Lisa Peterson fondly recalls riding in the back seat of her dad’s 1963 Studebaker GT Hawk cruising up a little hill with a dip near her home. She was about five and would excitedly ask Roy Peterson to “do the racer man” that came with a throaty rev of the engine and a little lift at the bump in the dip.
It’s a love of vehicles she’s cultivated her entire life, and passed along to her son as well.
Peterson has lived in Oak Bay for 10 years, and each of those years (except the infamous 2020 when the show was cancelled due to COVID restrictions) she parked her entourage of vehicles at the entrance to her building on Hampshire Road for the annual Oak Bay Collector Car Show.
There they tend to turn the heads of the hundreds of passersby.
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This year, the 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix she inherited from her late father (who bought it new that year, the same year she graduated) will shine alongside her white 1980 GMC Sierra 1500 and her son’s black 1977 Chevy Scottsdale C10. Speaking of cultivating, guests will want to pop by and note the innovative container garden she has growing in the GMC Sierra.
While the coronavirus pandemic has held some joy – kids birthday party parades and classic car tours of seniors homes across Greater Victoria – Peterson is thrilled for the return of the car show this September. She’s excited because it’s great for business, but also it feeds into the love of her lifelong hobby.
“I get to wake up to the roar of the engines, and the rumbling,” she said with a smile.
Vehicles start arriving at 7 a.m. with the $20 registration collected at the gate. Exhibitors enter near Foul Bay Road from the west end of Oak Bay Avenue and remain for viewing to 3 p.m.
The 21st Oak Bay Car Collector Festival is on The Avenue Sept. 12.
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