By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent
If you’re driving through Highgate and see a SuperTest gas station, keep driving – the pumps have been dry for over 30 years.
And if you pull up to the pumps, don’t even try to look for the slot to insert your card – you ‘wooden’ get anywhere, as the pumps are made of wood.
Dave Charlton – who owned his own gas station in Tillsonburg when he was just 17 years old – bought the shuttered gas station at the four corners of Highgate and restored it to its 1950s heyday.
“It’s a man cave,” Charlton said. “I was looking for a unique facility to house my collection of stuff.
“I saw the building for sale online; it wasn’t that far from my house. The next thing you know, I’m making an offer and paying for it,” said Charlton, who lives in Rodney.
He said he didn’t realize he was buying a former gas station.
“I thought someone had been living in and was storing a lot of stuff there,” he said of the rundown building.
He said his lawyer suggested he visit the Mary Webb Centre for information on the property, which he did.
Charlton discovered his building was a SuperTest station, built in 1950, and was provided with pictures of what it looked like back in the day.
“I also found the original blueprints in the rafters of the bathroom when I ripped it out,” Charlton said, which he framed and has on display.
Charlton did all of the renovations to restore the building into a replica of the SuperTest station, which opened more than 70 years ago.
He made all of the signs and the wooden pumps.
“At least once a week,” Charlton said, about how often motorists pull up thinking it is an active gas station. “I have to go out and tell them, ‘This isn’t a real station,’” he said, laughing.
Charlton said he uses the bays to work on his vintage vehicles and motorcycles as well as storing memorabilia.
Along with owning a gas station as a teenager, Charlton also ran a limousine business.
“I took a 1975 Cadillac limousine and stretched it out,” he said. “I built it for a toy, something to take my buddies out in and go to parties.”
By the time he was 19, he had sold the gas station, left his limousine behind, and moved to London, where he enjoyed a long career as an entrepreneur “in a number of businesses.”
He was also big into building hot rods, his first a Pro Street 1970 Chevelle.
“It was pretty unique at the time and grabbed a lot of attention,” said Charlton. “Ever since then, I’ve had a lot of classic cars and motorcycles.”
Charlton recently hosted members of the local media, including The Ridgetown Independent News and Bothwell’s Old Auto, at his restored station, along with a number of classic car owners.
“I can’t get over the car community in this area; it’s phenomenal,” Charlton said.
The scene was a flashback from the early days when the SuperTest station was open, surrounded by a half-dozen classics.
“It’s solely built for photo opportunities,” Charlton said. “If you’re driving by in a classic car or just driving by, feel free to pull in and have pictures taken.”
Just don’t expect Charlton to come running out to pump gas or clean your windows.
