Vehicles Owned

Vehicles in My Life

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

These are in order of ownership. Many of the early photos of my cars were in black and white so the photos below,unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet. Obviously those are show cars! None of my (used) cars was this nice!

From the time I was married (see stationwagon below), I had two vehicles since wife and I each needed one for work.

Vehicles with a red frame are my "favourite" vehicles, the ones I loved to own or had fun with.

Note that of all the trucks (6) I owned, the two Fords ( 1977 and 1997) were the only ones that didn’t cost me money and were sold in perfect running condition.

1955 Chev Sedan:

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

My brother’s car, “loaned” to me when he bought a truck for his business. I used to drive this thing up and down the driveway, practicing, when I was 14 years old. I got brave at 15 and took it out of the big city alone with no license, no insurance. Car was yellow and white. After a fire under the dash, my brother took the car back.

1953 Ford Sedan:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Flat head V8, black like a Mafia car. Doors had to be wired shut to keep them from opening on fast corners. Traded this thing off for an old Navy ship shortwave radio which I owned until 2008. This was the first car I owned and had clear title to. Paid $100 for it. Blew a head gasket once and ran the car anyway for hours with no damage. Big clouds of steam followed me wherever I went.

1956 Ford 2 door sedan:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Pulled the 272 cid and installed a balanced and blueprinted 312. Got a reputation for drag-racing everybody and usually beating them. Garry and Robert helped me a lot with this car. The shifter I had was out of Garry’s 1957 Pontiac and I used to shift with throttle to the floor. Car was originally a badly painted red flake, I re-painted it one color, sky blue, not two-tone like in this photo. Paid $200 for it. Probably favourite car in life.

1957 Ford Convertible:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Power everything includingtop and windows. Picked up a whole lot of girls withthis car. Took the 312 out of the 1956 and put it in this one, but it did nothing for this big heavy car. Mine was red and white like the one in photo. Bought it from Mutt Sabourin.

1950 Plymouth:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Garry H. and I bought this for $50 and just drove the hell out of it. Called it the Drag Hag and painted the windows and lights yellow, bashed it in all over the place. Sold it for $50 after destroying it, then on the way home the new owner blew the engine and just pushed the car into the ditch. Lots of great fun with this. Purchased from his cousin, Dave Ericksen, a hot-rodder.

1967 Austin A40:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

The little station-wagon version. Used it to commute to work every day. Did a tranny job for $3.00 (the price of the reverse gear) and a motor job for $30.00 the price of pistons, rings, and wrist pins! Car had black exterior, hatch opened in back. Bought used from dealer, $150.

1968 Mustang 2+2:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Many of you know what this looked like. 302 CID, blue with white racing stripe. Ordered from factory when I was 18 for $3800. (A Shelby at the time was $5200). Burned in garage fire after I sold it to my twin brothers-in-law. Photo of me and girlfriend/wife.

1964 Chev Impala SS:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

2 door HT, 327 engine with Quadra Jet carburetor. Too bad it only had a pathetic 2-speed tranny. Raced the hell out of this thing, losing my license in the process. It was fast and a gas guzzler too. Met first wife with this car. Outside was dark blue, inside white leatherette.

1974 LTD Station-wagon:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

I was a family man, what can I say. Country Squire with 400 CID engine, blue with wood paneling. My photo. This pre-dated SUVs and was a real nice riding car with lots of torque. This is what people drove before SUVs. Purchased new from dealer.

1973 Honda Twin CB350 motorcycle:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

I bought the CB350 from my brother and learned how to ride on it. When I bought the CB450 (below) I let the wife drive this one. My photo. Purchased from my brother.

1974 Honda Twin CB450 motorcycle:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

This bike I got from my friend Ernie. I rode it for about 5 years, commuting to work, and a couple times to City with my 6 year old on the back seat, having raised the foot pegs just for him. This bike had side saddles, a sissy bar, and a windshield. My photo. Purchased from Ernie Dupuis.

1954 Chrysler Windsor:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Bought for $100 from Garry H. The only luxury car I ever owned! Driven on holidays, this car rode like a Caddy. Could balance a nickel on the running flat head six! Sold it for $500 when I couldn’t store it anymore. Color was light green, brown leatherette inside, including a brown padded dash. I loved this car. My photo.

1967 Vauxhall Viva:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

A commuter car. Originally grey, I painted it green metal-flake with a bunch of big daisies all over it. With 2 kids and a dog in the car, it looked pretty cute. Steering went on it so when I sold it, I was sure to tell the buyer it HAD to be fixed or he would die. My photo.

1977 Ford Ranger XLT:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

When the Ranger was a REAL truck. Factory-ordered with every option available for $13,000! 460 engine, Supercab. Boy what a great machine! 15 mpg. Went to California with 2000 pound camper on the back and drove to top of Mt. Palomar, a seven mile trip. Color was two-tone bronze and beige. My photo.

