A Beiseker-based auto restoration company is celebrating 25 years in the community with an open house and show-and-shine event on Sept 11, complete with food, drinks, and a DJ.
The show-and-shine will feature both classic cars restored by Heighton Auto Restorations, along with an open invitation to other classic car collectors around the region, who wish to show-off their prized automobiles at the event.
According to Chris Heighton, the founder of Heighton Auto Restorations, there are a lot of classic car aficionados in and around Beiseker, and business has been booming – even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We host an annual car show in June,” he said. “It's a community fundraiser and we get the whole community involved.”
“The town loves the car show, it brings the community together and it raises funds for Community Links, which is a local fixture in the village.”
Heighton moved to Beiseker from Calgary in 1996, with the objective of opening a small auto restoration shop. He added it took a while for the village residents to warm up to the new business, which opened its doors on Sept. 25, 1996.
“When I took it over, it was just a run-down shop, the windows were boarded up and it was abandoned," he said.
Despite those modest beginnings, Heighton has since built a name for himself, restoring classic cars with two locations in Beiseker that offer both mechanical and body restoration services.
He said his love for restoring classic cars goes all the way back to his days as a teen living in British Columbia.
“I started off by chance walking down the street and a guy had his garage door open and he was working on a 1938 Dodge truck,” he recalled. “I popped in and introduced myself. The guy said, ‘Hey, do you want to give me a hand?’ and the next thing you know, I’m helping him build his truck.
“I [have been] addicted to cars ever since, and that was when I was just a young teenager.”
He added that his family later moved to Conrich, where he nabbed an after-school job at an auto shop. After graduating high school, he began a career working in body shops around Calgary until the recession in the 1980s forced him into other ventures.
“I had a bunch of buddies that wanted their cars built, so I had a double car garage. So I started doing cars for buddies and that worked okay for a few years,” he said. “Eventually, I made a decision to get a bigger shop to work on cars and I never looked back – I've been self-employed ever since.”
After moving to Beiseker, Heighton met his wife Rhoda, who shares ownership of Heighton Auto Restorations. According to Heighton, the shop was awarded the Jim Leslie Memorial Award at the Calgary World of Wheels.
“That is the highest honour that you can achieve at the car shows in Alberta,” he said.
Last September, a large mural adorning the façade of Heighton’s business was completed to commemorate his business’ upcoming quarter-century anniversary. The 51-by-14-foot mural was painted by Didsbury artist Dwight Lockhart, and depicts a retro scene featuring palm trees, an old Shell gas station, a drive-in diner and Heighton Auto Restoration, in addition to several actual vehicles that he has restored over the years.
“It’s something that when people drive into Beiseker and they’re driving through the village, they’ll stop and take pictures,” he said in a previous interview.
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