1912Staver

There was a parts book at least. When you add up all the different Meteor body style production numbers there was a significant number of these Canadian version cars built. I would expect Ford would have documented these cars no differently than any other product lines .

Absolutely a rare car. Canadian production numbers can be difficult to find , but one site I found lists 849 built with a further 975 of the fancier trim, Meteor Niagra 2 door wagon { 59 B }. Not a big production, but not tiny either. As far as survivor numbers go I doubt anyone really knows. Chances are there are at least a few scattered around . Canada is a big place with lots of sheds , barns etc.

On Solar brand brass lamps there is an I.D. number engraved into the nut that keeps the front lens ring fastened. I believe the first part of the I.D. number is the year that style of lamp was introduced. Can anyone confirm ?

Several times when spectating at vintage racing events I had my young son with me. And he was invited to sit in cars in the pits on a number of occasions. Really he was too young to appreciate the opportunity, around the age of the two in the Red Bug { the younger pair }. I often thought to myself "what about the father ?" I would have been tickled pink for the chance to sit in some of the cars, Lotus 23 , Mallock , Lotus Formula Ford etc. As he got closer to being a teenager the invitations seemed to trail off. Pitty , because that's the age where it might have made a difference. These days as a young man in his twenties he isn't even all that interested in my Lola. Way more into music.

Sorry Walt. I just mentioned it as plymouthcranbrook may have known my car when it was new. As several others have said , it often boils down to the money. Not just the car itself, but the entire situation that is needed to support a vintage car. I have said it before, the cars themselves are reasonably easy / affordable. It's the property cost situation that is an unwinnable situation for so many. Without a decent sized , secure , warm shop , vintage cars are a non starter. And the cost of such a situation is a huge barrier to younger people in a lot of the urban parts of North America. Also a specific barrier to those of us North of the border is Club dues cost. The Canadian price is always higher than the Domestic members price due to the very high postage costs for the magazines. Those of us in Canada often face lower apples to apples incomes compared to our U.S. counterparts, somewhat higher taxes, a much higher cost of living and a very weak currency. Things like Club membership is often one of the first things to be sacrificed to keep the old car dream alive. Why can't clubs offer digital membership for those outside the cheap postage rate U.S. , and then pass on the cost saving through lower club membership costs. ?

It's a pretty decent car. Not used for wheel to wheel racing for a long time. Around 30 races in the log book. Auto X in California from about 1990 - late 90's, then just a back up / spare parts if needed car for the owners highly developed 2 nd. 492. It's probably going to stay an Auto - X , every now and then track day car in my ownership. Retired and I am afraid not the necessary $ to run it in Vintage S2.

Thats where my Lola was first raced. A white T492 S2000. I don't have the first owners name at hand , but it is the log book.

I am just down to the local Vintage Cars of Canada club. { Sounds like a cross country , national club. But it is mainly a Western Canadian club. } Great bunch of people ! Smallish but very involved early car sub group. PFindlay of the " British Columbia pre - war cars that have survived " thread is a key member. Past AACA, more or less 0 Pacific North West activity , but this web site is second to none. Very little in the magazine that interested me { brass car and British car guy } HCCA, cost of membership for those of us North of the Border just became too high. It became a very expensive magazine sub. for me and had to be dropped.

So true Craig. The Downtown East Side of Vancouver is almost unbelievable. Even out here in the Eastern burbs of Langley there is a significant homeless population. Canada is a rapidly changing place. Not quite as bad as the U.K. , but not doing nearly as well as most of the U.S. Lowish wages for decades, absolutely the worst housing bubble on the planet. And hundreds of thousands of very wealthy " new Canadians " . If you make the cut , top 20 % of the population it's a great place. For the balance of us it's a slow but steady slide. I truly fear for my son's generation { early 20's } .

