Gear Grabbers Grabs the Car World’s Attention

The Centennial Centre parking lot will be taken over Saturday with some of the finest cars in the region for Bonnyville’s Classic Gear Grabbers show. President of the Bonnyville Car Club, Cayle Scherger says the show has grown over the years and although not part of any larger association, the show has built quite a following.

“In past years we’ve had Top Fuel Dragsters come, John Force & his funny cars have come and made an appearance, we’ve had mini-trikes, and a car from Calgary that won one of the biggest shows in Calgary, World of Wheels. It was a Cuda,” Scherger explains the owner had a chance to put the car in other, more “prominent” shows but chose to bring it to Bonnyville; a true sign that the Gear Grabbers are grabbing the attention of the car world.

“Every year, weather permitting, we’ve upped our numbers. Last year was our most successful year with over cars.” Scherger expects this year to be the same or larger with the west end of the C2 parking lot to be full of vehicles. The field house is also used for more special or antique vehicles that may be slightly more prone to damage from weather, “usually our higher-end cars will be in there.”

It’s definitely growing and this being our sixth year we’ve exceeded our expectations, and we’re excited for more! – Cayle Scherger President Bonnyville Car Club

Prizing is unique at the Gear Grabbers show, explains Scherger, “we’re a little bit different from other car show [when it comes to awards]. We allow our registrants to pick their favourite cars. We have Top Ten trophies, and those are based on the votes from the [registrants].” It’s car show taboo to vote for your own vehicle, though it could happen, says Scherger. “We’ve also eliminated club members and executive from winning trophies. We’ve stepped away and allowed the hardware to go to the out-of-towners.” Every year the Gear Grabbers pick a theme, this year’s theme is pre-1974 Muscle Car.

The club has a huge grand prize that all registrants, excluding the car club executive and spouses, are eligible for, a trip for two to Las Vegas. The trip includes airfare, accommodations, and tickets to one of the biggest car auctions in the world.

The show is more relaxed than other shows on official circuits. There’s no pre-registration, which allows for owners to decide day off if they want to take their car out. “For car shows, it’s difficult for pre-registration because a lot of it is weather permitting. Being that it is the owner’s pride and joy, they don’t bring them out unless they want to. It is something we try to not focus on, weather, because we can’t control it.” That also always for a surprise in what will be seen from year to year at the show. Registration is from 8:00 am – 11:00 am on Saturday, July 9th.

The event is free for public viewing from 11:00 am-4:00 pm, with awards from 3:00-4:00 pm. There’s food and entertainment for the whole family. Money raised from the BBQ will benefit the Bonnyville SPCA. There’s a Farmer’s Market, Vendor’s, apparel and Car Club Memberships available on Saturday as well. One cool crowd favourtie is the Dyno; which will tell people exactly how many horsepower their vehicle actually has. Gear Grabbers asks the public to leave all pets, including dogs, at home and no riding bicycle are permitted on the car show grounds. For more information on the show, follow Gear Grabbers on Facebook or online at geargrabbers.ca.

The Bonnyville Car Club is always welcoming new members, only qualification is that you have a passion for vehicles. You do not need to own a specific type of vehicle, or even own a vehicle at all.