In loving memory of Gary Hamilton. Gary was a retieree of Air Canada and fellow member of the Roadmates. Gary passed away on July 4th. He fought valiantly against a dreadful disease and never lost his sense of humor. He will be missed.
Roadmates Car Club- Established in 1956

In this day and age of “live life for the moment” and short attention spans, it’s rare for friends to remain friends, colleagues to remain colleagues and even employees to remain employees. There is little loyalty in a society that thinks there is always something better around the corner. It seems once we turn the corner we realize there are yet more corners to turn.
Such is not the case with the Roadmates Car Club. In the span of 50 years, members of one of Canada’s oldest car clubs have come and gone but the core of the organization remains intact and, as a matter of fact, is thriving.
For those of you old enough, think back to the mid ‘50’s. If you were lucky enough to have one, televisions were still black and white and usually took 5 minutes for the tubes to warm up. Once it finally warmed up, we were watching The Lone Ranger, Dragnet, Father Knows Best or The Nelsons. At the downtown movie theatre “Around the world in 80 Days” was playing and we were just comfortably re-establishing our lives 10 years after World War II.
Many families up-rooted their lives from their home country with the aim of creating better lives for themselves in a new and foreign land. For teenagers Derek (Duke) and Tony Brown, they traveled with their parents to Canada in 1955. Specifically, the west side of Toronto. The tall and lanky brothers quickly made friends with their easy-going, life-of-the-party disposition.
The North American cars in Canada were not new to the brothers. Their father was a North American car fan who owned a number of them over the years while in England. His last car in the UK was a 1939 Pontiac—truly a bus by UK standards.

Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s the car club continued to flourish. The constitution of the club allows a limit of 25 members and over the years, the membership has fluctuated with members coming and going. However, the core group of 1950’s and 1960’s members, Tony, Duke, Tommy Henderson and Nick Minialoff remained members
The club membership isn’t focused exclusively on building hot rods. There are now two significant events that the club organizes which have grown in popularity over the years. The annual Cornroast is held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and the Roadmates Swapmeet held annually in October.
It’s a swap meet where you can find true vintage hot rod parts. Unlike some swap meets that have become a venue to sell clothes and dolls, the Roadmates endeavor to ensure this swap meet doesn’t lose its integrity.