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PAGE 14, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1985, WHUITYi rE Ie rtbb By SUSAN LESJAK Free Press Staff This year is the 100th anniversary of the invention of the automobile and people the world over have been commemorating the advent of the horseless carriage. Nowhere is honage paid to the car, however, as it is in a small garage in Whitby. At Fawcett Motors Carriage Com- pany, the car is celebrated every day. When the owners of antique car dealership aren't driving cars, they're fixing them. Pete Fawcett and Art Carty buy, sell and restore specialty automobiles -- everything from turn- of-the-century Cadillacs to 1978 Cor- vettes. One of their more unusual pur- chases is the 1963 Amphicar they recently "launched" in Lake On- tario. The amphibian-like conver- tible is equipped with a Triumph engirie and a boat propeller for maximum terrain versatility. Carty test-drove it in the harbor with some trepidation last month. He laughs as he recalls the ex- perience: "I'd never even been out on the lake, let alone in a car ... half way into the harbor, I was won- dering if it was such a brilliant idea..." The Amphicar did turn out to float, however, and a customer bought it the next day. Though Pete Fawcett admits that antique cars are a good business, he usually refers to his work as "a hob- by," "a bug". The 30-year-old mechanic has been tinkering with Model T engines and stripping cadillac.fenders since he was a kid. The trade was learned from his father, Ron, who founded Fawcett Motors in 1966. "My dad was driving a Model A when he was my age and the car wasn't all that old then. That's how long he's been in the business," says Pete. While Ron is retired now, all that means is he's taken his hobby home. His current projects are two 1918 Pierce Arrows which will sell for around $200,000 if he ever decides to part with them. Fixing up old cars isn't something "you just quit doing," explains Pete. Over the years, Ron and his son have collected thousands of old car parts. Their barn - which acts as a warehouse for the now-rare bits of metal - keeps Fawcett Motors going. Unlike a garage that services con- temporary automobiles, Fawcett Motors can't order parts. If they can't be picked up somewhere, they've got to be re-cast according to original specifications. Many of Fav.cett Motors' cars, can be bought "as is" off the com- pany lot. From the selection of more than 50 cars for sale, one can find everything from a road-ready silver grey Lincoljl to a '46 Chevy which needs work splling for $1,200. "For a guy who's a bit handy, it's possible to get into the hobby cheap," says Pete. Cheap isn't everybody's style, however, and for tbose with a few dollars to play with, Fawcett Motors has another line of cars. In the com- pany's "show room,.'.' a modest shed adjoining the shop, a shiny black 1931 Model A Ford from Montevideo sits entreating prospective buyers to take it for a spin. Next to it is a 1909 Holsman High Wheeler, one of the company's oldest cars - in design, more like its predecessor, the horse- drawn buggy, than a motorized car. Tbp-of-the-line is the 1914 McLaughlin truck at one end of the show room. The truck, the only one left of its kind, was assembled in Oshawa and sells for around $85,000. In addition. to the cars Fawcett Motors owns itself, there's a long list of celebrated - some might say "notorious" cars they've worked on. One such car as AI Capone's 1928 Cadillac, complete - with armor plating and bullet-proof windows. The back window flipped open for a While restoring cars is time- consuming work and a complete restoration can take up to one year, the beauty of the old models is that they're highly reparable. Today's throw-away plastic cars are another story, says Fawcett. "When it comes time to restore them, it'll be a real challenge." Attention is paid to the minutest period details. "We'd never put the wrong radio in a car when we restored it," explains Pete. "You want it to look like it's never been fixed." Authenticity is the key to an automobile's resale value and cars 1935 Cadillac Umm"e - . , -0 1 Il f YI f Ir n .f CID Tz r d15 rccz