Greetings to our members and friends across Canada!
The policies and politics of the car world are in for a big change in 2025. It is a matter of record that the NAACC supports SEMA in everyway. We have been working together for over 30 years. Our main contact person for many years has been SEMA Director Colby Martin. Our NAACC membership chairman Bob Ford is in contact with Colby often.
Mike Spagnola – 2nd President and CEO of Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) President and CEO of Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) speaks out. “SEMA celebrates the re-election of Donald J. Trump as president, which promises to deliver to the nation and automotive aftermarket industry a host of important policies wins, including the prospect of tax cuts to support small businesses, a more-fair regulatory environment, and most importantly, a Day 1 end to EV mandates, which would have stifled American innovation and hindered an industry whose economic and cultural impact is integral to the American experience. We’re excited to work with a second Trump administration to advance policies and legislation that will continue to make America a more prosperous and powerful nation.”
As president of the NAACC I fully support the efforts of SEMA and encourage you all to keep a close watch on the hobby in Canada. There have been many ill-thought-out mandated policies put forth in all of the Provinces in Canada. A significant concern for me is the mandated and ill conceived “no ethanol free fuel can be sold in Canada”. In my view this is a huge mistake. If Ethanol free fuel were available it will be consumed by collector car enthusiasts, boat owners and private airplane owners. Most collector car owners and motorcycle owners are now coming to realize that Ethanol based fuel causes major damage and costly repairs to their vehicles that sit in storage and are only driven less than 800 miles per year. The NAACC did a Canada wide survey. The ‘sample’ that was used exceeded 5,000 vehicles. The results that were found supported the 800 miles or less figure.
The costly repairs to gasoline powered garden equipment, service station storage tanks and collector cars is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Ordinary daily drivers will not use ethanol free fuel because the gasoline used in their fuel tanks is consumed long before phase separation and major gasoline tank damage occurs. The cost of ethanol free fuel is also much more expensive. For vehicles 25 years old or older and any boats where the fuel is not used for a period of three months or more often serious damage occurs. Car collectors in Canada have resorted to removing ethanol in fuel themselves. Also, many collectors have resorted to purchasing ethanol free fuel in the USA.
The NAACC urges you to stay vigilant in your local communities regarding new driving restrictions pertaining to gasoline powered vehicles. Take the time to contact your provincial NAACC representative so that they can help protect your right to drive your collector vehicles. This is what the NAACC does for the hobby! The public also needs to be made aware that literally hundreds of thousands of dollars that are donated to charities each year by the collector vehicle community in Canada. Also, tens of millions of dollars are generated by tax revenue as well.
According to Hagerty marketing “The collector car market has grown exponentially over the last two decades. As millions of daily drivers age from new to used, and from used into “classics,” the pool of specialty insureds should rise in tandem. But just how big is the collector vehicle market these days? These numbers should give you some perspective:
• 43 million: Hagerty data tells us around 43 million cars in the United States fit the Hagerty definition of a collector vehicle. That’s around 16 percent of the nation’s 275 million registered vehicles.
• $2.2 billion: This is the total amount of sales from North American collector car auctions in 2021. $1 trillion: The combined value of those 43 million collector cars represents an estimated (and) astonishing $1 trillion in total insurable value. Those are big numbers. It’s clear the market is substantial. But is it growing? Can it sustain itself? The short answer to both questions is yes. Collector car values have been rocket-strapped for nearly two straight years – including a stretch of valuation increases lasting 15 consecutive months. One significant reason? The youth movement. Let’s give Generation X some long-awaited recognition. These days it’s Gen-X, Millennials, and Gen-Z driving the majority of Hagerty quotes for collector car insurance. Gen-X enthusiasts are just now reaching their peak earning years, with the latter generations well on their way. Forty-two percent of millennial owners acquired their first enthusiast vehicle within the past five years. While baby boomers still account for the majority of Hagerty collector car policies, younger enthusiasts represent the biggest drivers of growth.
