2 weeks Ago By Greg Williams
Article content A 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup is Kieran Comeau’s daily driver, but when cruising season hits a rather special 1955 Ford Crown Victoria becomes his favoured weekend ride. “I grew up with this car,” the Calgarian says, and adds, “It was my grandpas, and he I attended every Spring Thaw – and just about every other car show there was – together.” Calgary’s Nifty Fifty’s Ford Club has hosted its Spring Thaw event for close to 40 years.
Until 2020 and the COVID shutdown, Comeau and his grandpa Larry Duncan were at every Spring Thaw with the Crown Victoria. When Duncan died in 2023, however, he left Comeau to carry on their tradition. Comeau will again have the Crown Victoria at this year’s Spring Thaw which returns to Heritage Park’s expansive parking lots on April 20.
“There is no radio in the car, so anytime we went anywhere in it, we’d roll the windows down and start singing Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again,” Comeau explains. “I still do that and will do it again when I take it out for Spring Thaw.” Grandpa Larry Duncan grew up in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.
He dropped out of high school to work on cars and eventually moved to Calgary and enrolled at SAIT. With formal mechanics training, Duncan managed gas stations before getting involved with heavy duty mechanics and school bus maintenance. His next career lasted 24 years as he worked with the Calgary Fire Department tending to its rolling fleet.
“He loved anything with gears in it,” his grandson says. “And he’d do mechanical work and body work for family, friends, and fire fighters. In fact, that’s how he found the Crown Victoria.
A co-worker had asked him to go pick up some tires, and in the garage, he saw this Ford. Not only did he get the tires, but he got the car, too.” That was in 1998, when Duncan was close to wrapping up the restoration of a 1929 Ford Model A pickup.
After the Model A, he turned his attention to the ‘55 Crown Victoria. In his southwest Calgary two-car garage he completely restored the Crown Victoria from the ground up. The original 292 cubic-inch V8 was replaced with a 312 c.
i. engine, which Comeau says his grandpa built. “He did all of the work, with the exception of the paint and the installation of the seat covers,” Comeau says.
“I was born in 2006, and he was just putting the finishing touches on it then.” From the get-go, Comeau says he and his grandpa were close. “We were best friends,” he shares.
“We spent our weekends together, and if there wasn’t a car show, he’d say, ‘Let’s go run some errands.’ That involved stopping at Timmies for coffee and a doughnut, Canadian Tire for some tools, and A&W for lunch.” Through it all, Duncan mentored his grandson.
They’d work on the cars together, which also included a 1968 Thunderbird acquired when the Crown Victoria was done. Sometimes they’d spend 10 or more hours a week in the garage preparing for a car show or simply performing routine maintenance. “When I turned 13, he handed me a set of keys to the Crown Victoria and told me, ‘When I’m done with it, I hope you’ll treat and cherish the car like I do.
’” Comeau says the Crown Victoria remains stored in his grandma’s garage. During cruising season, he’ll pick it up Friday evening, cruise all weekend, and tuck it back in on Sunday. “I’ve collected some of my own tools, but all of his tools are still in the garage and I often use them when working on the car,” he says.
“That always brings back a lot of memories, and it’s like he’s with me.” Comeau enjoys working with his hands, and after graduating from high school, he got a job working at his neighbour’s machine shop. “He watched me grow up and saw that I was into the blue-collar aspects of life,” Comeau says.
“I’ve started my first-year apprenticeship to become a machinist.” If attending Spring Thaw on Sunday, April 20 (rain date April 27), look for Comeau and his grandpa’s Tropical Rose and Snowshoe White 1955 Ford Crown Victoria. All makes and models are welcome at Spring Thaw with a $20 registration fee, from classics to tuners.
Registration takes place from 8 a.m. to noon, and most of the associated fees go to charities and a mechanic’s scholarship at SAIT.
Donations of food and cash for the Calgary Food Bank are accepted on-site. Public parking is not free at Heritage Park but is available. Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).
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