February 20, 2007
A History Mystery: Kendal Street Van
In the fall of 1979, 21-year-old Terry Fox, recovering from a recent lower-leg amputation, devised a plan to help support the thousands of Canadians who, like him, had faced off with cancer. He would run across Canada, beginning in St. John's, Newfoundland, and wrapping up on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Figuring the journey would take roughly five months, Fox hoped to raise $1 for every Canadian man, woman and child.
The Canadian Cancer Society quickly jumped on board, but it soon became clear corporate sponsors would be needed to make this dream a reality. Thankfully, they were forthcoming. Adidas provided the shoes, Safeway donated food vouchers and cash, and Ford gave a modest camper van.
And the rest, they say, is history.
Few children graduate from elementary school unaware of Fox's contribution to this country. Few adults would be hard-pressed to recognize the iconic figure of him half-running, half-limping along the road, crowds cheering him on. All of which is why we were immediately intrigued when reader Ben Arkin sent us a letter about a camper van he spotted on Kendal Street.
Earlier this week I was walking back to my place from the skating rink at Sibelius Park and I see this old Ford camper van parked by the curb on Kendal near Dupont. Its side is lettered, "Terry Fox - Trans Canada Run in Aid of Cancer Research". It looks old enough to have turned its first miles on the odometer at around the time of the Marathon of Hope. I figured that it could even have been Terry Fox's official highway escort. What a piece of history that would be! And what a shame to leave it languishing on a salty Toronto street rather than in a museum.
Arkin went to work, searching for any clues as to the van's origins. He returned, snapped a few photos of the van's exterior, and was "pretty excited by the results." As he put it, a van bearing a striking resemblance to the one parked on Kendal shows up throughout videos of Fox's journey. In one shot, Fox can be seen leaning against it to catch his breath. However, while the two vans are "uncannily" similar, closer inspection revealed they are not the same.
"Both are third-generation Ford Econoline camper vans with the same tall, white-topped camper conversion," Arkin said, "But the left-side windows and spare tire on each van are in totally different configurations. There are other differences too." Like Arkin, we have to wonder just where this van came from. Did Ford provide more than one van to Fox's campaign? Did they wreck the van shown in the video and this was a replacement? Is it the same van with modifications? Of course, it could very well be the van used in the 2005 film Terry, starring Shawn Ashmore (we'll be getting in touch with Shaftesbury Films, just in case).
Are there any readers out there who can help us solve the mystery of the Kendal Street van? Give us a shout in the comments.
|
For an almost 30 year old Econoline, it appears to be in remarkably good condition. From the sideview it also appears to have a CNG tank on the underside which could be for any number of things including the possibility that it might be a hybrid. However, the first Terry Fox film came out in 1983 and was called appropriately enough, 'The Terry Fox Story'. It starred Eric Fryer and Robert Duvall, among others.
Hello:
It is the replica van used for the CTV made for TV movie entitled "Terry". Pictures provided to Shaftesbury together with details provided by family members and Marathon of Hope entourage members perhaps helped with the close resemblence. The double windows are the give away that is not the original.
Hi Everyone,
I am happy to see that Terry Fox has touched all our hearts with his courageous endeavours. However, the van that is parked outside on Kendal Ave. is NOT the original van. The Ford Econoline that is featured in the above pictures was a replica made for the CTV movie "Terry," produced by prominent Ontario filmmakers, "Shaftesbury Films." Come spring, when the weather warms, the labelling will be removed and it will just be another van that will secretly maintain the creative endeavours of the film. If you would like to learn more about the film "Terry," (based on the life of Terry Fox that inspired the nation), I am sure someone at Shaftesbury Films would be more than helpful to offer further information.
I know the person who owns the van and it is from the movie "Terry". He works for Shaftesburry Films and bought it. This is not the real van and you gave the people who konw the owner a really good laugh!
Thank Brian, df, Ron and Daryl. I'm glad you could help solve the mystery. I'm having quite a laugh too knowing that I've been had by a movie prop masquerading as a cultural artifact!
In Toronto, movie props are cultural artifacts!
Thanks for solving our history mystery guys!