Collector Classics: 2024 Coastal Swap Meet (2024)

The committee of car club volunteers organizing the Coastal Swap Meet opening today at Abbotsford’s Tradex Centre had a big problem. With less than a month to go before the doors opened, the management company that operates the property announced that they were removing all the ATM machines. “The ATMs were constantly running out of money last year, so they were removed this year,” says swap meet committee president Ernie Stepney. “We couldn’t have an effective collector car swap meet without people having access to money.”

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Riding to the rescue was Lewis Thaw of Canadian Classic Auto Supply. Years before, he had purchased a 1965 Volkswagen combi van from a mobile ATM company that provided service to events in Squamish and Whistler. The company had gone bankrupt and, on a whim, Lewis picked up their classic mobile ATM. “I had just stored it away and had almost forgotten about it when I learned about the swap meet’s dilemma,” he says of the mobile unit that uses a satellite signal to dispense money. He quickly revived the van and the ATM hookup so it could provide funds to the hundreds of collector car enthusiasts who will go through the gates to attend the Coastal Swap Meet.

The near absence of an easy source of money was the latest blow to the committee that has been struggling to keep the largest collector car swap meet on Canada’s west coast going. “It’s 50-50 whether we have a swap meet next year,” says Stepney, a retired automotive technician. “We have faced every roadblock they can possibly put up and then they add a few feet.”

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He is referring to the swap committee’s year-long negotiations with the private company that manages the Tradex Centre for the City of Abbotsford to hold the swap meet that begins at 1 p.m. today (Friday May 31) and runs until through 3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday June 1). The annual car collector garage sale sees enthusiasts sharing information and making new friendships. It is put on by volunteers from three car clubs: the Vintage Car Club of Canada – Vancouver Chapter, British Columbia Hot Rod Association and the Pacific International Street Rod Association.

The clubs advanced $38,000 in seed money to put on the event with most of the money raised going to local charities supported by the clubs. The event was self-supporting but has been spiraling downward since Abbotsford brought in a private company to run the Tradex. The rent has doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic and overall costs for running the event have risen approximately 20 per cent in the past year. There has also been a long list of demands and cost increases that has put increasing pressure on the swap meet committee made up of volunteers. One car club – the Totem A & T club has dropped out and is no longer involved in organizing the event.

The swap meet that started in 1969 with a group of car enthusiasts setting up a few tables in the New Westminster parkade to sell old car parts has outgrown several venues including the Cloverdale Fairgrounds and ended up at the Tradex Centre. It is the largest event of its type in B.C. Vendors at indoor and outdoor stalls sell restoration supplies, car parts, tools, manuals, books and collector vehicles in a car corral.

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Stepney says, apart from jacking up the rent, there are added expenses for increased security requirements, overtime costs to remove fencing on the weekend instead of Monday morning, security guards to ensure the gate count is accurate and a new requirement that all vendors moving in or out of the site wear safety vests. Tradex management plans to sell vests for $10/each.

“Management was making people dump out their coffee before they entered the site last year and that will continue,” Stepney says of the contractor’s determination to be the only vendor of food and drinks. “Some people have dietary restrictions and can’t eat the food served there. But they are restricted from bringing their own.”

The latest blow came a month before the event when management announced all the ATMs would be removed from the site. The day was saved with inclusion of the vintage Volkswagen ATM. But that may not be enough to save the swap meet. The committee needs to sell 900 vendor stalls to pay for the $30,000 rent. There are only 600 vendor stalls anticipated. The committee has had to raise the admission price to $14 from $12 to try to keep afloat.

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“Of the predicted 2,200 admissions at least 1,400 will go to covering fixed expenses and we could still lose money this year,” Stepney says. “I have a strong feeling that this will be the last swap meet here. We will have to find a less expensive venue further out in the valley or cancel next year’s swap meet altogether.”

Ernie Stepney bought a 2002 Corvette roadster at last year’s Coastal Swap Meet. He is a hands-on restorer with a 1958 Imperial LeBaron, a 1969 Corvette, a 1958 MGA and a 1975 MGB. His wife Colleen is a volunteer working in the swap meet office.

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com

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