When Burnt River resident Larry Mann brought home a 1949 Ford F-1 pick-up truck in 2015, he figured he’d spend a couple of years upgrading it before gifting it to his wife.

Nine years, and several thousand man hours later, the project, which turned into a full-blown rebuild, is finally over. Rather than giving his new baby to wife, Darlene, Larry has turned it into a show vehicle. The truck placed second in the radical customs category at the prestigious 2024 Toronto Motorama car show. It was one of 28 vehicles featured in the front room at the show, which ran March 8 to 10.

Sitting down with The Highlander at his shop just off County Road 121, Mann opened up about what he described as the rebuild of his life.

“I found the truck through a guy I knew years ago who worked at the snowmobile dealership in Haliburton. He got it as part of a trade deal, but didn’t have the resources to really fix it. It needed a lot of work – it looked good from afar, but it was far from good,” said Mann, who started his career as a mechanic before going on to work for Ontario Power Generation.

The original idea was to fix it up for his wife to use as a leisure vehicle – she had always wanted a vintage truck, and this fit the bill. Once Mann started working on it, though, he quickly realized this wasn’t going to be a simple job.

“I started with the suspension, and it just blossomed from there. The next thing you know, I had the frame completely off. It was a total rebuild. There isn’t one part of that vehicle that isn’t customized,” Mann said.

The finished product boasts a 347 ci engine, four-link rear suspension with coil overs, coil over front suspension with tubular control arms, custom fenders and bumpers, custom fabricated bed, ridler wheels, flush mount glass for windows and windshield, leather interior and keyless entry. It’s painted metallic black – done by Steve’s Coachworks in Bobcaygeon – with the fuel-injected motor hitting up to 535 horsepower.

The rebuild was completed last fall.

“It was an evolution – the more I worked on it, the more my vision came together. Once I did one mod, that sort of fed into another,” Mann said. “The motor was done by Don Palmer Racing, when we tested it for power, it came back way higher than I expected. So, in my joy, I called my wife to tell her and she said ‘well that’s not really what I need’, so the project moved from me building it for her, to building it for myself as a show vehicle.”

As a make good, he bought Darlene a turquoise Ford Thunderbird.

After finishing the truck, Mann reached out to judges from the Toronto Motorama show. They visited his property in October, saying they’d love to feature the vehicle as one of this year’s premiere entries.

“It was nerve racking leading up to it – this is the first time I’ve put the truck out there for people to see… getting the second place was amazing, but my sentiment was, when those fellas came up here to look at the truck and said it was worthy of being in the front room, I had already won. For a guy who does stuff at home like me, I didn’t need anything else,” Mann said.

Further validation came when organizers of the Syracuse Nationals Classic Car Show invited him to attend their July show for consideration for the annual Gene Winfield Award, which recognizes excellence in custom automotive design and build techniques.

Mann hopes to make the show in New York and will be featuring the truck at Back Alley Cruiser events in Lindsay over the summer. He plans to put the car up for auction sometime in the future.

It wasn’t his first rebuild – he remembers transforming a 1969 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Mach One in the late 80s – and it won’t be his last. He has a 1932 Deuce Coupe he plans to work on, and a 1972 Ranchero GT he’s already mostly finished.

“You only want to have one big project at a time, because you only have so much time in the day and you only have so much money,” Mann said. “To be perfectly honest, I’m glad the truck is finished. When a build goes on that long, it does start to wear on you. I went back to work to help fund it, that’s why it took me so long. If I had stayed retired, I would never have had the financial wherewithal to finish the build the way I wanted.

“I’m definitely proud of it – the rebuild was pretty much all me, and it stood out right alongside all the other vehicles [at Toronto Motorama], even ones that had hundreds of thousands of dollars pumped into them,” he added. “It’s been a fun ride.”

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region told County council March 27 it is still working with the County of Haliburton to try to bring 60 affordable homes to the Wee Care property in Haliburton.

Chief executive officer, Susan Zambonin, said they would also be interested in acquiring land for a ReStore in the Highlands, if a vacant, and affordable piece of property, could be found.

She noted there are three Haliburton County residents on their board of directors, including Fay Martin, who is vice chair, Minden Hills mayor and County coun. Bob Carter, and Colleen Dermody, who are directors.

Zambonin said last week, “they, as well as the rest of our board and staff, want to be building in Haliburton County, and we have not to date. We’ve built in all the other areas of our service area.

“We really need to build in the County of Haliburton, and we’re excited about the opportunity with the Wee Care property, and we’ve also made an early presentation to Algonquin Highlands council.”

As reported in the Dec. 14, 2023 Highlander, the County is in talks with Haliburton Wee Care, Habitat for Humanity, and the City of Kawartha Lakes human services department about redeveloping the nursery property on CR 21 for housing, expanded day care and other uses.

The County transferred $100,000 from its affordable housing targets reserve for technical studies needed to redesign the site.

Former director of planning, Steve Stone, said the primary goals were housing and childcare, with Dysart et al saying the site could accommodate 38 residential units, and Habitat for Humanity putting that number at 63.

The County has experienced a 300 per cent increase in the number of households waiting for community housing in the last 10 years; rental rates have risen by 72 per cent for one-bedroom apartments, and 23 per cent for two-bedroom apartments since 2018; only 50 units of affordable housing are in development towards the target of 750; and the business case for development of housing “simply does not work anymore due to increasing costs of construction, increasing interest rates and limited funding from other levels of government,” the County’s former planner said.

