A Morgan Story.
Vintage. It’s a strong word. It commands respect. To call a car vintage to people who don’t get cars is to associate age. But to car enthusiasts it’s an instant association of “they never made anything like it again.” Take, for example, the 1950s. I like to think of the 50’s as a period in time where the focus of manufacturers didn’t center around design or power, but instead to get a vehicle in every home of every freedom loving American. It was a reward for winning the war, and they rewarded well. The American powerhouses produced
Future Priceless Classics.
A few days ago I wrote an article on my personal blog (alexotics.blogspot.com) about the impending end of the analog car. As I spoke about the dying breed of lightweight, unadulterated, manual transmission rear-wheel drive coupes, I realized that these ‘end of an era’ cars could make for great investments – and great fun.
When looking at the Italian super cars, the one standout
Vintage Service Stations.
A friend of mine sent me some terrific old photos of bygone era gas/service stations. They were fun to see and brought back some memories.
I’m guessing that most guys our age worked pumping gas. For me, there was Harold Lehman’s Esso station at the corner of Broadway and Bayview, three houses away from my childhood home and…
Leon Rumpf’s ’25 Buick Restoration
The story behind this McLaughlin Buick started for me in September of 1977 when I was living and working out of the small town of Bassano in southern Alberta. My job allowed me to travel throughout the rural area and encompassed several other small towns in my district. It was on one of my travels that I spotted the car in a deserted old farmstead. I recognized it as a…
Henry Ford’s Jungle Ghost Town.
In 1927, Henry Ford was the richest man in the world. The Brazilian rubber industry was booming as a result of the industrial revolution and rubber prices had begun to rise. As the Ford Motor Company relied heavily on rubber tree plantations the decision was made to break the Brazilian rubber monopoly by building a factory smack in the middle of the Amazon forest. Due to a…
Old Modern Technology
When I attended the Ontario College of Art in the early 70’s, one of my teachers was an interesting guy named Richard Beal. He taught design…
One day, when I was heading into the school, I noticed Richard parking his car in front of OCA on Beverly Street in the Dundas and University Avenue area. His car was a stunning and quite rare
A Toyota Rarity: The 2000GT
Built as a collaboration between Toyota and Yamaha, there were only ever 337 2000GT’s produced between 1967 and 1970. Its 2.0L inline 6 produced 150 horsepower, and fitted with the appropriate 4.375 ratio axle, the car could reach…
Festival Automobile De Mulhouse.
During my travels, I happened to be passing through Mulhouse, France on Canada Day. Unbeknownst to me, it was the third day of a local city-wide car festival, where streets were cordoned off for the sole purpose of parading beautiful classic cars, and multiple exhibitions were being held – the biggest of which was outside the Schlumpf Collection at Cité de l’Automobile. The Schlumpf Collection itself consists of
1910 Buick Engine Rebuild.
This is the story of my 1910 Model 17 Buick engine failure and rebuild project. Last July during the Babe Run my engine experienced a catastrophic failure when, with a loud bang and shudder, the centre main bearing in the engine crankcase broke.Upon taking the engine apart it was quickly determined that…
Classics with Charm.
There’s a certain charm about driving around in a well-kept, well-restored classic automobile. Sure, the man driving his lime green Lamborghini Gallardo will turn a few heads downtown, but the man in the cherry red ’68 Mustang Fastback is going to have at least 3 people ask him about his car every time he parks it. I think it’s the subconscious mind of a gearhead kicking in and…
