Volume IV, Issue 8

wheel they do become uncomforta-bly hard. A lot of body fidgeting, coupled with seat position fiddling is needed to try and stay comfortable.

Other than the seats, I have no complaints on the performance of the Allanté during our trip. She cruised down the road in style!

As I indicated last month, we were heading out on vacation with the Allanté. We are now back, after travelling a total of 1,500 miles from Milwaukee to to Windsor, Ontario Canada. Our route took us to Mackinac Is., Cheboygan, MI , Port Huron, MI, Sarnia, ONT, London, ONT, Chatham-Kent, ONT, Windsor, ONT, Ann Arbor MI, Hickory Corners, MI, and Chicago.

The Allanté performed su-perbly, except for one instance. We averaged over 20 MPG on the trip. A couple of times it did take 70+ dollars to fill the tank! The weather permitted top down driving every day of the trip.

The single instance of a prob-lem with the car was due strictly to “Operator Error.” My routine is to use the headlights, even in the daytime. We ar-rived at our friends’ place in Windsor on a Thursday after-noon. When I next went to

start the car on Saturday, it would not crank. I got a noth-ing whatsoever response on turning the key. When we jumped the car, it fired right up. That was when I noticed the headlights came on. I had for-gotten to turn them off Thurs-day, when I parked the car.

Obviously, the Allanté lights do not turn off automagically, as in modern cars. Nor does it provide any type of audible warning that the lights are still on when the ignition has been turned off. As my father used to say, “The problem is a loose connection between the seat and the steering wheel.” In this instance, he would have been accurate.

Speaking of seats, one thing I did learn on this trip was that the fancy, well constructed, 16-position Recaro™ seats in the Allanté look far more comfort-able than they actually are. After an hour, plus behind the

High RPMs

GDYNets® on the Web

Find GDYNets on the web:

CCC® -THE FORUM

http://ccc.activeboard.com

Car Collector Chronicles-scribd

Saved 62 - 1962 Olds web site http://www.freewebs.com/jeandaveyaros The Gray Lady - 1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville web site

SAVED 62: A website devoted to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dy-namic 88 convertible. The site also has a lot of information on Oldsmobiles and its founder, Ransom Eli Olds.

THE GRAY LADY: This web-site features our 1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville and Caddy in-formation.

DAVE’S DEN: A website de-voted to a myriad of interests. Foremost is extensive informa-tion on the “Steel City” of Gary, IN. There are also offerings on steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14 assault rifle, of course Oldsmo-bile, and the tragic story of the murder of Gary, IN Police Lt. George Yaros.

A GDYNETS® PUBLICATION © 2011, G. DAVID YAROS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 2011 Car Collector Chronicles

Car Collector Chronicles®

Exploring:

Car Collecting Today

Classic Rides

Reports From the Field

Oldsmobile (1897-2004)

Cadillac (1902- )

Allanté (1987-1993)

Corvair (1960-1969)

IN THIS ISSUE:

High RPMs 1

GDYNets On the Web

1

Canada’s Collector Car Scene

2

Humor on Wheels 3

Allanté-isms 4

Photo Gallery 5

CCC® Forum EMail: OldsD88@gmail.com

During our Canadian travels I ran across a few interesting sights. I was not aware that the home office of RM Auctions® is located in Can-ada. Chatham-Kent (Blenheim), Ontario, to be precise, is where the or-ganization maintains home offices, a museum and restoration facility. I learned that RM = the initials of Rob Meyers, the founding force behind the RM enterprises. We stopped by the museum. There was a pretty good selection of rides on display. To mention a few: FDR’s Cadillac Limo/Parade Car, a Lagonda and a 1960 Plymouth XNR concept car. The folks at the museum were very friendly, and open to my going be-yond the ropes to photograph some of the cars. The vehicles on display change constantly, as cars are moved in and then out when subse-quently sold. I did try to finagle my way into the restoration shop, but had no success in that endeavor. Now, let’s talk about some rides that are unique (sort of) to Canada. These cars are pictured on the photo page. I shall try and provide a cur-sory explanation of the “why” behind them. First, the 1956 Monarch Richelieu. To you and me it is a Mercury Monarch. As for the make/model name change, it appears that in Can-ada the Mercury line was low priced, while the Monarch line represented higher priced cars? Since, in Canada, Monarch was used as a car make name, it obviously was not available for use as the name of a model. [See: http://monarchsource.com/wp/?page id=3] Sticking with Ford of Canada products we stumbled upon a Frontenac. You and I would call it a Ford Falcon. As you can see from the photo on p. 5, it does sport a different grille and badging. Although not shown, the tail lights are also different from the U.S. Falcon. The Frontenac had a one year run. That year was 1960. The ride pic-tured is 1-of-9,536 built by FOMOCO-Canada at Oakville, Ontario. While we Americans may see and think of it as a Ford Falcon, if you wanted to buy one in Canada, you had to go to a Mercury dealer, not Ford. It was a big hit in maple leaf country. The Frontenac represented 5% of all Fords produced in Canada in 1960. It was the second best selling Canadian compact car that year. Even so, in 1961 FOMOCO-Canada replaced it with the Mercury Comet. Rich Vandermey is a Frontenac guru who has been engaged in a quest to seek out fellow Frontenac fans for a quarter of a century, while attempting to put together an owner’s registry. He knows of about

