- Greater Vancouver Motorsport Pioneers

RON FORD
Pioneer - Collector and Restoration - Inducted 2015
By Alyn Edwards
Ron Ford has been a car nut since
the age of 14 when he and a 16-year-old
neighbor in Victoria chopped and
channeled a 1934 Ford cabriolet,
installed a hopped up flathead V8
engine and took off on a trip to visit
relatives in Calgary. Neither of the two
friends had a driver’s license. They had
taught themselves how to do body and
mechanical work.
Ron drove that hot rod for several
years as he went into the soft drink
distribution business. He built more
sophisticated street rods as his career
took him to Nanaimo where he became
the 7-Up soft drink distributor.
As time passed, he found most of
his car friends lived in the Vancouver
area and he spent much of his leisure
time in the Lower Mainland attending
car shows. The decision was made in
1980 to move to White Rock where an
uncle lived. Ron Ford went into the car
business, not with Ford, but as the
salesman and then sales manager for a
Datsun dealership.His interest in
vintage Ford street rods continued as he
Nominated by Jim Greenwood
honed his skills as a car salesman and
manager. When Ford approached him in
1986 to set up a small ‘whistle stop’
dealership to provide service to
customers in the growing White Rock
area, Ron Ford moved quickly to
establish Ocean Park Ford.
His Ford dealership has grown into
one of the largest in the Greater
Vancouver area and it is there in a
purpose-built building that he houses
one of the country’s best collection of
street rods.
Ron may be best known for his
many years hosting an annual hot rod
show at Ocean Park Ford – a free event
that attracts enthusiasts from as far
away as Vancouver Island, Washington
and Oregon.
Ron regularly arrives at the
dealership driving one of his hot rods
like his black 1932 Ford coupe with
modern mechanical components. He
also has a rare modified 1932 Ford
phaeton and a coveted roadster that is a
restored original purchased from a
Penticton Ford dealership after the
classic was traded in on a new Lincoln.
Ford woody wagons built in 1936 and
1940 are also in his collection.
His warehouse features a row of
Model T Ford street rods. He has owned
his 1915 Ford Model T Ford roadster
with its brass accessories for 50 years. It
has had many configurations for
mechanical power over the years and
has been rebuilt by famed California
builder Roy Brizio.
The car is powered by a modified
60 horsepower Ford V8 engine from the
mid 1930’s.Ron has two other 1932
Ford street rods in is collection custom
built by Roy Brizio.
He also has a Sportsman Green
(chartreuse) 1950 Ford convertible, all
original 1940 Ford convertible and a
1939 Ford convertible sedan that has
most of its original paint.
Ron With His1932 Ford Coupe
2015 Greater Vancouver Motorsport Pioneers Society
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1932 Ford Deuce Hot Rod
Model T Based Hot Rods
Early Ford Collection
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2015 Greater Vancouver Motorsport Pioneers Society