UNITY — Gerry Guggenmos was one of many viewers who were watching the reality show, Lost Car Rescue on TV in January and February. There were six episodes, and the last two featured local characters in Unity district. Gerry alerted the Press-Herald about the story and some interesting facts came to light.
The Lost Car Rescue team fly over rural areas in a light plane, piloted by a young woman, and follow up with a semi and trailer equipped with a winch, and when they find an old vehicle they rescue it and restore it or sell it.
Hugh Krips was included in the fifth episode.
Krips used to live on a farm in the Unity district and last summer was contacted by the show’s producer, because their plane had spotted a car parked in the bush and wanted to check it out. Krips had bought the car many years previous because he had a truck that used the same parts. He went out to the farm and the whole crew of about 15 people was there — cameramen, grip and their big truck and trailer with a winch for hauling their finds.
Krips made a deal with them, though the vehicle in question happened to be a Japanese make and their body man objected that such a model was lighter metal and not as valuable for their purposes. They also dickered on other old treasures and Krips may be seeing them again if they decide to do business.
He has had a few cars, but was more interested in trucks. But Krips says he has a business rule: when you come to shop, don’t come just to look, bring cash.
There is a network among car buffs and word gets around, which is how the team came to contact Mick and Norm Maze in the summer of 2021.
Second World War Model Ts were plentiful and cheap. The four older Maze brothers, Gerald, Cliff, Keith and Earle, all acquired old Model Ts, and decided they could have some fun. They stripped them down to reduce the weight, and speeded up the engines as best they could. There wouldn’t be much left but the motor, running gear, gas tank and a tractor seat. They raced the cars on a long oval dirt track that took up the space between the Unity high school and the Armada Motel, where Jubilee Bay is now.
There might be 10 or 12 cars racing, and having lived through the war, the young men were daredevils, wearing no safety equipment but goggles and just flooring it, determined to win each race. This wasn’t demolition derby; they had to keep the cars in shape for the next week’s races. This went on for several years. Norm says his father’s last race was just before he was engaged to be married, in 1951.
All four brothers had their own cars, but only one survives: Gerald kept his in a shed on the farm and eventually his son Mick restored it to running condition and even entered it in a parade in North Battleford. When the rescue team heard about that car, they came to find it and hear the story. There it was, in the original shed where Gerald had worked on it.
The crew and the Mazes spent all day filming to complete a 15-minute segment, which was included in the last episode for the season. Norm says he has received many phone calls and a lot of comments from friends who saw the show.
Maze tells the Press-Herald / SASKTODAY.ca, "My dad Keith also had a race car. My dad's brothers, my uncles, all raced. The car in the museum is Uncle Gerald's car and Mick still owned it up to a couple of years ago."
Maze said once the Lost Car Rescue team heard about their history of racing, and tracked down Mick and himself. They purchased the car but also wanted to know the complete family history and that's when they came to the Maze farm and filmed a show's segment. Following the filming, the car was taken to Victoria, B.C. and put on display to ensure the story and the history of the Maze brothers lives on.
"If you zoom in on the museum photo there is a nice picture behind with all four brothers and some of their friends from around home, circa 1950," says Maze.
The Lost Car Rescue team bought the 1918 Model T car from Mick and it now resides in the B.C. Aviation Museum in Victoria. The Museum’s Facebook page includes a photo of the car, and Matt and Steve Sager were at the museum for Family Day to help show it off.