Zambonin told councillors last week, Habitat for Humanity has a model that has worked elsewhere. It is called a financial partner model and involves no down payment, a credit union low-interest first mortgage for the homebuyer and Habitat for Humanity holding a second mortgage – with no payment until sale or refinancing, and an equity stake payable on sale and refinancing. It means they can build for $172 per square foot. They also get money from the CMHC and cash donations.

Their most recent project is Leahy’s Place phase one in Peterborough. Zambonin said they were able to build for $10.6 million, which was 30 per cent less than market budget.

Zambonin said there are lots of misconceptions about what they do.

“People think we give houses away for free.” However, “we aren’t social housing. We’re not rental housing. We’re not market home ownership. We’re affordable home ownership only.”

The executive director noted that in the past, they had only built for families, but want to supply more housing to singles, seniors and single parents.

As for the ReStore, which covers Habitat for Humanity’s operational costs, Zambonin said if anybody knew about affordable, vacant land, in the County, they should get in touch.

Habitat also recently spoke to AH council about potential land they have for housing.

“So, there’s lots that we’re looking to do and would love to be in this County,” Zambonin said.

Warden Liz Danielsen commented, “it’s just fabulous to see such a wonderful and innovative approach to providing home ownership to low-income families. I know it’s changing but the cost per square foot that you’re able to construct at is really rather extraordinary. I’ve heard as much as $700 a square foot for construction in these days. And I do have to say on behalf of Algonquin Highlands, we are really looking forward to continued discussion and exploring opportunities there.”

As reported in the Feb. 29 Highlander, Zambonin met with AH and Danielsen said the township had identified four lots that could be suitable for development, the largest along Hwy. 118.

Coun. Murray Fearrey complimented their free kitchen and home deconstruction service out of the ReStore. “I think that’s a pretty exciting program, and I have to admire the initiatives that you’ve taken… pretty creative… but you are targeting the right area of people. These are the people that need it. They’re working. They’re contributing to the community. It’s a win-win, so we look forward to working with you.”

Firefighters from Minden Hills, Dysart et al and Algonquin Highlands teamed up March 30 to combat a brush fire in Gelert that “quickly” spun out of control.

Coming on the eve of a new County-wide daytime burning bylaw, which came into effect April 1, the blaze, which started as an open burn before spreading into some brush and nearby prairie grass, scorched 11 acres and took out a large barn, said Rob Thibert, Minden Hills’ acting fire chief.

The fire took several hours to bring under control, with 30 firefighters and 12 pieces of apparatus responding from the three local volunteer units.

“Due to the efforts of well-trained and equipped firefighters, the fire was extinguished before it could spread into a large, forested area,” Thibert said. “Due to inconsistent and unseasonably warm temperatures over the past couple of days, these conditions allowed the fire to spread quickly.”

The fire chief said this was a timely reminder to residents of why the open air burning bylaw is necessary. Jointly created by the County’s four chiefs, and adopted by councils in Algonquin Highlands, Dysart et al, Highlands East, and Minden Hills, the bylaw establishes consistent burning regulations across the Highlands, while introducing some new provisions.

The major change is the elimination of daytime burning during the fire season, which runs from April 1 to Oct. 31. Previously, daytime burn permits were available to set open air fires during this period.

“The 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive ever recorded in Canada, and the decision to eliminate daytime burning… was made with heightened public safety in mind,” Thibert said.

Dan Chumbley, fire chief in Dysart, said 16 firefighters from his department assisted with Saturday’s fire, which occurred on a property off Gelert Road near Ingoldsby Road shortly after 1 p.m. Referencing the new open air burning bylaw, Chumbley said it’s necessary due to the early thaw.

“The spring has started out drier than usual so we are also starting [our response] earlier with this review,” Chumbley said.

Highlands East fire chief, Chris Baughman, said there were several brush/grass fires reported in the County over the weekend. He said the new bylaw is necessary to prevent fires like the one in Gelert Saturday.

“At this time, there is not a total ban, just no day burning between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. This could change if things continue to dry out quickly with little rain and most of the snow already melted,” Baughman said.

There are some exceptions – contractors or applicants with open building, demolition, or driveway permits who require daytime burning can apply for an exemption through their local fire department.

Open air fires for cooking and warmth are also permitted, though they must be small, confined, and supervised at all times. These fires must be smaller than 0.6 metres in diameter; confined within a fire pit or appliance; completely extinguished when use is complete; and must comply with all other conditions of the bylaw.

Fires for cooking or warmth are not permitted during a fire ban, the chiefs confirmed in a media release.

For evening fires, Baughman said the maximum size allowed is two metres in diameter, with any controlled blaze required to be at least three metres from any combustibles, fence, or structure, such as a house or deck.

For more information, contact your local fire chief:

• Mike French, fire chief, Algonquin Highlands, 705-706-0010, mfrench@algonquinhighlands.ca

• Rob Thibert, acting fire chief, Minden Hills, 705-286-1202, ext. 561, rthibert@mindenhills.ca

• Dan Chumbley, fire chief, Dysart et al, 705-457-2126, dchumbley@dysartetal.ca

• Chris Baughman, fire chief, Highlands East, 705-448-2981, cbaughman@highlandseast.ca.