Retired Mounties cherish classic cruiser

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This article was published 10/11/2023 (1059 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Al Morken went from patrolling the Prairie highways in an RCMP cruiser to just cruising — in his 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air two-door sedan, a car he bought just a few years after becoming a Mountie, and it’s a car that Morken said has an incredible story.

“As a kid growing up in Grande Prairie in northern Alberta, I remember seeing a couple of ’57s, and there was a grey and blue Bel Air, and on the back fender it had that nice little wing that goes to the back. GM designed it to look like an airplane.

“I guess it just always impressed me, and as a kid I’d say, ‘One day I’m going to get a ’57.’ And by gosh, we did. It was kind of like a dream. And when I got it, I kept it,” Morken said.

In 1980, Morken was about three years into his career with the RCMP and living in Glaslyn, Sask., which is about two hours northwest of Saskatoon.

While patrolling the Saskatchewan highways he came to know the owner of an autobody shop in a community called Rabbit Lake, about 45 minutes from his home.

“He was a car guy known for fixing up old cars and I told him if he ever found a ’57 Chevy car to keep me in mind, I’d like to buy one.

“Here I was in my 20s, single and moving around with the RCMP, but all of a sudden, he finds me this car,” Morken said.

The car was a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air with a white roof, goldish brown body, two-speed automatic on the column and a six-cylinder engine.

Fast forward 43 years. Morken has met and married Donna, also an RCMP officer, and both are now retired and living northwest of Brandon, with their Bel Air completely restored from the inside out.

“The colour is super red with white side panel inserts and roof, GM rally wheels, which are a nod to the Corvette and Monte Carlo, a 327 V-8 professionally built motor, 570 Holley carburetor, a GM 700-R4 overdrive automatic transmission, and a B&M ratchet shifter on the floor,” said Morken.

Al and Donna’s Bel Air is more than just a physical representation of the past. It has been a source of delight, surprise, and renewed connections, with one day last winter, Morken said, that made him jump out of his chair.

“I was watching a new TV show on the History Channel called ‘Lost Car Rescue’ and when they introduced the people on the show, I jumped up and ran to the front of the TV, and Donna said, ‘What’s wrong?’”

“That’s Dave Mischuk!” Morken said. “The expert auto body man in this TV show is the guy I bought the car from, so I called him. We hadn’t spoken in many, many years, and I congratulated him on being on the TV show, and he couldn’t believe the car was still going. We’ve sent him pictures, so we’ve kept in touch through the car.”

Donna will tell you that there is something special about their Bel Air that she felt when she first met Al more than 30 years ago.

“I fell in love with the guy, and he just happened to have the car, and then I fell in love with the car because it’s got a personality — honestly, it does,” Donna said. “When you see it, there’s something about it, and it just sort of draws you to it.”

Within a week of seeing Mischuk on TV, Al and Donna received some sad news that the specialist who had painted their Bel Air passed away.

“Matt MacLeod from Carberry was really a fine gentleman, someone whose handshake meant something,” Morken said.

And then out of the blue, came a phone call from someone else who was “so important to the car” — the mechanic who put a new engine in Morken’s car when he was posted in Kipling, Sask., in the mid-1980s.

“Ken Nordal worked at the GM dealership at the time, and he changed the two-speed six cylinder to a 305 three-speed automatic. He changed that car from a quiet little six cylinder to the rumble of the V-8,” Morken said.

Today, Nordal is the fire chief of Kipling and is the one who put Morken’s story on the Sun’s radar.

“Anytime that somebody has a vehicle in their life for that many years and has cherished and respected it, and to finally get to the point where they’ve restored and enjoyed it, I think that’s newsworthy. I enjoy cars just as much as Al does, but I think he has a lot more pride in knowing the whole life story behind it,” Nordal said.

Another of Al and Donna’s treasures is a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 with a six-speed manual transmission, and an LT1 V-8 engine.

“That’s a sweet little ride, and when she’s out on the highway, she just goes, but she’s cute,” Donna said.

Both classics are safely stored for the winter, but when talking about the Bel Air, Morken describes it like it’s a warm summer day.

“When I sit in the ’57 Chevy, open the window and I put my elbow along the windowsill and my hand goes right up onto the roof, it’s just so different to the cars of today.

“I guess it just takes us back to a simpler time whenever we drive the car. It’s got style, it’s got character, it’s so unique.”

If you or someone you know would like to be featured in our Rides section, let us know. Send an email to mmcdougall@brandonsun.com.

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