Cruise to countryside where anything that goes, goes

JIM KENZIE FOR THE TORONTO STAR

A pair of Corvairs: a customized turquoise 1961 coupe, and a yellow second-generation convertible, 1965 or older.

Jim Kenzie

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

LAMBETH, ONT.–Planes, trains and automobiles.

Toss in a few boats, some cars that can act like boats, plus a handful of motorcycles, and that pretty much describes the annual Steve Plunkett Country Cruize In car show, held last weekend on the philanthropist's estate southwest of London, Ont.

Unlike many shows, there's no particular theme here: customs, classics, hot rods, race cars, sports cars, regular if older (pre-1985) cars – if it has wheels, you'll probably see it here.

Plunkett also holds a fascination for vintage airplanes, and the aerobatic show is always a highlight.

Among the boats was the Miss Supertest III hydroplane, which was the scourge of powerboat racing during the late 1950s and early '60s. It is, by the way, absolutely huge.

New this year was an Amphicar exhibit. These German-built things weren't very good boats and weren't very good cars, but they were both, and owners had a ball taking spectators for rides in Plunkett's Pond.

Plunkett began by collecting a nice range of vintage Cadillacs. He took to inviting a few friends to bring their cars over for a visit. It has evolved and last weekend's was the sixth annual event, which is billed as the biggest car show in Canada, and probably one of the largest in the world.

How many cars? Probably in the low thousands. And while the returns aren't in yet, the event generally draws thousands of spectators, and raises in the neighbourhood of $200,000 for some 23 largely medical and service club charities. Primary among them is Jesse's Journey, which supports research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Here are some snaps I took of this year's event. Not all the cars had identifying placards, nor were their owners always nearby to answer questions, so I apologize if the identifications aren't 100 per cent accurate.

Just enjoy the glorious shapes and colours.

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