Muscle car glory days live on for Grenfell man

Grenfell - Some people would argue that the glory days of muscles cars are long gone.
But not for Grenfell resident, Darren Dixon.
"I have three cars that we want to build in the next few years. They are two '69 Chevelles and a '72 Chevelle," said Dixon. "(The '72 Chevelle) will be an SS clone. It'll be supped up but it'll be user friendly and a street legal race car."
While the 1960's and 1970's may be decades past, muscle cars continue to be a passion for Dixon today.
Working as a journeyman/bodyman for Check Mark Auto Collision and Glass Ltd., in Grenfell for the last 23 years, muscle cars are something he has always enjoyed working on.
"I painted my first car when I was 15 years old. I had older brothers that had cars too and that's what got me interested in them."
Classic muscle cars including Chargers, Challengers, Barracudas, Novas, Camaros and of course, Chevelles from the late 1960's to the early 1970's are among the list of favorites for Dixon, who has owned previous cars and has entered various competitions over the years with them. He hopes to get back to that circut when his '72 Chevelle is complete.
"I will be drag racing it - professional drag racing," said Dixon. "We were trying to get into it back in the late '80's but we were just getting into it and then the kids came along. So I haven't done any (racing) for about 16 years."
After taking a fifteen year break from drag racing to raise a family, Dixon says, with his kids now in their teens, he is able to spend a little more time doing what he loves.
"When Overhauling (television program) started coming on tv that's when I got bitten by the (muscle car) bug again," Dixon said with a smile. "Now we're trying to get back into it."
And drag racing muscle cars isn't something new for Dixon.
"With my '71 Chevelle, I raced in Saskatoon at the Street Machine Nationals and I took first place in the GM class and just about took everything for the whole weekend," said Dixon adding that he plans to take his cars to summer events including ones like the Eight Mile Drag Race in Yorkton that's held every July.
With the rise of technology and computers in the last 15-20 years says Dixon, muscle cars became less and less popular but are now making a come back in a big way.
"Fifteen years ago they weren't very popular but they're coming back now. All the manufactures are pushing performance pretty hard too," he said. "Now your engines are pushing way more horse power than they did 15-20 years ago," said Dixon pointing out that he'll be putting a big block 454 (cubic inch engine) in one of his Chevelles and in another, a new style fuel injected drive train which will give him both the fuel economy and the horse power.
For Dixon, working on and racing muscle cars has been a life long passion and is one hobby that he says, he won't ever stop enjoying.
"I've had one of my '69 Chevelles in storage for close to 20 years and I always said that I'll still be (working on) it when I retire," he said. "I'll always do this."