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Chrome and Colour Thank you for your interest in Chrome and Colour, which provides fascinating stories of craftsmanship and the people who restore these rides. Anyone wishing copies of Chrome and Colour, please contact the author at encom108@gmail.com and we will gladly arrange a book for you. Books are hardcover, updated to 213 pages with additional vehicles and stories.
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| CHEK TV interview with Garry Foster: |
CHEK Upside: Local author pens book honouring Island’s car culture Foster wrote a book entitled Chrome and Colour, which features automotive tales from around the island throughout its 200 pages, with all proceeds from the book going to support veterans suffering from PTSD.
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Podcast available at any of these links: News & Reviews:
Book Review at Old Autos (pdf article):
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Listen to Garry’s Podcast
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Foreword by Tom Cotter 
“Garry Foster’s interest in cars mirrors my own eclectic tastes: Pontiac Gasser, yup. C-1 road racing-themed Corvette, I’ll take that too! — Tom Cotter, |
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Glimpse of the Table of Contents: Inheritances can arrive in many shapes and sizes, but when they arrive on four wheels powered by a 428ci Cobra Jet, then your smiles are ever-lasting. |
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2. Victoria’s Vintage Vette Alert minds discover rare finds. It was curiosity in 1990 that caused Jim Sloan to enter the garage of his fiancé, at that time, after she made a few references to an “old car under a cover”. Sloan, who had only a casual interest in older cars, could have easily dismissed that deciding moment. Fortuitously, he has anything but an idle mind. One quick peak under the dusty cover and Sloan awakened a sleeping giant: Chevrolet’s classic two-seater Corvette. |
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3. Just Right GMC In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Don Wilson had some good times in a friend’s 1957 GMC pickup. In February 2003 good times were back again. |
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4. Historic ‘Candy Apple’ Roadster In 1960 several teens were huddled near Victoria High School when a street rod with bulby rear fenders rumbled by. “That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen!” exclaimed Jim Jennings from within the group. Ironically, three decades later Jim would rescue and restore that same roadster, which is quickly becoming an icon on the West Coast. |
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5. Canadian Triple White Coronet When the RCMP pulled over Tom Duncan in his 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T, it wasn’t because his 440 4-bbl was tearing up the highway again. He’s been there and done that many times. Shredding tires was easy with a 375- horsepower Magnum, but this time he was cruising easily when the officer stopped for a closer look at the only triple-white convertible in Canada. |
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6. Mighty Fine ‘55 Pulling up to the burnout box in his 1955 Chevy for its maiden run, Greg Wright had a lot pouring through his mind. “Will it go straight? Will it behave at 130 mph? Are all the bolts tight?” says Wright, who built a 2- door ‘post’ drag car with remarkable features. |
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7. Fabulous Fords of the Fifties Hidden deep in the forested outskirts of Victoria, BC, lies a stunning museum-worthy collection of fifties American convertibles—that flamboyant decade when competing engineers with unbridled creativity vied to outdo each other with monster bumpers and wrap-around brightwork. Cars were chrome masterpieces; accessories as expensive as the vehicles themselves. |
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8. Space Race Themes In the late fifties, the world was on fire with optimism as nations rocketed into space: the Soviets had just launched the first satellite in the fall of 1957 (Sputnik), triggering the US to launch its Explorer I in ’58, followed by Canada’s Alouette-I satellite in ’62. This intense interest in the space race influenced automakers who attempted to capture this fervor in their designs. Rocket-like themes with prominent chrome stars were evident in both the Pontiac and Oldsmobile lineups. |
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9. Tatra: The Wind Tunnel Wonder Few people know that a Zeppelin airship designer also engineered a car in his wind tunnel. Aerodynamically ahead of its time, the Tatra challenges even the most modern marques with its unique shape and features. Hidden gems include a push-button centralized lubrication system for all mechanical joints, an air-cooled rear- mounted V8, all-wheel independent suspension, precise rack and pinion steering, sunroof, and a co-efficient of drag of .36, which make this treasure sound like an exotic European sports car. But the real surprise is its Czechoslovakian origin from 72 years ago! |
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10. Go Granny Go! What happens when an 8-year old boy inherits a highly-modified collector car? Grandma comes to the rescue. |
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11. Walking up the crown gear I underestimated today’s ride. Maybe I was fooled by the shear size of a Ford Fairlane in 1967. Afterall, weighing in at 3,525 lbs with driver, this is no lightweight contender. Plus it’s licensed for the street, so how wild could it be? Let’s just say that any street car that can walk the quarter mile on two wheels for about 150 feet has some serious engineering issues. And those I had to experience firsthand. |
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12. Nomad’s Land When your ride doubles in value in one week, you know you’ve got a winner. While most of us have seen ’57 Chevy Nomads, few actually remember the first Nomad made in ’55 because it was deemed a ‘halo car’. Seeing one up close only increases your appreciation for its special features, which included chrome tailgate bars, ribbed roof, slanted ‘B’ pillars, door and fender spears, and those sultry eye brow lights. |
