When Manitoba historian, Dr. Gordon Goldsborough, travelled from the Ontario border to the Saskatchewan border last summer, he was surprised at the amount of people who contacted him after the tour, asking if he had plans to do it again. One of those phone calls were from folks in Crystal City, inviting Goldsborough to recreate the driving tour on the old Sunshine Highway that leads through their town,
Established in 1921, the Sunshine Highway was meant to promote tourism and raise awareness about the vibrant communities along its route, from the southern end in Sioux City, Iowa USA to the northern end in Brandon.
This past Tuesday, a fairly sizeable group of adventurous travelers ventured on the road trip that started at the Canada-U.S. Border south of Crystal City and took them down those dusty roads, through various towns and villages, winding their way along the Sunshine Highway to complete their driving tour in Brandon. Yes, much of it was paved highway, but there were quite a few gravel and dirt roads along that 105-mile stretch.
What's unique about this convoy is all 14 vehicles were built before 1940.
"It was sort of a re-creation of a drive that they probably would have done a hundred years ago, and so it gives us awareness as to how the highways have evolved over the years," explains Dr. Goldsborough. "Of course, back then they were all dirt roads. A few of them, more major roads, might have been graveled. But of course, none of them would have been paved like they are today. So, if nothing else it should have made us grateful for the highways we enjoy today."
A major feature of the re-creation of the 1921 event was that 80% of Tuesday's drive was on unpaved roads. This is significant, given our country roads aren't smooth and raise a lot of dust in the hot dry summer weather. One might think the ride would have been extremely rough over wash-board roads and potholes; however Goldsborough says not so!
"Those cars were designed for the roads on which they drove. One of the notable differences between those cars and the cars we drive today is the suspension was transverse, it went from side to side as opposed to today where it goes from front to back," he explains. "And as a result, these cars, even though they just have narrow little tires they ride quite smoothly on these old bumpy roads."
You can listen to more with Dr. Goldsborough, below
Throughout the day, Dr. Goldsborough, Head Researcher & Webmaster of the Manitoba Historical Society, was in a more modern vehicle in order to videotape this historic ride for a future documentary film that he will be producing in the future.
List of the participating vehicles below, including their year, make and model.
(All photo credits go to Dr. Gordon Goldsborough)