Even the nearly full wrath of the weather gods wasn’t enough to keep 300 or so classic truck fans from missing the 2025 Clifford Truck Show.
The skies turned from ominous to threatening as Friday evening wore on. Trucks continued arriving and were marshalled to their parking spots for the weekend; spectators milled around meeting old friends.
And then, at just before 8 p.m., every mobile phone in the area blared out a tornado warning for the Clifford area. As if on cue, the sky turned black and opened up. Winds were driving the rain nearly horizontally across the fairgrounds as tents took flight and fans dashed for cover.
Heavy rain fell for nearly half an hour, flooding the gravel parking lot and creating ponds down in the truck parking area. The storm had blown itself out by 9 p.m., and the thick black clouds retreated, leaving a warm, calm evening under a spectacular sunset.
Clifford Truck Show organizer, Chris Hall, said the uncertain weather and a crummy forecast kept a few fans away.
“About 85% of the trucks were already in and parked before the storm started, and we didn’t see many more arrive that night after the storm,” he told trucknews.com. “Looking through the registration book on Saturday, I noticed quite a few of the regulars didn’t make it this year. I think the weather had a lot to do with that. This was the third year in a row we had a crappy forecast — but a great turn-out.”
From far and wide
Hall said most of the classic trucks visiting the show come from places within 100 miles (160 km) from Clifford. There’s a very strong following from the 519 area code, where trucking is still considered a respectable way to make a living.
But the show’s reputation is such that it draws in fans and aficionados from far and wide.
“We had a few trucks come out of Quebec, Kevin Patterson and a few others,” Hall said. “We also had a visit from a guy from Newfoundland, and a good contingent from Michigan.”
Hall has been building relationships with the Michigan chapter of the American Truck Historical Society, trying to get them to visit Clifford, and it’s paying off.
Just the right number of trucks
Again this year, about 300 trucks passed through the gates of the Clifford Antique & Classic Truck Show, hosted by the Great Lakes Truck Club. Hall says that’s the right number of trucks for the space. They don’t want to overwhelm the facility, and there’s still room to move around comfortably.
Photographers seemed happier this year with the extra bit of space allotted to each truck. Driver, photographer and antique fan, Richard Paulin, said he was able to get more of the full truck into many of his photos.
“Unlike previous years when they have been crammed in tight, I had a bit more latitude in setting up my shots,” he said.
We have featured a few of Paulin’s photos in the gallery below.
While the right number of trucks at a show like Clifford is important, so is the right mix. The show is open to all trucks that are 25 years or more old. And while newer trucks are welcome, they must be traditional style, with exposed air cleaners and stacks, the show guidelines say.
Lately, there’s been some debate among the purists as to whether aero-styled trucks belong at an antique and classic truck show. They may not qualify as classics, but some now qualify as antiques.
Technically, anything 1999 or older is antique — though some of us may not want to admit it.
Kenworth introduced the first aero truck, the T600, to North America in 1985. Freightliner followed with the FLD 112 and 120 models in 1987. Both those models are now 40 years old.
While not everyone is onboard yet, Hall says he welcomes the “newer” antique trucks and the drivers who are restoring them.
The next generation
There are a limited number of classic antiques to be had these days, and certainly fewer barn finds waiting to be discovered. So, the trucks of the next generation of drivers will eventually become the classics and antiques of their time.
And, it must be said, some of the current crop of classics will likely outlive their owners, but there’s a crop of younger drivers ready to take up the cause.
“I really want to get the younger generation of drivers involved here,” says Hall. “People don’t realize it but there’s a massive following up here in the 519 area: Grey-Bruce County, Stratford, Clinton, Chatham … There are tons of young people from 20 to 35 years of age driving grain and feed trucks. Some of them have some really pimped-out rides. They love this stuff.”
Hall points to fellows like Kevin Trelford.
“Kevin first came to Clifford in our third year,” Hall said. “He showed up with his company truck, a 389 Peterbilt pulling a cattle trailer, and he fell in love with the whole thing. Now he owns, I think, eight antique trucks. It has been fun to watch those young kids that were all in their 30s morph into adults and then start collecting old trucks of their own.”
Fellows like Trelford are the next generation. Their tastes in truck might be a little different than the older crowd, who are now beginning to bow out. But they will keep the tradition going.
“Does that young kid with that drop-visor 389 Pete mix in with the antique guys?” Hall asks. “Not exactly, but they share the same love of trucks.”
Who knows, the group us older folks call the next generation might be the last generation. It’s hard to imagine some of today’s trucks remaining operational 40 years from now — if we even have trucks as we know them 40 years from now.
