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PHOTOS BY EDDIE SAVAGE
Greg MacKay was in the third car that drove across the Confederation Bridge the day it opened in 1997. The car was a Maxwell, built in 1909, and it was driven by Kevin MacKay, Greg’s father.
Kevin had restored the car and took it for test runs around Charlottetown, making sure it could manage a 12.9 km drive—the length of the bridge.
Right behind the Maxwell during the bridge crossing? More members of MacKay’s family. “My mother and my sister were the fourth to cross the bridge,” recalls Greg, now 34. “They followed behind us with a motor home and trailer, in case it broke down.”
How do you get your hands on a 1909 vehicle in working condition? Well, it helps if you own a car museum—in this case, the Car Life Museum in Bonshaw, P.E.I. Founded in 1966 by car salesman and automotive enthusiast Newton MacKay, the museum boasts some 50 vehicles. They include an 1898 steam-powered car, a futuristic-looking 1975 Bricklin manufactured in New Brunswick, and one of Elvis Presley’s famous pink Cadillacs, a 1959 model. The museum also bought the first car to cross the Confederation Bridge, a Dodge Spirit.
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