Ian McDonald, founding member of the Western Canadian 567 Chevy club and one of the founding members of the Draggins Car club in Saskatoon in 1957 left us this week due to cancer. I met Ian and his wife Annie in 1976 when I went to the first 567 meet in Banff/Calgary. We met a great bunch of people there and I was so impressed I started the Vancouver chapter of the 567 club. Ian had his red 55 Nomad at the time and I had my turquoise and white 55. We had lots of good times for many years due to Ian starting the 567 club. I don't know of any arrangements yet. Maybe someone in Saskatoon can chime in if they know. Pat.
Ian was a good friend of mine for close to thirty years. I met him in 1981, when a friend got me to join the Fifty 5-6-7 club. Ian and his wife Annie, (another great person, by the way) supported our local chapter every year for twenty-plus years. He had an NHRA record-holding 55 2 door that another friend in Regina still has, still sporting the paint Ian put on it in 1961. He had a 55 Nomad that I believe Bruce Timchuk (I think he worked for Custom Autosound) owns, in California. Ian put over 100,000 miles on it while he had it and rarely missed a 5-6-7 function. Then there was a rust-free 55 wagon he got out of Thief River Falls, beige with a brown roof and a blue interior. Gerry Shattuck out of Winnipeg has that one now. A real car guy, you could count on Friday nights in the garage, other than car runs or after a Blades game. Bench racing at it's best with young guys, old guys, all having a great time, swilling a beer, and having a great time. Rest in peace, my friend.
always sad when we lose one of the founders of this thing we do. guys like that, who have seen the hotrod culture from close to the beginning and watched it come full circle back to its roots are a wealth of knowledge and a loss for everyone. R.I.P.
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