~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~
Earlier this month at Shannonville Motorsport Park, Daniel and I got to see two completely different kinds of motorsport competing simultaneously. On the Nelson Circuit, drifters were sliding sideways and making a smoke show. At the far end of the facility, on the 1/8-mile drag strip, racers were launching in a straight line and making an even bigger smoke show.
In all the years we’ve been going to Shannonville, we’d never seen a single car go down the drag strip. The paint on the control tower is so faded, and the bleachers so weathered, that we assumed the place had been out of commission for decades. Turns out the drag strip simply can’t be used when the Pro Circuit or Full Circuit is in use, because the back straight doubles as the end of the drag strip. With the drifters only using a small portion of the track, the drag strip was open for business. And it was wild!
As expected, there was plenty of late ’60s and early ’70s American muscle lining up at the Christmas tree. A Corvette versus a Vega. A Plymouth Road Runner against a Willys Coupe. Rental cars racing against pickup trucks. Motorcycles competing against snowmobiles! It was an incredible assortment of machinery, all trying to get down to the finish line as quickly as possible.
But out in the parking lot was one of the coolest cars at Shannonville. It looked like a 1952 Chevrolet Deluxe two-door sedan in brilliant sunrise yellow, straight out of a ’50s hot rod movie. The front chrome bumper was long gone, giving the Chevy the look of an old-school drag car. There were plenty of go-fast goodies, including bigs and littles on chrome wheels, a remote-mounted tach and a billiard ball shifter. Even a couple of Moon Eyes decals for good measure.
The Chevy looked incredible, but not perfect. Nearly 75 years had taken their toll, leaving some of the original chrome trim rusty and the bright yellow paint scratched. But improvements had been made too, including very modern LED taillights fitted inside the original chrome housings. This wasn’t some museum piece. It was a real hot rod, still being driven and enjoyed.
A half-empty tube of BBQ Pringles was sitting on the front seat, so the owner couldn’t have gone far. Maybe he was going to run later that night, or maybe this vintage dragster was just out for a weekend cruise to the strip, with no intention of racing. Who knows.
But there was one little modification that caught our eye more than anything else: a Harvey’s “HOME OF THE HOT ONES” sticker on the side window.
Back in the day, the Harvey’s hamburger joint at Jane and 401 was the spot for Toronto’s street racers to meet up, work on their cars and figure out who was going to drag race whom on Hwy 400. The restaurant was so ingrained in car culture that the owners even sponsored a ’57 Chevy Bel Air drag car that competed at Cayuga. Harvey’s offered window decals and windbreakers proudly displaying the “Home of the Hot Ones” slogan.
Like a badge of honour, or an identification card telling you that the guy or girl pulling up next to you at the stoplight was ready to run. How cool is that?
We only learned about that legendary Harvey’s a few months ago, never imagining we’d come across one of those decals in the wild. Maybe it’s an original that’s survived for half a century, or maybe it’s a modern reproduction. Either way, seeing it on a yellow Chevy dragster at Shannonville was a real connection to vintage Toronto car culture. The burger joint is long gone, and those wild nights on Hwy 400 are history, but that little sticker proves something wonderful.
The Home of the Hot Ones may be history, but the hot ones are still out there.
