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Show 'n' Shine brings thousands to the park Sunday

He drives it like he stole it. It's one of his favourite sayings and it makes him smile every time he says it.

He drives it like he stole it.

It's one of his favourite sayings and it makes him smile every time he says it.

Simon Dengel, from 100 Mile House, put his hot rod into the 44th annual Cruisin' Classics Prince George Show 'n' Shine Sunday at Lheildi T'enneh Memorial Park.

It's a 1969 Camaro SS. It's shiny and green. It's got some dings from where he did some stupid stuff to it but this car isn't just a showy muscle car. It's a constant tribute to the one person Dengel and his family will have to live without for the rest of their lives. Simon's son Jamie lost his battle with cancer in 2008 when he was 24. The struggle started when doctors found cancer in his eye at 14. He had to have it removed. When he was 24 they discovered the cancer had spread to his liver and a short four months later he was gone.

Etched in the driver's side triangle window behind the door it reads "Jamie: It's not the same without you. 1983-2008"

Parked right beside Simon's Camaro is his youngest son's car. Sean, 31, has a hot rod of a completely different kind. It's a 2002 Subaru STI Bug Eye, right hand drive. It's his street car in the summer.

They had a race once.

Sean almost beat Simon.

Almost.

They still laugh about that one.

"My dad has had the Camaro since '78," Sean said, while his dad's busy talking to an avid car buff.

This is the second year that Simon has driven up so he and Sean can put their cars in the Show 'n' Shine.

Sean remembers Jamie loved to drive the Camaro.

"He'd do hours of chores to drive the Camaro for half an hour," Sean said.

After Jamie's first cancer scare, Simon told his wife, Debbie, they had to keep Jamie focused on positive things so he promised that if Jamie could keep his grades up enough to be on the honour roll, he could drive the Camaro to grad.

"It was January 2001 and I was sitting at the kitchen table and my wife said 'you know Jamie graduates' and I said 'yeah, yeah,' and she said 'this year' and I said 'next year' - 'no, no, this year,' - ah, shit," Simon laughed.

Seeing how much work had to be done Jamie told his dad he didn't have to finish the car.

"But he stayed on the honour roll," Simon said.

So he put 1,000 hours into making the car road worthy.

"My dad did a complete frame up restoration on it right down to the shell in one winter so Jamie could drive it to grad," Sean said, who has a tattoo on his back to honour Jamie's memory. "There were some nights where I'd come home and my dad would be out in the garage at 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning."

Jamie drove the restored stock Camaro to his graduation.

Sunday morning Simon and Sean started their Father's Day early by pushing the Camaro out of Sean's driveway and down the street a ways before Simon fired up the now hot-rodded Camaro. The 383 Stroker Chevy crate motor with six speed transmission installed a couple years ago is so loud it would wake up the whole family still asleep in the house.

The plan was always to hot rod the car.

"This thing is as loud as it gets," Simon said with a smile. Simon and Sean were driving through town to get to the Show 'n' Shine when Sean noticed something special.

"He says to me 'Dad, every single person who saw your car stopped to look,'" Simon said. "Yup, this is what Jamie wanted."

Along with Simon and Sean there were 361 other vehicles registered at the popular show 'n' shine at midday and more were expected, Nat Zavaglia, vice president of the Cruisin' Classics said.

Thousands attend the event each year where vehicles from as far back as the 1920s right up to 2019 are on display. There are 20 prizes given out including crowd favourite, best import, survivor, in progress, and best of the brand like Ford and Chevrolet.

"It's a great show," Zavalgia said.