For decades a bright pink car overlooking Highway 1 near the Lickman Road exit in Chilliwack was a familiar sight to travellers.
The 1972 Plymouth Duster — which had no engine or transmission — advertised Pick-a-Part, which was opened by John Davy. In 1985 he had acquired five acres of land at the site, and soon added another seven acres, which he gravelled and fenced and called “Right Way Autobody” after bringing in his used vehicles.
In 1988 Davy was at a mechanics’ convention in Edmonton, where he learned about the business of offering selve-serve auto parts to vehicle enthusiasts. He returned to Chilliwack and spent a year filling the yard with used vehicles, organizing them by make so that car enthusiasts could bring their own tools and salvage whatever parts they needed for their own vehicles or projects.
Pick-a-Part opened in 1990, and Davy wanted to put up something catchy that would attract eyeballs. “I wanted to make a statement,” he told Black Press in 2020, and proceeded to erect the largest sign that the City of Chilliwack’s bylaws allowed. The result was a huge, two-sided, bright yellow sign with black lettering that passers-by couldn’t miss if they tried.
Not long after, Davy was at ICBC buying some salvage and came across the 1972 Plymouth, which appeared to have been painted bright pink for use as a grad car. He bought it for $100 and brought it back to Chilliwack, intending to put it in the yard for salvage, but one of his employees suggested he put it on top of the sign instead.
However, the move incurred the ire of City Hall, as it put the sign over the maximum height allowed in Chilliwack’s bylaws. Davy refused to remove the car, and told the city to “get over it”. He was told that the car could stay, but that if he ever took it down, he would never be allowed to put it back up.
So the car stayed where it was, and every few years Davy or one of his employees would climb up and give it a fresh coat of paint.
“Just hot pink by the gallon from Sherwin-Williams, not automotive quality,” Davy said. “That car is 25 feet in the air, but if you got a little closer to it, you’d realize it’d take some serious work and you’d have to spend lots of money to get it looking good enough that you could walk past it.
“Somebody driving by on the highway at 100 clicks, it’s just a pink car. But if you wanted to put it on display, it’d take a lot of work.”
All good things must come to an end, however. In 2020, at the age of 77, Davy decided to close the doors and sell the property, and in October 2022 the site was purchased by Southern Irrigation. The Duster remained where it was, perched above the highway, but eventually it had to be taken down. Rather than return it to a salvage yard, however, the new site owners stated that they would be auctioning the iconic car off to the highest bidder, with proceeds going to the Chilliwack Salvation Army.
Locally-owned Beekman Auctions began taking bids on Feb. 29 of this year, and on the morning of the final day of bidding, April 4, the price stood at $5,250. There was a flurry of activity in the final minutes of bidding, with bids rising in increments of $250, and when the hammer came down it sold for $9,250. Beekman had said all along that they would match the selling price, which means that the Chilliwack Salvation Army will be receiving $18,500.
The purchaser has not yet stepped forward, but the Beekman website shows that there were 66 bids in total.
With files from the Chilliwack Progress