Published in Tackaberry Times, September 2006:
     A little boy and his father are looking at the vehicles that make up the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, recently moved from Exhibition Place in Toronto to the facility at Legendary Motorcar Company (LMC) in Halton Hills.     They’re at race car driver Greg Moore’s 1998 Reynard, talking to LMC’s owner, Peter Klutt. Then Peter bends over, picks the little boy up, and puts him in the seat of the race car. “How’s that?” asks Peter. The little boy is too awed to speak. “Do you like that?” Peter asks. The boy nods, his eyes huge, his hands on the steering wheel.
     “He loves cars,” says his father. “Thanks very much.”
     Peter understands completely. He knows the feeling. It’s why he doesn’t consider what he does for a living to be work. Why he describes what he does as “have fun with cars.”
     It’s likely why, when the Motorsport Hall of Fame needed a new home, Peter offered to house its automotive exhibits in his facility on the Fifth Line north of Steeles. Members of the public can visit Monday to Friday 9:30 to 5:00 and Saturdays 10:00 to 3:00. There’s an honesty box for the admission, which is $5. The money goes to charities.
     What they do at LMC is restore, service, sell, trade and sometimes rent very special automobiles. A current list of available cars includes a restored 1964 Shelby Cobra at $525,000, a 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge convertible for $515,000, a 1937 Cord 812 phaeton at $345,000, and a 1966 Dodge Charger, as is, for $15,900.
     They are also the largest manufacturer of fibreglass Shelby parts.
     Saying “We do anything related to cars,” Peter explains that there’s no limit to what they’ll accept. “We’ll do Packards to new Ferraris. But our bread and butter is ‘60s American muscle cars.”
     On site at the 50,000-sq.-ft. facility, they have several work areas, each dedicated to a specialty. There is a service room, metal workshop, body shop, assembly room, sanding, polishing and detailing room, and a race car/hot rod shop where they build cars from scratch. There are 25 employees.
     Unlike most garages, these shops are spotless. “Our people take pride in their work,” says Peter. “And with the value of the cars we work on, customers expect it. If the shop’s clean and organized, the odds are that parts aren’t going to get lost and people aren’t going to use the car as a shelf.”
     Peter’s wife Vicki is very active in the business, mostly handling the accounting. “I get to buy and sell,” says Peter. “Vicki looks after the money.”
     Peter reveals that he started dealing in cars at age 15, when he bought a 1972 Mach 1, repaired it, sold it, bought another car, and repeated the process.
     “The fun in it for me is the hunt,” he says. “We also have a network of people who spot cars for us.”
     While no car is in too rough a shape to be restored, the work can be extensive. Peter explains that for a car that’s in great shape, meaning that it runs, is not rusting or missing parts, there can still be 1,000 hours needed for restoration. But if the car is rare or has a history of racing, it is well worth restoring.
     Another part of the business is Dream Car Garage, a TV show they produce on site that airs throughout North America and locally on Speed TV at 8:30 on Saturday mornings. The program features fabulous cars from the ‘20s to the ‘70s, restoration techniques, car shows or races and the lifestyles of car collectors.
     Peter’s favourites are any of the race cars. “It’s so much more than just the car,” he explains. “There’s the history. And using it hard. Driving it the way it was meant to be driven. Not just looking at it.” He races a 1969 Corvette himself, predominantly in the U.S.
     Peter and Vicki have two sons, aged 12 and 13, who are into go-kart racing. Both parents attend every race. Peter is getting the boys to work on the karts themselves, but he’s fully involved emotionally.
     “My heart thumps harder when they’re in the karts than when I race!” he says.
     Legendary Motorcar Company can be reached at 905-875-4700. They are located at 8242 Fifth Line, Halton Hills. Their Web site is www.legendarymotorcar.com.

By Gloria Hildebrandt
Gloria Hildebrandt writes for magazines and organizations out of Orchard House. She can be reached through gloria@ohouse.ca.