Ken Anderson's first car was worth showing off.
The Nelson native owned a red, two-door hardtop 1951 Chevy that he bought from one of his brothers. Car ownership was all about customization at the time, and Anderson's friends with cars liked to add unique touches to their rides before cruising up and down Baker Street.
“There were a lot of guys who had different cars that they fixed up just with whatever they could afford. You'd buy chrome wheel desks, baby moons, reversed rims were a fad back then.”
The spirit of that time returns to Baker Street this week for the 20th anniversary of the Nelson Road Kings' Queen City Cruise car show. The event opens Friday evening with the parade of vintage cars touring Nelson from Railtown to Nelson Avenue, then continues Saturday with the downtown show and Poker Run.
As one of the original Road Kings, the now 80-year-old Anderson attends the event every year. The parking stalls packed with vintage cars, mostly from the 1950s and 60s, still inspire him today as they did so many decades ago.
“I go downtown and wander around and look at cars and, you know, my mouth waters.”
The Nelson Road Kings date back to 1962, when members wore royal purple jackets with the club's name and logo on the back. They shared their passion for cars but also were active in the community by hosting dances at Lakeside Park, car washes and charity fundraisers.
Marcello Piro, the current Road Kings president, says car ownership in the 1960s was about status as well as a way to socialize.
“Those times were different. Not everybody had a car, and if you had a car, you cruised around and hung out. You maybe cruised Baker Street back in the day or you just parked on the side and people walked up to you and you chatted. It was a big social thing for them.”
Club members also stopped to help motorists in need. Once the car was fixed, the drive would receive a customized card announcing the driver had just been assisted by the Road Kings.
The original Road Kings dissolved by the end of the decade as cars gradually became secondary to its young members who were starting families. But in 2003 the club was revitalized by a group of about 20 people who wanted to put on a local car show.
There are other car shows in B.C. — the much larger Langley Cruise-In, for example, takes place this week in Aldergrove — so in 2003 Nelson locals went to work handing out flyers at other shows that promoted the first Queen City Cruise.
Michael Keegan was the revived Road Kings' first president. He remembers being surprised by the nearly 200 cars that arrived for the first Nelson event and credits the venue for its success.
“When we first decided to do this show, a lot of people wanted to have it in the park, or they wanted to have it in the parking lot of the old arena. And I put my foot down as the president, and said, 'No, we're having it on Baker Street. We're going to get a permit. We're going to put old cars with our old buildings and see what happens.'"
He adds with a chuckle: "And I think I was right.”
The Queen City Cruise has since grown to about 400 cars and is one of Nelson's biggest tourism attractions. (Although it is the being promoted as the 20th anniversary, the show is technically either 21 years old or 19, depending on how you count two lost years to the COVID-19 pandemic. But like a car's odometer, sometimes it's better to ignore the numbers.)
Piro credits its success to community buy-in. Volunteers begin planning in January and downtown businesses offer financial support. The organization has also continued its tradition of charity, which Piro said began in earnest when Hume Hotel owner Dave Martin donated his 1955 Corvette to be auctioned off as a fundraiser for Kootenay Lake Hospital. This year the Road Kings have raised money for the Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association.
But the draw of the cars for attendees, Piro says, is deeper than shiny rims and the occasional fuzzy dice.
“Maybe it's family, maybe grandpa used to take them to the Dairy Queen or family vacation in a certain car, it was their high school car that was a fun time, somebody gave them that car to go to university or college. I think it's just their connection to a good time in their life.”
