Over the last few decades I have had many different cars. Some I loved, some were just transportation but they all served a vital purpose. Click on images below to view larger image.
The 1941 Dodge was the first vehicle I acquired in 1961 for $50. The car was huge and spacious inside, ran well until I was showing off with a friend in the car. I slammed the brakes on and the car stopped on a dime but the unnecessary stupidity caused the brake line to rupture. I tried as hard as I could to repair the damage but never succeeded. As I recall I had the car for less than a month. One day I was driving East on Lakeshore Road approaching Dixie Rd. and I had been timing the lights so I would not have to stop without brakes in the car. The light at Dixie Rd. turned red and there was a brand new 1962 Mercury stopped in front of me. I panicked and decided I could jump out of the car and run away if I hit the Merc. but then a brainwave said, try and put the car in reverse and see if that will prevent the imminent collision. The vehicle came to an excruciatingly slow stop but a tragic disaster was avoided. I drove the car to a secluded area, parked on the side of the road and called the wreckers to dispose of my first car. I failed to mention that not only did I not have any insurance but I had no driver's license. Lucky to have survived my irresponsible stupidity.
I finally got my driver's license and purchased what I consider my first real
car, a 1955 Monarch 2 door hardtop
(1962 or early 1963). The car was red and
white as the first one and the last one above (without the pipes), with
red and white interior and lots of pep.
I loved this car and it was the vehicle I drove on my first dates with Barbara,
my forever first love.
The Monarch saw a lot of Ontario, Algonquin Park to Niagara Falls and many
destinations in between; mostly with Barbara and I, but other friends and
neighbours as well, from time to time.
The other images are just to show features not visible in the first image.
Those were the days when chrome was king and weight was not a consideration.
Wide white wall tires were norm of the day, later replaced by thin,
single or double white stripes; only to return a few years later to completely
black tires of olden days.
I don't recall how long the car lasted (two, perhaps four years) but money
was extremely tight and when an engine mount gave out, the car would only go
in reverse and I tried to fix it. I borrowed a winch and set up a tripod to
lift the engine and replace the engine mounts. The tripod slipped and smashed the
windshield. Broken hearted I disposed of this wonderful vehicle, sending it to
the graveyard. The vehicle was wrecked but all the wonderful memories
have lived on and will for as long as I live.
The Morris Minor was an inexpensive and economical transportation system. This vehicle was used not only for transportation but to teach Barbara to drive. Barbara's parents ended up buying her a Morris Minor once she got her license. Eventually I finished school and started my apprenticeship as a Machinist and Barbara went off to the University of Toronto, after completing high school. University agreed with Barbara and her social circle expanded to the point that I was no longer the love of her life and so ended a wonderful relationship.
I rebuilt the engine in the Morris Minor but it lasted only a week, after all my efforts, and I bought a brand new VW Beetle. VWs were relatively inexpensive and economical but lacked an adequate heating system. All in all I purchased 3 brand new red VWs one after the other, with the last one having a gas heater under the hood. The front hood was actually the trunk, since the VWs had an air cooled engine in the rear. The air cooled rear engines seemed less durable than our standard water cooled engines and I managed to keep them running for about 60,000 miles each before trading them in on the newer shinier models.
The Toyota Corona Mark II was a vast improvement over the heat starved VWs but within less than a year I looked to upgrade to something I liked better. I was working at IBM making decent money so I started looking for a North American made vehicle with more reliable and more available parts.
After the Toyota I searched for something I really liked and lucked into a 1970 Cutlass Supreme Brougham two door hard top (like the one on the right). An executive driven low mileage vehicle, priced below similar vehicles in the paper. I have always loved driving. In my earlier days I averaged 5-600 miles a day on longer trips. Today my travels are down to 3-350 miles on the cross country voyages. I drove this vehicle from coast to coast and had over 165,000 miles on it before giving up the ghost. This was perhaps the best car I had with minimal maintenance and relatively economical with a sturdy and reliable 350 engine.