Portrait of a collector car enthusiast: The love of driving crosses all generations, but who is the average enthusiast these days? First thing’s first. Whether you call them enthusiasts, car nuts, gearheads, or something else is entirely irrelevant. Just know that somewhere along the way these “car people” went mainstream. In fact, there are 69 million individuals in the U.S. who may be considered car enthusiasts, and these are the drivers most likely to own or consider owning a collector vehicle of any age.”
In Canada it is estimated that the National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada touches over 400,000 collector vehicle owners. The NAACC has representatives in every Province in Canada. We are partnered with several major organizations including TechForce Foundation, American Hot Rod Foundation, RPM Foundation, LeMay Americas Car Museum and the International Chief Judge Advisory Group (ICJAG)
The NAACC offers all car and motorcycle clubs in Canada a comprehensive Club insurance program for officers/directors and club members. The cost per family membership is $5.00 per family per year for 3 million in coverage or $6.00 per year for 5 million in coverage. Simply call up naacc.ca and view the various options and what the policy covers (Insurance plan Questions & Answers). The policy is offered across Canada. The NAACC offers this as a service and makes no money from the offering.
Please note that the NAACC is a ‘not for profit’ federally incorporated corporation and that all of our board of directors are volunteers.
In closing, I wish you all a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Warmest regards, John Carlson
Just so you know….NAACC accomplishments (past 10 years or less) You, as collector vehicle enthusiasts need to be aware of the activities of the NAACC to support the hobby across Canada and ensure that you have the right to drive your classic vehicle.
1. Prohibited Paint — Implementing the framework at the Federal Government level and speaking to the topic so that Lacquer Based paint may continue to be used in Cana da. (Our lobby was Successful)
2. Race Track Prohibition — The Federal Government was going to ban outright the use of Nitrous Oxide. The NAACC was asked to speak on behalf of the racing community regarding the use of Nitrous Oxide for street vehicles that are legally raced on a sanctioned track. As a direct result of our talks with the government, Federal legislation was ap proved for vehicles to carry Nitrous as long as they conform to the requirements. NAACC president John Carlson wrote those specific requirements and presented them to the Federal Government on behalf of the racing community and the NAACC. They were all passed into law.
3. Leaded Racing Fuel — The NAACC was asked by the Ontario racing community and Motorplex Racing Inc, to approach the Federal Government and ask them to ease the restriction for the use of leaded racing fuel. After a full year of negotiations and many hours with the Federal Government, the continued use of leaded racing fuel was approved for racing in Canada. (Lobby Successful)
4. Vintage Car Club of Canada requests a National Insurance Program Approximately 15 years ago the (VCCC) Vintage Car Club of Canada asked the NAACC to develop an insurance program for car and motorcycle clubs. After two years of by- weekly meetings with Pat Anderson, owner of Pat Andersson insurance agencies, a comprehensive insurance policy was developed under the umbrella of the NAACC. This insurance program was initially developed for the VCCC. It was then expanded and is now offered across Canada. I repeat–this was a request by the Vintage Car Club of Canada approximately 15 years ago. The policy took two full years to develop. This policy is underwritten exclusively by Lloyds of London and Premier Marine for the NAACC. Reliance Insurance in Vancouver BC manages the policy.
5. Collector Car Appreciation Day and Automotive Heritage Month — The NAACC met with SEMA/SAN (Director Steve McDonald) to develop an automotive recognition day and month North America wide. The implementation of Collector Car Appreciation Day with SEMA/SAN and the implementation of Automotive Heritage Month was established jointly by SEMA & the NAACC. July 12, 2024 was Collector Car Appreciation Day and July was Automotive Heritage Month. Formal Proclamations were issued for 2024 in every English-speaking Province.
Many Provinces claim ownership of Collector Car Appreciation Day. Note…This was a joint effort by SEMA and the NAACC. Steve McDonald represented SEMA and John Carlson represented the NAACC. NAACC secretary Tom Woodhouse was the initial proposer of Automotive Heritage Month. Every year since its inception the NAACC has approached the Government for a yearly Proclamation.
6. Judging Standards — The NAACC developed a national set of vehicle judging standards and have been using these with the Vintage Car Club of Canada for nearly thirty years. They have been updated and redrafted and updated 12 times. These standards appear in the judging section on the NAACC website.