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13. Curila’s Corvettes Steve Curila is a detail guy. His skills, honed over decades in the hardwood flooring industry in Victoria, BC, demanded that he excel at his craft. When we first met, Steve was completing an astonishing Brazilian cherry herringbone-patterned floor in his own home. While we oggled his passion for detailed seamless angles, his real passion appeared when we entered the garage. Steve selected a small but well-chosen collection of classics—curves of steel reflecting his pursuit of perfection in all things automotive. Before me was a matching-numbers Signal Red ’64 Porsche 356, a 355 F1 Ferrari (1999), this deep black resto-mod ’64 Vette, and a deep Daytona Blue ’63 split window ‘Sting Ray’ yet to be completed but destined to be his prized possession. |
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14. Curila's Split-Window Corvette Among Corvette lovers, the ’63 split-window is highly coveted. Also highly controversial, highly praised and highly rare. At the time of development, two design chiefs wrestled over the rear window. Only one would win: William ‘Bill’ Mitchell, the styling chief and head of design. |
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15. Austin Power: The L’il Gasser that rocks! After one steers a public bus through crowded streets all day, you would think your personal ride would be a little more comfortable. Not so for Joe Hronek of Victoria, BC. His 1950 Austin A40 may be little, but comfortable it is not. Joe likes a rough ride. With a straight axle and extended rear shackles, his 2-dr Dorset rocks and rolls. “It prevents me from nodding off on the road,” laughs Hronek, who is known for his quick wit. “It could knock the bra off a 20-year old woman!” |
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16. Saanich Police Dragster Program If you see police staff sergeant Doug Oakley’s flashing lights in your mirror, it’s okay to keep your pedal to the metal. Just be sure you’re on the strip, not the street. |
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17. Barracuda Coupe When most 11-year-olds were playing with bicycles and baseball gloves, Eric Forsberg was busy negotiating the purchase of his first car, a 1927 Chandler. For a paperboy, the $10 price tag was hefty, but it satiated his unending curiosity to understand “all things mechanical”. |
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18. Creating the Classic Gasser Funny cars, monster trucks and tuners may draw large crowds today, but for brand loyalist Dave Holden of Victoria, BC, there is nothing like the look of a classic gasser. Glance at a gasser staged behind a Christmas tree and memories will flood your mind of uncorked headers, clouds of rubber and pent up power. |
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19. Catching the Fever: R/T SE 440 Magnum “Mother warned me that there would be men like you driving cars like that.” “Join the fun…catch Dodge Fever.” “Wanted: Men who can handle a real road machine.” These very evocative headlines above from Chrysler Corporation’s ads in the ’70s attempted to incite passion in buyers by promoting fun and freedom for owners of high-performance muscle cars. |
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20. Plymouth’s sporty concept car Here’s a real survivor. All but lost to obscurity, this ‘halo’ car is magnificent from any angle. Plymouth, not known for eccentric sports cars, built but never produced a 1960 concept car capable of 244 kph with a slant 6 motor. Named after its designer, Virgil Exner, the XNR adorned the covers of Motor Trend and Road and Track magazines (1960) and later found a home with the Shah of Iran. |
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21. Celebrating Deuce Days Victoria Victoria’s downtown streets went into lockdown recently but it was no cause for alarm. What alarmed the crowd was the challenge to navigate around 900+ custom cars and trucks that ventured to the Capital to celebrate Deuce Days. Rainbow- rich shades of paint highlighted the streets like brightly-coloured jellybeans. These curves of steel are time-capsules; rolling works of art. |
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22. Hot fun in the summertime! With the flick of a key, the silence is shattered by the growl of horsepower and finely tuned exhaust. Beside me sits an aggressively supercharged ’39 Ford, which inhales the remaining oxygen from the parking lot, forcing it through the crackling headers of Geoff Moncreiff’s hand-built custom hotrod. |
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23. Victoria’s Secret: Discovering Vancouver Island in a Nestled among the Gulf Islands on the western shores of British Columbia lies Vancouver Island, home to some of the most scenic vistas and drives in Canada. What better place to enjoy panoramic ocean views, world-class gardens, forests and majestic mountains than seated behind the wheel of one of these classics: a 1960 C1, 1962 fuelie, ’63 split-window Sting Ray, an ’87 C4, the 50th Anniversary Edition 2003 C5 hardtop, and 2005 C6 convertible. Before we start our engines bear in mind this tour includes a retired police sergeant, so we’ll try to behave. Try. |
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24. Customize or stock? Customize or stock? This difficult decision faces every owner when restoring their ride. For Mary Ellen Echle of Victoria, Canada, it was obvious. Once she found her vehicle, it was love at first sight! And as fortune prevailed, she located a 1966 GMC pickup only a mile and a half from her home. Only 1,116 of these Canadian “Fenderside” pickups were made, making it extremely rare compared to its American cousin. |
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25. Rear View Mirror Is there a specific moment or event in life when one officially becomes a ‘car guy’? I believe that life contains transition points or turning points. For Jim Sloan, finding a 1960 Corvette under a dusty cover was his turning point. Ted Forbes believes he was ‘always’ a car guy. Gary Cullen was hooked on automotive engineering at 15 after seeing his first Citroen DS. What was your trigger, or defining moment? Or are folks of this generation just ‘born’ car people? I have asked myself this question many times. |
Garry Foster loves writing about and photographing historic automobiles. His love for the design and curves drove him to write a new book titled Chrome and Colour. His are stories about craftsmanship and design with the forward by past Cars Yeah guest and author Tom Cotter. Garry’s book is a fun, historic, visual ride through the 20s to the 60s targeting those special cars we’ve grown to love. 