I was so impressed with the quality of the Oldsmobile that I decided to get the best model of Oldsmobiles on the market, a one year old 1976 Oldsmobile 98 Regency. This was the last of the giant vehicles (longest vehicle made) and had some great features only available in top of the line luxury vehicles. A much appreciated luxury of those days, air conditioning was a huge bonus and much appreciated. Every car I had after this one had air conditioning. This was the last car I bought before getting married. While the vehicle was luxurious and comfortable, a pleasure to drive, it was a real gas guzzler (12-14 MPG). It turned out that despite being top of the line it was a high maintenance vehicle. Because I used my cars for work, getting mileage compensation, it became obvious that it was no longer economical to drive the uneconomical high maintenance car, so I downgraded for the next car. I calculated that in 3 years the savings on gas would pay for the new vehicle. Instead of trading the car I spent $4000 to make it a reliable source of transportation for Mom, who loved big cars and really appreciated getting the Olds, her last car before having to give up driving.
My first brand new car since back in the VW days. Gas prices were ridiculously high in 1982, as were interest rates, so I had the car converted to a duel fuel system; regular gasoline and Propane. Conversions were a popular phenomenon, with the government contributing a significant percentage of the conversion cost, and propane, although providing lower mileage, cost about a third of gasoline per litre. The propane tank sitting in the trunk took up more than half of the available storage space. Propane was less available than gas but there was a source close to home so it never became and issue. Conversions became less popular with the drop in gasoline prices and duel fuel systems were restricted from entering some tunnels, as well propane and natural gas depots were few and far between in many areas.
Another new car. The 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier, the one on the right with 4 doors is actually my old car. The Chev served us well and it became Gloria's car for a few years after I retired in May 2000 and we moved to Port Dover. Gloria got a Silver 2004 Pontiac Grand AM in 2005 when the Cavalier had over 290,000 Km on the odometer. The Grand AM gets little use these days and is still working well in 2018.
Many long for a Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce or some other exotic vehicle, only to be disappointed, but I never considered any of these over the top cars, regardless of how huge a lottery prize I won. Just before retiring in 2000 we bought a 1997 Cadillac STS, AKA Cadillac Seville. I think Cadillac was my ultimate dream car as a youngster, so this was a dream come true for me. What a wonderful vehicle. Full leather interior all the features and comforts, including climate control. Truly a high quality environment, from the creature comforts to the sound system. In 2005 with about 250,000 Km on the odometer the vehicle caught fire and was written off. It seems my vehicles last around 250,000 Km (150 to 160,000 Miles). I guess I am a member of the million mile club since at least 6 of my cars reached 150,000 mile mark with me behind the wheel (probably a lot closer to 2 million Km).
After the 1997 STS insurance policy was paid off We bought a 2002 Cadillac STS, which was almost identical to the 1997 version. Model changes were few and minor for a number of years but internal features changed moderately. Both Cadillacs were economical, averaging just over 20 MPG (12 L/100Km). Being retired we felt it would be appropriate to spend less on vehicles and save for a rainy day. We replaced our Cadillac with the 2013 Chevrolet Impala in 2014. We miss some of the creature comforts we have gotten used to over the last 14 years and perhaps we may splurge and get something with more features like climate control and a better sound system when the time comes. Who knows what the future holds, with all the automation and the development of electric and self driving cars. While many trade their vehicles every two to three years I always tried to squeeze every mile from my cars before parting with them.
Gloria's 2004 Grand AM purchased in 2005 at the same time we acquired the 2002 STS.
The fist thing we did was take this car on a trip to the East Coast, including
New Foundland. We knew this car would get less use over the years than my car, so it was
logical to put a few miles on the Grand AM. Even with the vacation mileage
there are only 80,700 Km on the clock and it started at 36,400 in 2005.
The car is in great shape and will probably serve us well for many more years.
Here we are on July 10th 2025 and the milage is 83,769. The last time we put
fuel in the car was 2022 November 9th and only drove 246 Km since then (in 974 days),
with almost
a half a tank of gas left in the car. Total milage we put on the car is 47,369 in
all those 20 years. The A/C is not working but hardly worth fixing till we
start driving the car more.
e-mail:
jimandgloria@yahoo.com
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