Classic autos a passion for Remillard

March 27, 2009

By Mark Ferguson

It was his very first car—a 1962 Chevrolet Impala—that Fred Remillard says made him fall in love with classic cars. Originally a loaner from his big brother, he was given the car on one condition: “You can drive it, but NO racing.”

The car collector, professor of pharmacy and acting associate dean of research and graduate affairs in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, learned how to do his own body and engine work as a way to save money. He drove his old ’62 Impala religiously for years until one day, while attending graduate school in Philadelphia, the car was stolen from the street outside his apartment. 

“It still bugs me to this day that I never found it.” 

Ironically, while growing up as a boy just outside of Winnipeg, the Remillard family didn’t even own a car, and it wasn’t until his big brother purchased a ’52 Ford sedan that Fred turned the keys in the ignition for the first time. 

“We were the only family without a vehicle,” he said. “My father drove a bike, and sometimes we would borrow a vehicle on the weekend to go to the beach. But I swore I would change that when I grew up.”

Today, the boy who grew up without a car owns a very impressive collection. The nicest-looking car in Remillard’s shop is a ‘64 Pontiac Thunderbird convertible, sky blue, which sits sandwiched behind a huge ‘53 Chevy half-ton truck, in front of a little ‘46 Farmall tractor, and beside two ’59 Chevrolet El Caminos. 

Remillard loves the fact that the T-Bird was one of the first cars to sport an automatic retractable top, which adds about $15,000 to the value of the car, now worth about $45,000. And although it’s just a hobby, the value of his collection continues to go up.

“It’s not like buying a new vehicle that depreciates the second you drive it off the lot.”

Remillard refuses to drive the T-Bird to work anymore because of the university “dirt lots” that wreak havoc on the interior. He does, however, drive his beautiful ’53 Chevy to work and the flawless-looking truck draws a lot of attention around town. He can’t believe how many people pull up beside him at red lights and ask about the colour— to which he replies, “It’s lark-spur blue. Women really like this colour!”

In 1983, he came to work at the university because “Saskatoon is such a nice little secret with a good quality of life.” Remillard joined the Saskatoon Antique Auto Club in 1986, and is now the president.

Of all the classic autos he owns, the one that gets the most attention from the other members of the club is the ’59 Chevrolet El Camino in near-perfect shape. Remillard said the vehicles are “nearly impossible to find. And there’s something about the car-truck concept that I really like.”

While he speaks passionately about all of his vehicles, Remillard is especially proud of his shop, hidden a bit behind his house south of the city. He remembers looking at the house with his wife a few years ago and instantly falling in love with the future home of his car collection.

“I didn’t even remember what the house looked like,” he laughed. “My wife told me (when they went back to look at the house a second time) that I wasn’t allowed to look at the shop.”