Hi all, I am a long time car nut ( just ask my wife ) who has always had a soft spot for station wagons ever since my dad bought his Snowcrest White '59 Brookwood four door wagon from Kenora Motor Products in Kenora, Ontario. Dad passed the car on to yours truly in 1967 and I traded it off on a 1960 Monarch Sceptre two door hardtop ( little did I know that the Monarch was one of only 54 Sceptre two door hardtops built thatyear *sighs* ) a short while later. :banghead3::banghead3::banghead3: I enjoyed the Monarch but I have often regretted trading the old wagon off even though it was pretty rusty when it left my hands. Like many on this site, I liked wagons when they were "uncool" and today, my wife and I have a few of them in our modest collection of projects and drivers including the red with black interior '70 Pontiac Catalina wagon that we used when we were dating ( we had some good times in the back of that one, let me tell you!! ) a '59 Brookwood that will replace the car of my youth, four other '59 Chevy wagons - parts and projects, a 1959 Pontiac Laurentian wagon, a couple of 1960 Pontiac wagons, 1984 Buick Electra Estate wagon and 2 '85 Electra Estate wagons. Future hopes, dreams and plans call for the refurbishing of the '59 Brookwood like my dad's car as well as the blue '85 Electra Estate that we used to drive. It's biggest issue is a bad transmission and it needs the woodgrain redone as well as a repaint. It's a good, solid car and worthy of fixing. We also hope to redo the white '85 Electra Estate that is totally, absolutely solid and rust free. No one seems to bother much with the '70's or '80's wagons and I can see why because they sure can be complicated to work on. But we like 'em and drive them regularly as they are reliable and fairly economical. We look at tit this way - we drive old stuff because not only do we like it, but what we have is paid for. When you consider payments of a few hundred dollars per month and the fact that you still have to buy gasoline, we can put a lot of gasoline in the tank for what the payment on a newer car would be plus we have something different and unique that we can work on ourselves without having to run to the dealership and pay $80-100.00 per hour for labour - and most of all - my wife and I both enjoy older vehicles. We are looking forward to learning and hopefully being able to pass some of our knowledge and experiences on to others..
Welcome Mr and Mrs BooBoo! haa! I wish my wife was on board with my project from the beginning. She is slowly coming around, but there were several discussions before laying down the green. Luckily though, we have agreed to respect each others 'feel good" purchases, although this one keeps needing more and more money for some reason. Either way,
Hey! I'm from Kenora! Born and raised, still go out to my place on Lake of the Woods. Welcome aboard!
BooBoo...i like the cut of your jib...(or whatever that saying is) We may be related....(cept for all the Chevys).... you sir are and another Canukian??...
Welcome welcome welcome!!! Sounds like you've got the bug like the rest of us do! Love to hear about peoples' backgrounds of why and how they developed that one love that all of us share.
Welcome! You surely seem to have a nice collection and needless to say, I would love to see some pictures of them!
I too can't wait to see your collection. You and the Rev will definately be causing a global tilt to the west. Two collections in one province! Could there be more?
My dad started State Window and Floor Cleaning in Kenora back around 1952 and we lived in Kenora on Park Street until we moved to Keewatin in 1960 and then to Fort Frances in '62 and then to Winnipeg ( Oak Bank area ) in '65. I have been back to Kenora a few times since - it's a lovey place on the lake. Moved to B.C. in '73 and I have been here ever since. Winnipeg has always been home thugh... we hope to move back there one day.
You ever heard of negotiating with a City Assessment department? My neighbour across the street bought a vacant lot next to hers from the city valued at $6,400 for $4,700. This is on Burrows Avenue in the Northend. The lot next to that was bought by some newcomers for $6,400 also vacant, and they built a new 2-storey on it for $118,000 and paid $30,000 to reconnect the gas, hydro, water and sewage. Property and school taxes? $250 after tax credits. City lots are 35 feet X 95 feet on one side of burrows and 35' X 75' on the other. You go out of the Northend and 50 year old homes are about $170,000. R-2000 homes are about $250,000 to $350,000. But vacant lots are all over the city, usually demolished for being too old to fix or abandandoned for back-taxes. Here's the Winnipeg Property Assessment site: http://www.winnipegassessment.com/AsmtTax/English/Propertydetails/ Lots of vulture real estate guys up here trying to list our homes, but now that the area is improving, we know we'd never replace what we've got. Plus, here it's listed as an RT2 zone which means you could run a home-based business wihout getting a neighbour-approved variance (expensive and slow) AND have it up to two stories high. Since we're within 4 blocks of 5 bus routes, foreign students look for room and board, guaranteed by the U of W, for about $500 per month, and you're allowed up to 3 students. Nice retirement income, eh? The black hole becomes a cashcow!
