What Is An Automobile Enthusiast – Norm McGillivray

What is an automobile enthusiast – Norm McGillivray

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 name of Tom Harmes, from Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia. Tom contacted me through Old Autos to discuss his collection of mainly 1958 vehicles and in a short time we became “Pen Pals” through email communications. I have no idea what the electronics generation would call a pen pal in today’s world.

Read More
Calgary Girls First Car – Doug Adams

Calgary girls first car – Doug Adams

Burlington, Ontario

As a baby boomer, I was in my early teens when both of my “much” older brothers started buying cars.

One went with British sports cars, the first being an early 1960s Austin Healey, (Frog-Eyed if British, Bug-Eyed if North American), Sprite.

Read More
Memories And Thiel Transport – Hub And Bev Thiel

Memories and Thiel Transport – Hub and Bev Thiel

ZURICH, ON – When an individual’s dream is to build and restore an antique vehicle, they are, in fact, bringing back a part of history. This story is narrated in two chapters. The first is the legacy of a woman, whose name is Alive Thiel. The second is Bev and Hub Thiel’s two year project to build a 1930 Chev truck. This is in honour of Hub Thiel’s Aunt Alive (also his godmother) and a business formerly known as Thiel Transport in Zurich, Ontario.

Read More
The Golden Age Of Pontiac Woodies – Wide Open Throttle – Patrick Smith

The Golden Age of Pontiac Woodies – Wide Open Throttle – Patrick Smith

Woodies came from the beginning of the auto era when train station depot hacks were used to cart luggage around from the station to people’s hotels. Later on the hack was enlarged and made into a useful carrier for commerce. Groceries, farms, produce vendors used them to carry their wares. At one point, the hack became fully enclosed and a proper station wagon complete with windows, doors, glass. At that point, the station wagon went from basic transporter to a status symbol.

Read More
Turning 40 – Auto-wa Biography – Keith Boardman

Turning 40 – Auto-wa Biography – Keith Boardman

Turning 40 is a major milestone, one that your author celebrated a couple of weeks ago. It seems like only yesterday that I turned 30, and my twentieth birthday doesn’t even seem like it was that long ago, but my tenth birthday feels like a distant memory at this point. Yes, it’s only a number, and I personally can’t see why there is such a big fuss about it.

Read More