Car show features many of Calgary first responder vehicles

Many of the vehicles included in the Saturday show were lovingly restored by mechanic who used to work on them when they were in service. (Supplied)

Calgary families were offered the opportunity to have an up-close-and-personal look at some of the current and vintage vehicles used by the city's first responders.

The Show & Shine at the YouthLink Calgary Police Interpretive Centre was held on Saturday in the northeast.

A wide variety of vehicles used by the Calgary Police Service, Calgary Fire Department and Calgary EMS were included in the show.

Alicia Millis, the marketing and communications manager at Youthlink, says this is the first time for the event and it was completely free for the public to attend.

"We have people from Calgary Police, the Calgary Firefighters' Museum and EMS Foundation," she said.

"We all were very interested in doing this – this is something we've been planning for a long time."

She says it's an excellent chance for families with young children to explore all the vehicles that first responders use and have used through the years in the city of Calgary.

"We have all these amazing vehicles that never get displayed and the public don't get to see often. We know there are lots of classic car people in the community so we thought this would be a great partnership to bring them all together."

Some of the vehicles that were on display needed a lot of TLC to bring them back to their former glory.

They also have their own story to tell, such as an ambulance that was in service during the 1988 Winter OIympics.

"The vehicle is a 1986 Ford E-350, manufactured with Crestline Coach on a Ford chassis," said former EMS mechanic Brent Baragar.

"The vehicle has stayed in EMS headquarters for the last 10 years, and just in the last three or four months, we've taken it all apart, did a bunch of engine work and lots of different things."

Now that the ambulance is completely roadworthy, it's been donated to the EMS Foundation.

"It makes me feel great," Baragar said about the work he put into it. "It makes me feel warm and fuzzy because that's what it's all about – we're putting these vehicles on display."

For anyone who happened to miss the event – don't despair – photos of all the vehicles included in the show will be available on YouthLink's website.