1978 Ford Fiesta:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

First year they were made. 40 mpg, front wheel drive. This was a great car. Drove the hell out of it on gravel roads every day. Had 150,000 miles with almost no expenses. Beige color with a small red-ish stripe. Purchased from Waterloo Motors, new.

1974 Ford Maverick:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

I hated this car. Rebuilt the 6- cylinder engine in my garage, then sold the car cheap. Blue in color. I don't even know where I got this car in the first place. Must have been the devil.

1971 Toyota pickup:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Rust bucket. Sold it with a disclaimer that it had no brakes and rack-and-pinion steering would sometimes fail. Red color.

1986 Ford Escort Wagon:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Still had to lug the boy’s hockey equipment around. Had a "good" stereo put in, for $500, but they screwed up placement of the speakers in the door panels and had to buy me new ones. Traded this in for the 1987 Mustang convertible. Color: silver. My photo.

1987 Mustang Convertible:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Traded the Escort for this thing. Put all my time and effort into this one. Big modifications in 1993 and 2006. Red and silver originally, added the orangey-yellow highlights. This car ran 12.3 sec at 113 MPH in the quarter-mile at Race City in Calgary. I sold this car in June 2019. More photos: www.raiderracing.com Purchased from Freedom Ford, Edmonton.

1982 Mustang LX:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

This was my “winter” car when I only had the convertible. I pulled the 4 banger 4-speed and installed a C-4 with 351 CID (modified) engine. I sold the car, bought it back, then sold the engine to the guy who bought the car the first time! So, having just the shell, I installed a Boss 302 race engine that I paid $7000 for and quickly blew up on the race track in Edmonton. I then got smarter but poorer by investing in a 351Windsor Cup (NASCAR) engine which I had good fun with. Ran 10.0 sec@135 mph in the quarter mile on single puff of nitrous. Sold car for $14000 in spring of 2006 to president of the Calgary Drag Racing Association who was getting into the 9’s with the engine in his lighter Mustang. Red in color. My photo. More photos: www.raiderracing.com

1971 Datsun pickup:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

My other “winter” vehicle. What a pile of garbage this was. Rust bucket, broke down every other week. Broken tranny cost me $2000 to fix, about twice what the truck was worth. Throttle cable broke when it was -40C outside and I was 600 miles from home. Sold it with 3 cylinders running, for $400. Another red vehicle.

1988 Chev S10 Pickup:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

I liked this truck despite its Bowtie roots and put a lot of miles on it for the company I worked for. Too bad I had to replace the engine ($3K) and tranny ($2K). The engine overheated and seized, 200 miles from home. Dark blue in color, not as dark as the Impala. My photo. Purchased used from Universal Ford, Calgary.

1997 Ford F150 Pickup:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

I went to the Calgary Motor Dealers Car and Truck Show and looked at all trucks. The F150 had it all. The one on the turntable was red with grey/silver trim and that's the one I bought and owned until 2006. I put 200,000km on it with relatively no expense. This was one of the best vehicles I owned. When I sold it the original battery was still in it after 10 years! The paint was flawless even after 10 years, just like my photo. Truck stayed outside for 10 years and started without plugging in when it was -40C/F. Its only “flaw” was having a door to the back seat on the passenger side only, none on driver’s side. Sold it in 2007 for $10,000.
Purchased from Universal Ford, Calgary.

2005 Chevrolet Cobalt:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Technically the wife’s car but I paid for it. Her only concern was the color, I decided on everything else. This was the first year for the Cobalt with new styling and engine. Great car, use it every day, good gas mileage, very reliable transportation. Yeah, a Ford guy buying a Chev! Ford probably had something equivalent but the sales guys couldn’t convince me or they didn’t have a yellow car…so their loss! This car was one with the recalls on it for the ignition switch locking up, shutting off the engine. We still have this car as of 2019. Internet photo.

2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pickup:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Ford dealers couldn't sell me a truck so I bought one from Toyota. What a beautiful blue color, nicest color of any vehicle in that model year. Second day I owned it I went up to Fort MacMurray to work in a mud bog! 245 HP in a V6, mid-size truck with all bells and whistles and 4x4 that pulled my trailer with car on it better than the F150. With 4 doors, the ideal truck but didn’t start as well as the F150. My photo. Update 2016: Perforation corrosion on the frame of this truck and truck was recalled by Toyota who did a complete frame replacement on warranty. Cost me $1000 to replace the axle tubes and rear housing and since I didn’t want to spend any more on it, I traded it off on the 2017 Ford Escape, below. I put a red frame to denote a "favourite" because I loved this truck, but it let me down. Purchased from Stampede Toyota, Calgary.

2017 Ford Escape Titanium SUV:

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

All the bells and whistles in this vehicle, stuff I didn’t even know EXISTED! 2.0L turbo with lots of space inside that the dog loves. Ford gave me the best deal on a trade-in for my Tacoma which came out to about what it cost just to FIX the Tacoma’s frame problems! My photo, with Sunshine. Purchased from Steele Ford, Halifax.