Article content

A few years back, Jim Benning was driving to, what else, a hockey game with his father, Elmer, when he glanced at the odometer of his dad’s fabled ’95 Toyota Camry.

The junior Benning did a double take. He knew his dad had worn out that car through 20 Prairie winters as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. But 650,000 kilometres?

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ed Willes: Jim Benning's scout dad, Elmer, in 47th year and counting with Habs Back to video

“That can’t be right,” his son said.

“Oh it’s right” answered his dad. “I’m going to get it up to a million.”

And damned if he didn’t. The Camry, which hit the magic million mark a couple of years ago, is now preparing for a starring turn in the showroom of an Edmonton Toyota dealer. In reality it belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame or, at the very least, a James Bond movie.

“Every fall I’d take it into the mechanic,” Elmer Benning says from his Edmonton home, as he’s getting ready for, what else, a scouting trip to Red Deer. “I’d tell him, ‘Do what you need to do. I’m driving all over the Prairies in the winter. I don’t want to get stranded.’