A long out of date perspective, but when I was a young mechanic and MG fanatic I tried our local MG / Jaguar club. Total fish out of water. The club membership was in general a lot older , had really nice / restored cars. It was clear that most were on a whole different socioeconomic level than where I was with a at best very modest income, and a very rough around the edges { and most other parts as well } MGA. It didn't take long to realize the whole picture just wasn't a good fit. I expect many young people today see things like Packard , Cadillac, CCCA , clubs etc through much the same eyes. Once again something that is more of a factor in my area than perhaps many other locations in North America. But around here virtually any young couple is looking at a $750,000.00 realistic price tag for a 2 bedroom townhouse / condo. Houses are an easy million and up. In a cost enviroment like this a hobby car / car club participation is 99.999 % of the time just not going to happen . Even if the young person is very interested. Younger people around here are so financially stressed that no other period in history has a parallel. Frills like hobby cars are the first to go. Possibly an older Miata for the weekends , but even that will be a stretch in this area.

It's practically in my back yard. If that's 45K Canadian I would say a reasonable price compared to my often way over priced local market. Clearly they really want it to sell. Looks like a great car. The Canadian version of the Impala is reasonably rare even here in Canada.

Wow ! Where were cars like this 30 years ago when I could have devoted the rest of my life to bringing it back to life . { Like my friends father did with his Model J I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago Ed. } Out of money and starting to run out of time as well. But what a grand car !

So White trucks only. Limited market but very nice trucks. I wonder how many survive ?

Interesting that a Power Glide was a somewhat expensive option. Three speed manual standard on an Impala ?

If it really is 30 K that seems like quite a reasonable price.

Hundreds ? Thousands ! The Standard Catalog { B.R. Kimes, Henry Austin Clark } is a good place to start.

Great video. Very inspirational.

Some of the Deemer cars have sold in recent years I believe. What sort of prices did they fetch ? P.S. , just found the recent sale for the Roadster. $1.4 million. Your one million would have been seriously short of securing a purchase.

Seems to me " The California Kid "was a TV movie even when first released.

Sad , but all too true. Much the same as my history. Really liked / loved car restoration, but I just couldn't make a reasonable living at it. Mid 1980's here in British Columbia. The province was in a very serious economic slump and restoration work was drying up, shop owners were cutting every cost possible just to keep the doors open. The pay was poor, fringe benefits non - existent. Ended up as an Engineer on our Provincial Gov's ships to Vancouver island for the rest of my working life except a year teaching Auto Mechanics in a Northern British Columbia High School. Big jump in pay initally, but that sort of petered out as the Provincial debt piled up and budgets tightened, the year 2000 onward. Very few wealthy patrons up here in the rainforest.

There are some real characters in this hobby, but 80 Nash Healeys ?? That has to border on a true disorder. It also means that 50 or more people who might become holders of knowledge about these cars are locked out of participation. And the price of those left in general ownership rises beyond all but the few's reach. It's not like owning 80 Corvettes, there are tens of thousands more out there.

Buffalowed Bill, I guess it's just perspective. But from my home in the Vancouver area 100 mile House seems a fair little distance. The Portland Swap meet is about the same undertaking, just South rather than North. Around 5 - 5 1/2 hours in either case. Not a major trip , but between gas cost and time something I need to have a very good reason to travel. Up here in the Pacific NW it seems that almost anything to do with the car hobby is a long way away. The Hershey meet might as well be on the moon.

Value really depends on condition. Main concern is rust. You can't really tell anything until the tire is removed and a good assesment of the degree of rust is undertaken. The best practice is to sand blast the wheel and then assess the condition. But that's a lot of work for what is probably a $100.00 - $150.00 wheel even if in very good condition. Any serious buyer is going to factor in the cost of sand blasting and the posibility the rim is junk before making an offer. With todays high shipping costs buyers want to have a very good idea of the condition of things like wheels before buying. Impossible with the tire still on the wheel.

Has something of a Buick look. 1915, perhaps 1916.

Never owned a Corvair, but I do sort of like them. I always thought both the Porsche 911 and the Corvair were a flawed design due to the rear engine. Both should have been mid engine { like the V8 Corvair conversions }. But the story goes that even though Porsche engineering wanted mid engine , marketing demanded a rear seat. All the Porsche, clean sheet design ,racing cars had mid engines. Also 914 , Boxter , Cayman. Suprised someone thinks a " new " Corvair would have much of a market.