Features

When you open your edition of Old Autos, you’re supposed to find ‘Historical Sketches’ on the first page of the second section, but that long and dependable fixture at the paper has come to an end. My Dad, Bill Vance, passed away on Monday September 19, 2022, at the age of 86 as one of Canada’s most respected automotive historians.

He had written for Old Autos since its beginning and it was always nice for us to hear, “Your Dad is Bill Vance? I love his column in Old Autos.” Dad was very proud to be able to offer his faithful, loyal and knowledgeable readers regular columns which were not only engaging and accessible, but also historically accurate and well-written. He was supremely grateful to have been given that opportunity and he devotedly wrote for you, his dear readers, until the very end of his life, even editing from a laptop in a hospital bed before coming home in the last few days. I think you would agree that upon finishing one of his pieces you would invariably think, “Gee, that’s so interesting!”

Archie and Katherine Haig, who dwell in southeastern Ontario, have owned their stylish 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix LJ two-door hardtop since day one. Archie ordered the luxury cruiser from the GM dealership where he was apprenticing as a mechanic those 45-years ago. Yet, not only was the big Pontiac purchased new, Archie even has images of the Grand Prix’s delivery, sitting on the car carrier at Davidson Pontiac/Buick dealer in Trenton, back in 1976. In its day, the LJ luxury package was a $365 US option that included velour cloth seats and a matching Cordova vinyl top.

Whereas, a large number of Chevy Monte Carlo models have survived, the Pontiac versions are seldom seen today.

The outstanding original condition of this pristine Pontiac is due to key facts. The Haig’s 1976 Grand Prix has only 56,506 original miles on its clock and it has rarely seen a day of rain and never winter driven since new.

Owned by Derek Ebner

If ever there was a Mopar car that was loved or hated for both its performance and unconventional looks, it has to be the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird with its eccentrically-high rear wing and its shark-snout front grille. But to Derek’s eyes, finding such a car was a dream. “It was pretty much the ultimate ‘barn find’ for a Mopar guy like me. I waited all my life for a chance to own a car like this and I wasn’t going to miss such an opportunity.”

We left off the story of the 409 in late 1962 with the arrival of B/FX class racers being produced at the year’s end, with hotter cammed engines, with new cylinder heads. For the 1963 model year, Chevrolet did a mild facelift of their family-sized hauler with new grille, tail ends, different bumpers and trim. The sports roof or “bubble top” as it was colloquially named was dropped for 1963. The SS package returned of course, as a big seller. New for 1963 were a couple of race engine developments; one was stillborn after the Daytona debut and the other was of limited race professional use only for NHRA. Both were 427s, but completely different engines in design and intent. The Daytona mystery motor was actually an early version of what turned out to be the 396 block with porcupine heads. Only five cars got the Mark II 427 and support from Chevrolet was cut off in February. Junior Johnson loved the power of the car, but once he ran through his stash of parts and had his shop make replacements, he was done. Johnson joined Mercury for 1964.

(Wherein we look at some lesser known movies and TV shows that featured classic vehicles)

THE LONG, LONG TRAILER

(1954 movie)

If you’re a fan of the old “I Love Lucy” TV show, vintage travel trailers and old Mercs (that’s Mercs as in Mercurys not Mertz as in Fred, the Ricardo’s neighbour on the TV show) you’ll get a kick out of this flick with the red-headed chick. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz basically repeat their TV characters in this film with a few changes. On TV they were called Lucy and Ricky; here they’re called Tacy and Nicky (must have taken hours to think up those names for the film ). On TV they were a married couple with Ricky a band leader (Babaluuu) and Lucy a house wife; here he’s traded in his baton for a slide rule and he’s a civil engineer (seriously?) and she’s his new bride. She talks him into buying an enormous 36 foot long travel trailer for them to honeymoon, live and travel in, while he goes to his various work locations. Numerous funny mishaps occur, things get wrecked, arguments ensue, make-ups follow . . . just like their TV show!

The minivan packs the greatest passenger/cargo space into the shortest possible vehicle. Although a few others such as some British manufacturers built minivans, it was Volkswagen that popularized it in the early 1950s. And while Chrysler brought it into the North American mainstream in the 1980s, a couple of Americans had tried the idea back in the 1930s.

Buckminster Fuller, brilliant designer of the geodesic dome (dubbed the Bucky Ball), created a motor vehicle he called the Dymaxion introduced in 1933. Shaped like a fat cigar on wheels, the Dymaxion looked something like a short airplane without wings. It had two regular sized wheels just ahead of the lateral centreline and driver and front passengers rode ahead of the front axle.

part one

Richard Brimblecombe of Drayton, Ontario, was born in 1945 and learned how to drive a tractor on the family farm. He drove his dad’s 1950 Pontiac to pass his driver’s test in 1961.

But he was already car-crazy. He bought his first car at age 15, a black 1937 Dodge 4 door sedan at an auction, cleaned it up, and drove it around the farm till he got his license. Then the fun began because it was really cool being the only kid with a car! His friends piled in, chipped in two dollars for gas, and they drove everywhere.

When Dad traded in his 1950 Pontiac for a 1958 Pontiac, Richard traded his 4-H calf for the 1950 Pontiac.

Back in 1952 Studebaker was a contender in the highly competitive truck market.

Studebaker had built its first electric commercial vehicles before switching to gas in 1913, but soon after abandoned the truck market altogether.

Then, in 1927, new buses and 1 to 3-ton (907-2,722 kg) trucks were gradually introduced and evolved. In the last half of the 1930s some very stylish “Coupe Express” pickup trucks were marketed.

During the war Studebaker built 6×4 and 6×6 Hercules-powered 2-1/2-ton military trucks.

The pre-war M-Types continued in production for 1946 and were joined by the Studebaker 102 hp, L-head, 6-cylinder, gas-powered 2R line in 1949. A total of 67,000 Studebaker trucks were delivered in the last three years of the decade.

During the early 1980s, Oldsmobile juggled some nameplates around, solving old problems and creating new ones. Their redesigned intermediate Cutlass from 1978 fared well during the downsized era. Fears  of the buyer rejecting a smaller Cutlass proved to be unfounded. In Europe, there was no such stigma attached to a car just on size alone. GM’s designers liked European cars for their outre ideas and there was a brief European influence on 1970s A bodies.

“I will build a car for the great multitude.” This was a quote from a man many believe to be an autocrat, but also a remarkable renegade who revolutionized, not just the automotive industry, but the world of manufacturing with the advent of the assembly-line process thanks to his Model T. The man was Henry Ford and, amongst his admirers was an individual, almost 20 years later, followed Ford’s infectious words by commissioning “the people’s car” that became the VW Beetle. That man was Adolf Hitler who adorned a life-size image of Ford on his office wall.

The Model T was a practical car. As Ford illuminated, “You can have the car in any colour as long as it is black.” What is more impressive is his understanding of human behaviour – views that would not be out of place today.  He believed that if he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. This resonates with people’s immutable and unshakable babble regarding our digital age, where speed and convenience are the only essential needs. Speaking of speed, the Model T moved at a rate of mammal evolution. Still, it was faster than the horse and buggy.