air conditioning. The original flathead-V8 engine with two-speed automatic transmission was replaced with modern power from a 1993 Mustang.
The choice of a fresh up-to-date colour came down to two shades of blue. After spraying samples to be studied in bright sunlight, Singbeil chose the Toyota colour Bayou Blue.
Singbeil kept a complete log of the time and cost of the restoration. He spent 683 hours on the project.
“I am fortunate to have friends with the skills I don’t have,” he said. “Restoring cars brings people together.”
The car was finished last October and was shown at the Sleepy Hollow car show in Sechelt this summer.
“It’s an incredible feeling to drive the streets and see people looking at the car I have owned for all these years,” he says. “It drives much better than it did back then. It’s amazing.”
Singbeil says the restoration is a tribute to the five brothers in the family of which he is No. 4. Since his car is a 1954, the personalized license plate
“Bro54” says it all.
Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com
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