Start your engines: Northwest Deuce Days is back in Greater Victoria

The popular Northwest Deuce Days classic car event is back in the Victoria region with more than 1,200 collector vehicles expected in the capital over the weekend.

The classic cars, all built before 1952, started arriving on Thursday, many coming over aboard the Coho ferry from Port Angeles, Wash.

The stars of the show are the titular "deuces," which are 1932 Ford coupes, affectionately nicknamed "deuces" due to the two in the year they were made.

On Friday, the cars will be on public display outside the Hotel Grand Pacific before Saturday's "poker run," when the cars will gather along Dallas Road at Ross Bay before driving to Goldstream Avenue in Langford.

The main Deuce Days public showcase is on Sunday, when Victoria’s Inner Harbour and the grounds of the B.C. legislature will host the full array of classic cars.

This year's event is the first Northwest Deuce Days under the ownership of Destination Greater Victoria.

The tourism group bought the event last year from Al Clark, who built the show into the largest gathering of deuce coupes in the world.

"Northwest Deuce Days has been a labour of love," Clark said in 2021.

"This is a good time for me to take a step back knowing that the spirit of the event, that was founded in friendships and shared passion for these iconic cars, lives on," he said.

The 2019 showcase contributed $2 million to the local economy, directly supporting businesses, jobs and taxes, according to Destination Greater Victoria.

In 2019, about 600 of the 1,400 classic cars that landed in Victoria were deuces.