7. Judging Partners — The NAACC has officially partnered with (ICJAG) International Chief Judge Advisory Group. We are one of a very small groups to have been accepted as a partner. Our logo is displayed on their website. ICJAG judging sheets are the standard to which many Concours around the world are used for judging including the Pebble Beach Concours, Arizona Concours, Hilton Head Concours and the Cobble Beach Concours in Ontario Canada. Many foreign Concours use this format as well including 21 Gun Salute in Europe. It should be noted that the ICJAG website is currently offline and Facebook is being used as a communication medium.
8. Cross Canada Tours — The NAACC sanctions a Cross Canada Tour every 5 years. The most recent Tours were led by NAACC Director and VCCC National President Fraser Field. The NAACC financial sponsorship was approximately $2500. (The participants pay their own way.) In 2017 there were approximately 100 vehicles on the Tour from Coast to Coast led by Fraser and Dorothy Field. The Tour was approximately three months long. In 2022 the Tour had approximately 60 vehicles and traveled Coast to Coast. It was approximately 2 months long. The NAACC supplied signage, pins and looked after all of their insurance arrangements. This included providing insurance for the group and the Maritime participants.
9. Website — The NAACC developed a new website in 2023. We currently retain a paid webmaster to look after the site. The new website also has a ‘Members Only’ section that displays our discount programs.
10. American Hot Rod Foundation— The NAACC is now working with the American Hot Rod Foundation to develop a larger member audience. We have formed a strong working partnership with them. Our logo is proudly displayed on their Home Page. https://ahrf.com/ Their mandate is to preserve the history of early motorsports. Please keep in mind that the NAACC supports all Clubs whose vehicles are 20 years old or older.
11. Two years ago, NAACC is partnered with TechForce Foundation. This is a group that provides scholarships to our younger generation to enter the automotive restoration and mechanical trades. https://techforce.org/
12. The NAACC is partnered with LeMay, Americas Car Museum in Tacoma WA. The NAACC provides a number of free admission tickets every year to all NAACC members. This is a saving of roughly $50 US per couple. This museum is ranked as one of the 10 best in the USA. These ticket offerings have been used for the past 10 plus years. For admission tickets please contact John Carlson.
13. Communication– The NAACC issues quarterly reports directly to all member clubs across Canada. We provide updates to our general membership and to anyone else online who is Interested in reading them. Report #117 is available.
14. The NAACC is a Federally Registered ‘NOT FOR PROFIT’ Corporation. We have been in operation since 1970. No one gets paid anything. None of the Board of Directors or the President or Executive get paid anything. They do this work for the love of the hobby.
15. The NAACC is represented in every Province in Canada. We have one or more full time Directors in all 10 Provinces. Many Provinces have two or three directors.
In summary:
This is a very brief overview. There is much more that is currently being done in many provinces across Canada by the NAACC. This includes the current NAACC Canada wide Federal lobby to allow the continued use of Ethanol free fuel. The NAACC has met with MP’s in the Federal Government. Our most recent meeting and presentation was to the (BCHRA) British Columbia Hot Rod Association and to MP John Aldag, Minister of Parliament Cloverdale & Langley City. As a result of the 2024 meeting the Minister agreed to present our NAACC request to the House of Parliament. A second MP from the opposition has also stepped forward and has also agreed to present on our behalf. If the NAACC had not made this effort, in my opinion, this petition and MP support would not have happened. In 2024 an online ‘Ethanol Free’ Petition was developed and the application was submitted to the Federal Government for approval. Thankfully, it was approved by the Federal Government. The petition ended April 17, 2024. As of December 2024, we are waiting for the results.
Currently we are involved with a complete motor vehicle legislative re-write in the Province of Nova Scotia. NAACC Vice president Conrad LeLièvre has been representing the NAACC and the hobby with this rewrite for the past several years.
In closing, I urge you and your clubs to become more proactive by forming committees to monitor what is happening in your local communities so that we are not legislated off our public highways by the well-intentioned and the mis-informed.
Thank you again for your support.
John Carlson
President/CEO
National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada Corp.
www.naacc.ca