Artie Lee....Old Enough To Know Better...still too young to care!...and MORE Car Club stuff!

Something I've been wanting to do for some time......Last week I had the distinct pleasure having coffee with Artie Lee, and old friend from way back. Even though I am just a couple of years younger than Art, we knew each other in the 196o's for a number of reasons, one being that he had an awesome huge slot car racing track in his basement and when we weren't supplying our need for speed on the real dirt at Riverview Raceways back then, we used up our frustrations racing 1:25 scale slot cars...there were a number of tracks around the Fort William area. Artie was gracious enough to bring his photo album for me to peruse and bring home to scan a few photos....As you will see. Artie was a typical gear head in the Fort William area along with the rest of us, who over time all became good friends.

Here's Artie's '49 Ford before it was yellow with Cruiser Skirts and '49 Mercury Grill. Hey, Art's buddy had a not too shabby '53 Plymouth custom convertible in the background. The next picture here is the interior of the '49 Ford in all its glory back in 1959. Hey Artie, you were drivin' already and I still had a year to go...had to wait until 1960 :-(
LOVE the wide whites....DUH!

Here is how the '49 Ford looked in yellow. These pictures were taken just east of Kam Motors, across the lane way and behind "The Palace" confectionery......(this is where I bought all my car magazines during this time).

You know I have to say it........be sure to click on all pictures once and twice for extra big, and if you do you will see the name painted on the rear quarter of Artie's car "The Lady Lee". We had all done that in those days, I had "Wild One" painted on the side of my '49 Chevy 2-door sedan until my dad sanded it off after a minor traffic infraction! The picture looks like it was taken on Selkirk Street next to Vickers Park(which thankfully still exists today).
More of Artie's cars NEXT!


.....................................
These photos were taken in the winter and spring of 1962 and like they say in "American Graffiti"....Where were you in '62. Anyone my age can recount tons of stories from that era.
Here is Artie's 1950 Oldsmobile with Dodge Lancer hubcaps. What a beautiful car. I believe that Artie and Tom Nesbitt were the only two guys around with these cars. Artie had the torpedo back and Tom had the 2-door Coach.....with very fast factory V8 Engines "The Oldsmobile Rockets". Love the Mooneyes on the front fenders! The coloured picture has a little sign on a garage that says "CTC Parking Lot" which means Canadian Tire Company and at that time it was actually on Simpson Street. A story about that is forthcoming!!

Here in the winter of 1963 is Artie's incredible '54 Mercury Convertible with power everything. Ford surely did make wonderful cars during this era too! BUT...even incredible cars break down at one time or another......NEXT!

Who is this??? ...under Artie's Mercury and standing beside it!!.....None other than Tom Nesbitt. In the summer of 1963 Tom and Artie decided that a trip to California in Art's car was in order....so off they went.... They found that clutches do break down occasionally and heading into mountainous areas they decided that before it got any worse, it needed changing....but in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the searing heat in a parking lot?....and holy crap Tom even had to remove the intake manifold to get the engine low enough to change the clutch. Nice Job TOM!! ....and off they went to California!

NEXT - The '34 etc..

Here's a younger Artie Lee in 1981 at the Fort William Gardens and Curling Club car show with his newly completed and first time shown 1934 Ford Coupe. The next picture shows Art's coupe and also his '68 Dodge Monaco convertible in deep lime green. Artie said the Dodge started out with only a $200. purchase.....beautiful cars Artie. The yellow coupe now belongs to Rick Stokaluk who did a complete makeover again with the car.

Here is Artie Chauffeuring around Thunder Bay's own "Elvis", Daylin James(a fantastic Elvis Presley tribute artist). I have heard him many times...and he is great. The last two pictures here are Artie in about a 30 year span......and like the title says "Old enough to know better....and still too young to care"!! Looking good pal!

NEXT - All the following except for a couple were also in Artie's photo album...WOW!

The next few photos are calling cards for a number of clubs that travelled the roads of Fort William and Port Arthur. Some of these I don't remember but these cards are living proof that they existed. Here are the "Freewheelers" with the words "Hot Rod" used more than once. We all tried to help the public realize that we were not a bunch of hoodlums, but sincere auto enthusiasts that are always willing to help someone in distress. The "Knights" auto club was started by Dave Foreman.

Here is the Twin City Road Angels card and the "Purpose" stated is pretty much what car clubs were about back then. The Lakehead Road Gents Car Club and the NOTA was already mentioned in previous posts on this website. You can click on these two links then come back to read the rest:

http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/04/road-gents-car-club.html

http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/04/northern-ontario-timing-association.html

The Road Gents card is courtesy of Jerry McKenzie.

NEXT - The Untouchables and why they changed their name!!!!

Here is an "Untouchables Car Club" calling card and also a picture of Artie Lee's "Untouchables" car club jacket hanging in the rear window of his '50 Olds.

Clicking to enlarge these two 1964 clippings will help you understand how the Untouchables became the Northwestern Ontario Timing Association. I myself joined the N.O.T.A. shortly after this photo was taken when I owned my '57 Chevy. We used to have our meetings at the Blue Swan Inn on Kingsway Street then at the Emergency Measures building which used to be on the corner of Waterloo and Victoria Avenue on the north/west corner of that intersection near Friendship Gardens.

This first NOTA calling card is Artie's card and the last one here was a later card and was my own.

Many thanks to Artie Lee, a great guy and for his input along with the photos. Artie did own a few other cars such as a '56 Ford Wagon, a '69 Gran Torino GT, a'74 Pontiac Ventura, a '33 Dodge plus many others that we can't add at this time.

A final note to click on all the photos to enlarge!

Tom Nesbitt....a local living legend!

Tom's first couple of Cars

Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame ......and "Tom Nesbitt" Day

Tom signing my photo of his Model "A" Sedan.........#1 of course!!

The brain protector and the famous "blue" Studebaker!!

The Stude and The Cake...

How many of these do you have, Tom? ...and Tom with Jeff Caldwell's kids!
...............TOM NESBITT:
It is extremely difficult in a few words to describe the illustrious career of Tom Nesbitt. Tom was recently inducted into The Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame here in Thunder Bay, an honour that really took way too long to come. Tom started his memorable racing career when our city was called Fort William, and during the time when the likes of Barry Kettering, Merv Dove, Louis Tocheri, and the Massaro brothers were cutting up the CLE grounds back in the late 1950's.
His famed blue Studebaker saw many checkered flags and in 1968 alone had won an incredible 19 of the 21 late model features that he entered that year at Riverview Raceways here in Fort William, now Thunder Bay, Ontario. His career took him racing to such places as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Florida, Mississippi and who knows where else, winning numerous races and many championships along the way during his 50 plus year reign on the dirt.
Tom Nesbitt day was held last month on November 22 at the West Arthur Community Centre to a great crowd who all enjoyed congratulating Tom and talking with their old racing buddies. There were tons of photo albums full of photos for everyone to reminisce about the good ol' days.
The Stieh Family can be commended for sponsoring a great event that was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance.
If you want to read all this in more detail, Jeff Caldwell summed it up in a well written detailed story that you can find by clicking here http://www.gotomn.com/racing/history/Tom-Nesbitt/tom-nesbitt-tribute.htm
Thanks Tom "The Bomb" Nesbitt for the memories and Jeff Caldwell for the great write-up on the racing history website and for some of the photos here.
As usual, be sure to click on any of the photos to enlarge them!!