Isaac Clarkson (1913-1971)

Farmer, museum curator.

As a child growing up in western Manitoba, Ike Clarkson was impressed by automobiles passing by the family farm. In 1946, he purchased a badly degraded 1909 Hupmobile and restored it to near-original condition. This was the beginning of an obsession with old automobiles that culminated in a collection of some of the rarest old automobiles in the world. His collection formed the basis of the Manitoba Antique Automobile Museum, founded at Elkhorn in 1967. He was given a Manitoba Golden Boy Award (1961) and a Manitoba Centennial Medal by the Manitoba Historical Society (1970). He died of cancer at Regina, Saskatchewan on 12 October 1971.

Sources:

“Eleven Manitobans and radio-TV station to be honored” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 June 1961, page 52.

“Collector’s life work fills automobile museum” Brandon Sun, 2 June 1972.

Profile revised: 18 October 2009

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