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...

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...

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. GM experimented with the Colonnade era cars,...

“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...

If I asked the readers of Old Autos to draw a picture of an automobile enthusiast, I am sure the variation of pictures would be almost endless. Their only common trait would be an interest in all things automotive related. They would range from female to male, young to elderly, short to tall, still employed to retired, professionals to trades people and all people in many different levels of society and jobs. In the last year I had the pleasure of starting to communicate with a long time subscriber by the...

In the early days of the automobile, hundreds of people laboured in their shops and sheds, trying to come up with the perfect design to replace the horse. Most of them are long-forgotten, but Ron Foss of Burlington, Ont. is working to ensure that one is them is remembered. His grandfather, George Foote Foss, built a horseless carriage called the Fossmobile that appears to be the first gasoline-powered car made in Canada. “There’s no other evidence to suggest otherwise,” Foss said. “I’ve relied on...