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Iconic Vancouver car wrecking yard closes doors forever

Coast Import Auto Supply was the go to place when searching for a hard-to-find bit of British or Italian treasure

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For more than a half-a-century, Coast Import Auto Supply has been the go-to place for restorers and repairers of foreign cars needing hard-to-find parts.

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Imagine rows of British sports cars and saloons: Jaguars, Triumphs, Sunbeams, Austins and even a rare V8-powered Jensen Interceptor. There were Italian, German and some Japanese cars. Engines pulled from wrecked cars were lined up like cans on a shelf. Radios, heaters, fenders, doors and small parts galore.

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Showcases below the counter where Ed Tretwold has sold parts for the past 51 years are loaded with emblems, badges, trim pieces and memorabilia. The one-acre property, which includes an old Chevron gas station closed for decades, are stacked with bits and pieces that enthusiasts have loved to comb through. (Check out the website at coastimportautowrecking.com).

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Ed is 76, his long-time partner Dick Johns passed away last year and the property on Mitchell Island across the Fraser River from South Vancouver has become so valuable that it was time to sell. The doors close for the last time on Thursday, June 10.

“It’s been a great ride,” Ed says with some sadness.

He grew up with his father operating a wrecking yard and has been in the business his entire working life. He rifles through hundreds of card files in drawers below the counter where parts have been meticulously listed. He knows what parts fits specific vehicles and parts from one car that work on others.

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“As the owner of some old British cars, Ed was always my last hope before having to mail order something from England,” says Hagerty Insurance representative and international Concours d’Elegance judge Nigel Matthews. “His yard was an absolute treasure trove for those lucky enough to have had the opportunity to take a look around,”

He has been a regular visitor to the wrecking yard since the late-Seventies. “This is the place you would go when you had broken that impossible clip or something made of unobtanium.”

Matthews says Ed Tretwold is reminiscent of an older man behind the counter at a dealership parts department. “You could walk in and throw something on the counter and the parts guy would say: ‘Oh, you need a BH1257-642” and then go and get one.’

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“You could do the same with Ed or telephone him and tell him what you were looking for and, unlike the yards of today where they have to look on the computer to check their inventory, Ed would have that information in his computer which was attached to his neck. He would know instantly that, ‘Yes, we have a 1974 TR6 in the yard with a good transmission,’ or he had three already removed and on the shelf inside the main building.”

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European car restorer Robert Maynard says Coast Import has been invaluable for restoration companies. He spent weeks gathering part, knowing that most will go to the crusher.

“It’s hard to watch this, knowing everything is going,” Maynard says. “There are reproduction and after-market parts. But a lot of it is garbage. There is nothing like originals.”

Some complete cars including a Honda S600 Coupe, a Sunbeam Minx and others have been snapped up for fear that they might go to the crusher.

A lot of the parts from salvaged Japanese imports have been purchased by J.K Japanese Auto Parts, which is nearby on Mitchell Island.

Nigel Matthews offers a personal example of how rare and much sought-after parts were available at the Coast Imports yard. He says a 1969 Jensen Interceptor MKII has been sitting at Coast for as long as he can remember, and it must have been scrapped as a fairly new car.

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“A fellow Brit who works for Hagerty in our legal department in Michigan acquired a Jensen Interceptor. In conversation one day he said that his wheels were not the stock wheels and, being a purist, he had been searching in vain for the correct ones.

“I told him I knew where there was a car, have walked past it many times over the years but it doesn’t have any wheels. Then the light came on in my head and I told him I would go and visit the yard and see if they are still around. I visited and asked Ed about the Jensen wheels, where are they? He laughed and said: ‘If you go outside and look closely you will find them laid out under the car probably covered by other parts’.

“They were indeed where he said they would be. There were five and in perfect condition. A very reasonable deal was negotiated, and the wheels were off by ground freight to Michigan. Good old British Columbia and its vast supply of British car models came through once again,” Matthews says.

An unusual Honda S600 coupe rides high on an old truck body at Coast Import Wrecking. CREDIT: Nigel Matthews
An unusual Honda S600 coupe rides high on an old truck body at Coast Import Wrecking. CREDIT: Nigel Matthews Photo by Nigel Matthews

Ed Tretwold is so knowledgeable about the right parts for English vintage and classic cars that he is a valued member of the judging team at Vancouver’s annual All British Field Meet that is in its 35th year.

So, what will the foreign car parts expert do in his retirement years?

“I’m going to work on my 1930 Ford Model A coupe. It’s been apart for 40 years and it’s time to put it back together,” Ed Tretwold says.

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in a Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com