SC Rewind: Owners / Car Dealers

In this week's Rewind Robert Smith discusses the somewhat inexplicable link between automobile dealers and their ownership of harness horses. He also asks the reading audience to add to the list of car dealers who have also been horse owners.

Some time ago a Rewind was devoted to gathering names of the many people throughout the history of Canadian harness racing who combined the operation of a Hotel with owning horses. The final tally was rather lengthy after readers added to my starter list. Just why these two phenomenon occurred together remains a quandary.

In today's Rewind I am raising a similar question as it pertains to the large number of individuals who down through the years have headed up automobile dealerships and also owned harness horses. While the list may end up being surprisingly long, I suspect that a definitive answer as to why these two co-exist will also remain an unsolved mystery.

Undoubtedly one of the biggest societal changes of the past 100 years or so has been the coming of the automobile. We may think that our beloved cars have been here forever but that is not so. I just recently realized that I come from the first generation that does not remember when there were no cars. Both of my parents spoke of when they first remembered cars coming out. I can recall my mother talking about the first time she ever rode in a car. I think it was to attend her grandmother's funeral and that she actually cried because she was afraid of the experience of riding in a car and going so fast.

This old horse drawn streetcar in Toronto shows how people moved about locally before cars became popular

I can personally recall hearing stories when I was growing up from some older people about some of the problems and pitfalls that the coming of the automobile brought. One of the most often told ones usually involved an older gentleman (remember ladies didn't drive way back then) who at least temporarily forgot that he was no longer holding a pair of lines.

The story always built up to the older gent finally giving in to leaving the horse and buggy in the barn and getting behind the wheel. He headed into town and all went well, at least to start. Then on the return trip as he headed into the proverbial 'homestretch' and drove toward the garage he started yelling "Whoa, Whoa!!" and when nothing obviously happened he drove out through the other end of the building. This one has been oft told.

Reg McGee, one time Goderich, Ont. car dealer, is shown at the head of Lena's Boy, one of his winning horses. This photo was taken at Old Woodbine in Toronto and the winning driver is the owner's son Ron McGee who later became an O.R.C. judge.

I know of one rather modern day happening involving an automobile dealer who owned a very special horse. In 1984 all eyes in the sport were on a horse named On The Road Again, owned by Calgary auto dealer Gordon Rumpel. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 19, that year's Confederation Cup was contested at Flamboro Downs. OTRA, as he was often referred to in the press, was once again in the winner's circle as had been his custom all summer long.

Soon after the normal post race festivities were finished, from the backstretch came a shiny new Audi 5000S from the Rumpel dealership. It was a special gift for driver Wm. 'Bud' Gilmour who had performed so admirably handling the driving chores of this ultra-special performer. In the words of Mr. Rumpel "This is for everything he's done for us." Gilmour was both surprised and visibly touched by the generous gesture.

Ken MacKinnon on the left, a long-time owner of Grey Motors in Owen Sound, is shown in this 1951 photo taken at New Hamburg, Ont. That year his top horse Malcolm Hanover won the Canadian Pacing Derby. The presenter on the right is Wilfred 'Wick' Fraser of Forest, Ont., representing the previous year's winner Dr. Stanton.

Here are a few automobile dealers that I can readily recall and I have listed them alphabetically along with their location. There are undoubtedly more who combined their business and hobby interests involving automobiles and horses. I have not included any U.S.-based auto dealers.

• J.C. "Bert" Cameron - Smiths Falls, Ont.

• Dominion Motors (Jim Keeling and Harry Lumley) - Owen Sound, Ont.

• Vern Evans - Brantford, Ont.

• Grey Motors (Ken MacKinnon & Family) - Owen Sound, Ont.

• Huron Motors (Robert Hamather) - Exeter, Ont.

• Clarence Lockhart - Collingwood, Ont.

• Harvey Hyatt - Leamington, Ont. ** I remember was their radio ad was "Eye it, try it, then buy it from Hyatt"

• Reg McGee - Goderich, Ont.

• Gordon Rumpel - Calgary, Alta.

• Claire Smith - Ottawa, Ont.

• Max Webster - Brantford, Ont.

• Art Whitesell - Tillsonburg, Ont.