A unique new installation at Heritage Acres features sleek lines crafted at the hands of an innovative mind.
The Spirit of Tomorrow was a fast car back in its day. Not many cars were hitting 100 miles an hour back in 1939, notes Tim Lindsay, nephew-in-law to the man who built it.
He’s become the caretaker and historian, documenting the Spirit’s travels and history in hopes of inspiring other young minds in the future.
It’s why Lindsay made a website, and the root of seeking out a connection with others preserving and sharing history of the vehicle built by Horace Basil ‘Barney’ Oldfield between 1938 and 1942 at his Prospect Lake home.
Married to Basil’s niece Arlene, who shares her uncle’s nickname Basil Oldfield, he met the man years ago and fell in love with his story.
“Basil was unique in as much as he had a mechanical mind, where he could build almost anything,” Lindsay said. “He was part artist, part mechanic, part wizard, part dreamer. He had all the qualities of somebody that would do something special, and if you look at some of the work that he’s done, it’s pretty special.”
Aside from the car, Basil built a house that spins, which remains in the family today, said Lindsay, who is now tasked with rotating the round house.
There was a movement to streamline cars, trucks and trailers in the 1930s and ’40s and Basil followed that trend creating the car. The intrepid man was a pilot as well, and “aerodynamically inclined to make this car go as fast as it possibly could,” Lindsay said.
When creating the shape of the vehicle, Basil took a piece of wood and carved a starting point, then headed down to Tod Creek, dipping it in to study the water flow – whittling and wetting until he had the shape he wanted.
The car came to life at Basil’s Saanich home, at the corner of West Saanich and Spartan roads, built by Basil, friend John Norton and brother Brian Oldfield.
Over the decades it’s been on road trips, in showcases, and taken centre stage. In recent years, The Spirit of Tomorrow has been idle.
Now it takes the spotlight again with a space in the Tillicum Building at a Central Saanich site dedicated to sharing local history, farming and industrial.
“We brought it out here to Heritage Acres so that people could see it, it’s been sitting in a garage … and it’s a shame to have a piece of equipment like this hidden away,” Lindsay said. “Part of the reason is to let people see it, so it might inspire some young person to do something just a little out of the ordinary. We don’t need to all fit into the same cookie-cutter format that maybe our schools might have us follow.”
Heritage Acres, run by the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society, is the ideal location, showcasing Peninsula history on 29 acres. The heritage attractions include the 1913 schoolhouse, 1900s pioneer log house and chapel, and the Michell Building and Newman boat house, each packed with historic items and images.
Visible from the Pat Bay Highway at 7321 Lochside Dr., Heritage Acres is open 9 a.m to 4 p.m. daily. Entry is by donation.
RELATED: History on display in Central Saanich as Heritage Acres launches into summer
Do you have a story tip? Email: christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca.