The Big Brothers Big Sisters Show ‘n’ Shine brings together a wide range of car enthusiasts to raise money for mentoring programs in the community. This year, a total of 44 entrants came out to the show, raising a total of $3640, including a matching grant from the Wal Mart Women in Retail fund.
One of the many highlights of the show were a pair of Studebakers, a 1961 Hawk owned by Harvey Litvanyi and a 1957 Silver Hawk owned by Robert Scheidt. Litvanyi’s ‘61 took home the Best Car trophy.
Litvanyi’s Hawk was a Canadian model, one of 223 built in the country that year. It was also the end of the line for the Hawk model, with 1961 being the last year for that body style.
The goal with the car was to recreate what rolled out of the factory over 50 years ago, Litvanyi explains. When he found it in Whitby Ontario, it had a fresh coat of paint but wasn’t drivable and didn’t have any trim on it. He says it he was lucky enough to find someone who had wrecked one in order to find the trim he could salvage, and says that Studebaker owners do share parts, but the body was the most difficult part of restoring the car, noting that a windshield is impossible to find, for example.
“Studebaker people do share parts at nominal fees. You have to, because there are none on the market, there are no reproductions of their parts,” Litvanyi says.
Scheidt adds that part of the problem is that when you’re restoring a coupe like the Hawk, you’re putting together a car that everyone wants to preserve. He says that it’s a bit easier to restore a sedan since there’s more unused parts out there.
The car was a way to get back to his own past, Litvanyi says.
“I owned an identical car in 1962 and owned it for a couple of years. As the hobby grew in the past couple of years I decided that if I was going to get into it I’d try to replace what I had originally. I was lucky enough to find one.”
The distinctive pink paint job on his car wasn’t his choice, Litvanyi admits, but he says it’s also something that catches people’s eye, and thinks it’ something people are drawn to because it is so different.
This is just one of 15 Studebakers Scheidt owns, and he says that has love of the brand began in 1965, when he bought a 1961 Lark when working Yorkton.
“It was pretty much the fastest car in town when I bought it... Lots of power and nothing to haul.”
He doesn’t know why he started collecting them, but started from rebuilding another Lark a hired man wrecked. He says he got hooked from there, and his collection grew as a result.
People’s Choice, Mike Moors, 1969 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro.
Competitor’s Choice, Mike Moors, 1969 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro
Kid’s Choice, Alvin Mcfadyen, 1969 Land Rover.
Best Car, Harvey Litvanyi, 1961 Studebaker Hawk.
Best Truck, George Beddome, 1957 Chev ½ ton.
Best Dodge, Dustin Heddon, 1967 Plymouth Belvedere Station Wagon.
Best Ford, Merv Weinmeister, 1930 Ford Model A Coupe.
Best Chevrolet, Mike Pasloski, 1956 Chev Truck.
Best GM, Ron McKay, 1958 Pontiac Parisienne.
Best Bike, Sid Roenspies, 2008 Yamaha Raider.
Best Project, Norm Konechny, 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible.
Best Metric Cruiser, Walter Wilkinson, 1975 Triumph Spitfire Convertible.
Best Sound System, Carl Steciuk, 1966 Dodge 100 Long Box.