Canada’s Collector Car Scene

Car Collector Chronicles Page 2

“While we

Americans may

see and think

of it as a Ford

Falcon, if you

wanted to buy

one in Canada,

you had to go

to a Mercury

dealer, not

Ford.”

thirty (30) existing cars. Most of them reside in salvage yards, or are resting peacefully in farm fields. Of the thirty (30) of which he is aware, less than half (12) are in running condition. Now we turn to GM of Canada and the Acadian Beaumont. With this ride it is hard to say we Americans know it as a ____. That is because a quick glance leaves one confused. Am I looking at a Chevelle or a Pontiac? This is a logical question as the Acadian Beaumont is in fact a Chevelle displaying Pontiac styling cues. In my opinion, the blend does mesh quite well. The Acadian was marketed from 1962 through 1971 as a Canadian compact/intermediate. Interestingly, it was sold by Buick and Pontiac dealers, not Chevrolet. On introduction in 1962, the Chevy II platform was used. In 1964 a switchover to the Chevelle body occurred. In doing research for this topic I did run across a decent web site for the Acadian. It will provide plenty of meaningful info on this ride. The site is http://roadtests.tripod.com/canadianacadians/. The Pontiac tie to the Acadian is that it was originally intended to substitute for the Tempest, then unavailable in Canada. So why these different cars north of the border? In 1960, with the in-troduction of the Corvair, the big three launched a U.S. effort to meet the Japanese imports head-on. Canadians also wanted a piece of this action. The problem was, at the time there was no North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA). All U.S. cars were taxed heavily when imported to Canada, making them cost prohibitive. Rather than import unmarket-able vehicles, Canada produced their own with unique Canadian styling touches. Ergo, the slightly different versions of familiar U.S. cars. HUMOR ON WHEELS I couldn’t resist! Hey, it is my newsletter. I can do what I want, right? Why we like old rides!

“[T]he

Acadian

Beaumont is

in fact a

Chevelle

displaying

Pontiac styling

cues. In my

opinion, the

blend does

mesh quite

well.”

Car Collector Chronicles Page 3

Car Collector Chronicles Page 4;;

Allanté-isms After grousing in a public message on the Allanté Net (http://www.allante.us/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl) that Auntie Pearl’s headlights do not automagically turn off, I have been educated. Apparently they do go off if left on. The key to making that happen is to not use the headlight switch when turning them on. Duh? Why did I not think of that? Evi-dently, one should activate the headlights by using the “twilight sentinel” switch? I guess it is time to dig out the owner’s manual and figure out which switch that is, and how to use it? [Update-I did. The lights have been tested and now turn themselves on and off!] Us “blue-collar folk” are not used to all this high tech luxury. I guess we have a real need for schooling on the finer points of living the high life if we intend to continue trying to invade such refined circles? I have also been advised that the problem with my non-working cruise control may be as simple as the kill switch on the brake pedal being out of adjustment. Then again, it could be a bad vacuum line? Time for me to do some reading and hands-on investiga-tion. – Ok, I’ve had my say for the month. Now it’s your turn! I invite/encourage submission of your comments, opinions and contributions, and ask that you help spread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me. Submissions should be sent to CCC® at OldsD88@gmail.com. – – Now that you have finished reading this month’s issue of the newsletter, come start/join an ongoing dialog with other CCC® readers and like-minded car collector folk on the CCC® Forum. Stop by, check us out and share your views … . _______________________________________

-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM! COMING NEXT ISSUE: The Gilmore Museum TBD

Photo Gallery - 1956 Monarch Richelieu 1960 Frontenac

Acadian Beaumont

Auntie Pearl alongside the Langford Starfire in Windsor, Ontario Canada (awaiting a jump start!)

Car Collector Chronicles Page 5;