Last demolition derby in Deloraine marks end of an era in southwestern Manitoba | CBC News

Engines rumbled, tires kicked up dirt and cars smashed into each other, sending debris flying across an arena in Deloraine last weekend — but the southwestern Manitoba community’s demolition derby is among the last of its kind in the province.

At one time, the competition, which has been a mainstay of the Deloraine Summer Fair for about 20 or 25 years, saw around 30 cars face off in a night of destruction. Recently, it’s seen fewer than a dozen roll into the arena.

This year’s derby — which organizers say will be the last for Deloraine — saw just nine cars compete. Only five were in the 2022 competition. 

“It’s a dying sport,” Deloraine Fire Chief Jerry Redden said of the event, which is organized by Deloraine Fire volunteers.

But “people just can’t get the cars anymore, and … the young people aren’t interested in it.”

The Deloraine Derby has always drawn a good crowd, eager to watch cars clash in an arena built by volunteers, Redden says. The cars compete in multiple heats, crashing into each other. The last one running wins.

But cars for derbies are getting harder to find and buy. Preferred derby models are four-doors from the 1960s and 1970s. Those cars have solid metal frames which crumple, instead of falling apart like newer, plastic-body vehicles.

Deloraine is not alone in seeing a derby decline. Brandon cancelled its derby at the annual Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba Summer Fair this year.

The derby was also cancelled last year, when entries hit an all-time low, and “unfortunately, interest has not rebounded this past year as the Exhibition had hoped,” organizers said in a news release.

Mark Humphries, the manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba — which runs Brandon’s Summer Fair — is hopeful his organization can find a partner within the derby community bring the event back to Brandon one day.

“If a group wants to knock on our door … it’s open,” Humphries said. “We’ve got that facility here that we can certainly try and help them.”

Decline in cars, parts, drivers

Nesbitt, Man., driver Rob Prettie was the victor at the Deloraine Demolition Derby. It’s the third event he’s competed in this year and one of the only Manitoba derbies he’ll drive in.

Since he’s willing to travel, last year he was able to hit about seven events across Canada and the United States.

“It sucks seeing the local derbies die, but this just seems to be the way it goes,” Prettie said. 

“Nobody wants to do it.”

He often heads west to compete in Alberta or British Columbia, or goes south to the U.S., where there are bigger derbies and tougher cars, he said. Prettie says that level of competition gets people’s attention in the States, drawing in bigger crowds and more drivers.

“There’s always somebody doing more. Everybody has really top-notch gear,” Prettie said. “We’re kind of missing that here.”

Prettie revved a ’73 Chevrolet Biscayne in Deloraine. The station wagon is “the king in the arena” and a rare find, he said.

He’s added new back-end skid steer tires to the Biscayne, along with new front-end forklift tires and other parts he’s stitched together.

While derby cars are hard to find for most, Prettie has been able to find good models working as a heavy-duty mechanic. The majority are barn finds — abandoned cars in farmers’ yards — he comes across through his work.

Dave Burba, the president of Brandon’s Road Rebel Car Club, says parts and bodies for classic cars are getting harder to find for most people. 

Clubs like his, which welcomes owners of all types of vehicles, would rather see these legends of the arena preserved. 

The car club is motivated to restore these iconic rides so they can stay on the road and their stories can be shared with others. 

“It’s just using up stuff that will never be around anymore, because once they’re in the derby, they’re gone forever. As a car club, we want to preserve as many of these cars, for sure.”

Many parts and antique cars — any car model older than 25 years in Manitoba — are “getting fewer and harder to find, no doubt,” Burba said.

Demolition derbies, though, are “taking away those big four-doors…. If you put that into a car show people would like to actually see those cars, because those were family cars of the ’60s and ’70s.”

End of an era

Each classic car has a story and marks a piece of Manitoba and automotive history, Burba says.

“We’ve got to preserve the history to show what it was like back then, appreciate the workmanship, the qualities,” Burba said. “There’s value out of this other than just scrap metal.”

The dirt square surrounded by metal guardrails at the ag grounds has been home to many exciting battles and stories, but those engines will no longer run.

“We’ve had some really good [drivers] in here over the years since we built it,” Redden said. 

“It’s sad, but … the derbies just run their course.”