Those Floods
Jim and Sheila
Cars, we've had a few, but not too many to mention
I would not say that we are car crazy, not even close, but these 2 ton devices do become devices in their own right. Below you'll see photos of the actual cars we've owned in some cases, and in others images of similar models. A short paragraph positions it in our life so far. Happy viewing.
All that, and more ...
1966 Galaxie 500
My
folks bought
this car just
before moving to
Prince Edward
Island in 1966.
After they left
PEI, I inherited
the car while I
stayed to finish
my high school.
1964 Galaxie 500
After the '66
died in '73 [it
needed brakes,
timing chain,
tires, rad, etc]
Sheila and I
needed a car for
our
Opportunities
for Youth Summer
project. This
one we picked up
for $150, drove
for six months,
moved to Halifax
in it, and sold
it in '75 for
$150
1972 Datson
After the '66
died in '73 [it
needed brakes,
timing chain,
tires, rad, etc]
Sheila and I
needed a car for
our
Opportunities
for Youth Summer
project. This
one we picked up
for $150, drove
for six months,
moved to Halifax
in it, and sold
it in '75 for
$150
1970? Cortina
After the '66
died in '73 [it
needed brakes,
timing chain,
tires, rad, etc]
Sheila and I
needed a car for
our
Opportunities
for Youth Summer
project. This
one we picked up
for $150, drove
for six months,
moved to Halifax
in it, and sold
it in '75 for
$150
1972 Firenza
After the '66
died in '73 [it
needed brakes,
timing chain,
tires, rad, etc]
Sheila and I
needed a car for
our
Opportunities
for Youth Summer
project. This
one we picked up
for $150, drove
for six months,
moved to Halifax
in it, and sold
it in '75 for
$150
1974 AMC Hornet
Exactly
why we switched
from a perfectly
good Firenza to
this car, I do
not
remember...but
we did! No
wonder AMC died
as a company! We
got back to Nova
Scotia with this
and moved to New
Brunswick with
it. This is the
best view ... as
it is leaving
for ever.
1975 Rabbit
We
bought this from
a school
teacher. It was
great! Our first
front wheel
drive car. I
used it for a
year driving the
back roads of
Victoria Country
as a journalist.
It was a
carburetor
version.
1976 Rabbit
We
bought this from
VW dealer: our
first dealer
bought car. Ours
was red with a
slider sun roof.
It had fuel
injection and
actually was the
car that moved
us from
Perth-Andover to
Bolton. We took
out the
passenger seats,
bought an old
wooden trailer,
and drove four
trips to
Ontario.
1978 Rabbit Diesel
After
we moved to
Ontario, we got
jobs at the
Bahá'í National
Centre. We met
William Sears,
who was a Hand
of the Cause in
the the Faith:
he was selling
his Rabbit: we
bought it, and
sold the gas
model to Fiebigs.
The diesel saved
us lots on fuel,
but not on
repairs: I vowed
to never buy a
VW product!
1982 Honda Civic
1982
Honda Civic The
Rabbit was
costing way too
much...The first
and only new car
we bought was an
'82 Civic. They
modified the
5-speed shifter
so I could drive
it easily. We
then got
pregnant in '83,
so we sold the
2-door Civic for
an '81 4-door
Mazda GLC.
1981 Mazda GLC
We
bought this for
$50 plus the
trade in. The
Mazda salesman
wanted a bunch
of cash, but I
talked to Enayat
Akhavan, who
owned the
dealership and
he thought I was
being
reasonable! We
used that car
until we moved
to Guadeloupe,
FWI. Sold it to
Elyse. She used
it for many
years after.
1981 Honda Civic
A
lovely car that
had been rolled
over in an
accident so no
one wanted it.
We got it for
what we sold the
Mazda from a
dealer. It was
the version with
a 1.6 L motor. I
put Pirellis on
it to keep it on
the road. It
really rusted
out after
Hurricane Hugo:
it spent a night
in the ocean.
1986 Nissan Micra
Daniel
Caillaud was
moving to Haifa
to work at the
Bahá'í World
Centre. It was a
1 L
3-cylinder
motor with no
power to get up
the Soufriere!
We sold it to
LuLu for the
price of our
next car...
1986 Nissan Stanza
Our
first car back
in Canada.
Bought inside a
shopping centre.
It was one of
those 4 cylinder
8 spark plug
motors. It
started in -40C
with no trouble.
It was traded in
for a smaller
car to fit down
the narrow
alleys in
Québec!
1992 Metro
This
was "Sheila's
car". She chose
it herself when
we traded in the
Stanza. It
lasted a long
time, did many
trips with it:
great on gas.
1986 Nissan
Micra
1988
Honda Civic
This was "Jim's" car. Bought without really consulting Sheila...bad move. Anyway, I needed a car for my computer business...Sheila saw a Multi in the parking lot where she parked and thought that would be a cool car two switch the sedan to...Sheila hates sedans...
1986 Nissan Multi
So
the owner of the
blue multi
parked behind
our Charlesbourg
condo did not
want to part
with it, but a
used car dealer
did! We traded
even on the '88
Civic. This was
a cool 4-door,
5-seater
mini-van. It
died on a
vacation in the
mid-'90s on a
trip to Lake
Penage. Bought
the '91 Accord.
1991 Accord
A
great car.
Probably my
second favourite
after the '66
Galaxie. Rode
like a rocket.
Sold it a year
later when I
started car
pooling every
day with Mike
Carlson at EXFO.
1992 Geo Metro
I
switched jobs
and needed a
car. Since the
red metro was
doing well, we
bought a white
one. This one
was automatic,
and really
sucked the gas
back. I was
getting a
wrecked left
knee from
getting out of
such a low car
too, so we up
sized to our '95
Villager.
1995 Villager [Jimmy!]
We
bought this one
when it was only
2 years old. Had
just under
60,000 KM. Had
290,000 KM on it
when we sold it.
I call it the
Villager Jimmy
since I stuck
the GMC Jimmy
name plate on
it's tailgate.
But it really is
a Nissan Quest.
We sold this van
in December 06.
Been the car
with the least
problems.
1997 Subaru Impreza
This
is a picture of
the model that
Jamie wished
Sheila would
have bought! But
we could only
find the
Brighton
version. Sheila
wanted All-Wheel
Drive as she was
on the road all
the time with
her job in
Ottawa. We sold
it a year after
arriving in
Victoria! No icy
roads!
2006 Toyota Yaris
Living
out here where
snow is almost
unheard of and
the get back to
the
earth - green
living style is
stronger, the
Hybrids are
becoming an
interesting
option. Sheila
likes the Prius,
but it was too
much. The Yaris
is supposed to
be the car with
the best
gasoline fuel
economy...we'll
see.
The price of the
Prius has
dropped 3K.
Amazingly
enough, we got
2K for the
rrusting 95
Villager ... I
left the Jimmy
sticker on the
old van!
2010 Honda Insight
So,
after 5 years
with the Yaris,
and getting
worse and worse
and worse
mileage
[averaging 10
L/100 city, real
driving] we
started looking
around. The
prius was still
on the list, but
still too
expensive. We
went to see the
most recent
offerings at
Honda and found
a 2010 Insight,
new, a year
after it was
released. The
dealer took of
$5700 off and a
great trade in.
Got a fully
loaded model for
12K less than a
similarly
equipped Prius,
[two year old b
model prius with
50k KM for more
than the new
Insight] and are
getting 5 -5.6 L
/100 km city
[for real] and
4.5 highway [for
real].