Les Foster Shines a Light on the Cars and Trucks of His Past (And Present)
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VOLUME 20, NUMBER 5 Sept-Oct 2015 INSIDE THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS Member’s Cars 2 Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015 —London to Brighton Commem- AC 2 Litre Update 8 orative Run Details on website or from Walter Reyn- Rear View Mirror 10 olds at 604-463-6305. PoCo Car Show Report 11 Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015 —Annual Branch AGM at Rain- Welcome to the OECC / The bow Station, 120 N. Willingdon Ave., Burnaby 7:00pm Boot / At The Wheel 12 followed by a presentation by John Rennie on the his- tory of the Ford Cortina. Tuesday, Dec. 1,2015 —VCB Christmas Dinner— Details to come. Les Foster shines a light on the cars and trucks of his past (and present). Page 2 Cars of Branch Members and Their Stories Our next family car was a new 1955 Hillman Minx pur- chased from Sherwood Motors. By Walter Reynolds The Cars of Les Foster In this issue we hear about the cars of Les Foster. Les started his driving ‘career’ with the below Tri-ang pedal car. The Minx Dad found that the Minx was too under-powered. It was tan colour, too, with wide-whitewall tires that I remember scrubbing as my contribution to its weekly wash. The next and favourite family car was a new 1957 Morris Isis six-cylinder purchased from Fred Deeley’s on Broad- Me taken outside my Sea Island home, in 1953 when way in Vancouver. sidewalks were still wooden As I’ve done in earlier interviews on member’s cars, I ask the question, “Why British cars?” Les’ answers reported here are from my interview with him plus excerpts from articles he has written about his British cars. These arti- cles have appeared in past issues of both the OECC ‘Spanner” magazine and the VCB ‘Roundabout’ newslet- ter. Except as shown, all the photos are provided by Les. Now, onto Les’ story. Our family’s first car was a Ford Prefect E493A bought around 1950. The 6-cylinder Isis Dad liked its uniqueness- there were very few around this area, especially manual transmission versions. The gear lever was between the edge of the front bench seat and the driver’s door for a sportier feel while still allowing a third person in the front seat. It was a great car and, as a child, its chrome “wings” flanking the Morris badge on the bonnet reminded me of my father’s moustache! The car was painted a medium grey and had red leather uphol- stery. We loved that car and it took us on quite a few expeditions to Alberta and Vancouver Island in the late 50’s and early 60’s, always drawing interest from people unfamiliar with the marque. In the 60’s Dad took us to the Vintage Car Club’s Easter Mom and I with the Prefect in the background. Parade display at Oakridge a few times. The beautiful restorations and preservation of these cars made a deep I have memories of its two tone (tan over maroon) paint impression on me - I secretly vowed to do this myself, work; its woodgrain dash and clock and chrome wind- one day! screen crank which were all at my young eye-level. My first car was a hand-me-down Tri-ang pedal car which I In the early 60’s my brother became old enough to drive called “The English Car”, and in which I happily motored and, once he started to work, went in on a project with his up and down our Sea Island wooden sidewalks. neighbourhood friend to build a hot-rod. To this end, my VOLUME 20,NUMBER 5 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 2 brother purchased two 1951 Ford Thames E83W vans. a short while, losing interest, and then selling them on. I One, an ex-painter’s truck, was disassembled and partial- often handled the sales and I fell in love with old cars that ly cut-up to be the rod. The other, intended to be a donor way. I was already interested in history and the cars just vehicle was purchased from a Richmond blueberry farmer seemed to evoke that. They were time machines, gate- for forty dollars. ways to another era! Blueberry farm Thames E83W van The repainted Thames outside the Stave Falls store, 1980 The boys soon tired of the project which was clearly over In 1965 my father decided to replace the Isis. He went to their financial, skill and attention-span level! My brother Fred Deeley and looked at the new Austin 1800 saloon kept the farm Thames and we drove it around quite a lot but decided it wasn’t for him. He worked downtown and for a year or so. had seen a lovely convertible in the window of Harris & Taylor Motors at Burrard and Dunsmuir. It was a Renault Caravelle 1100 - a beautiful and economical touring car that could seat three people and came with a removable steel hardtop for winter. The Thames on Sea Island in 1968 One day my brother needed fifteen dollars to attend a dance and I saw my chance. I paid him the money and secured the pink slip. The farm van was mine! At that time, I knew almost nothing about motor vehicles and on- ly vaguely grasped that the Thames was a Ford. It was just an old truck back then and attracted little notice from anyone. Parts were very hard to obtain but I had the left- Renault Caravelle 1100 (Advert photo) over stuff from the scrapped painter’s van at least. I kept He fell in love with it and it started a flirtation with French that van from 1965 until 1984 when I donated it to the vehicles for the next half dozen or more years. When not Richmond Museum. In 1967, I made it my Canada Cen- in the Thames, I was in the Caravelle. My brother and his tennial Project to refurbish it and sanded the van to bare friend built a Renault Dauphine-Gordini slalom racer metal, had it painted red, obtained my driver’s license and which eventually passed to me and this resulted in a few drove it everywhere. I loved that truck - it was a friend as old Dauphine donor vehicles being accumulated. much as a machine! My buddy and I cut the roof off one on a whim one day, I painted the van in Studebaker red and had it ready for leaving just the windshield. We got all the old house paint the Centennial in 1967. The damage to the paintwork in that we could find, camouflaged it and drove it to Iona the next photo was the result of a petrol tank fire during Island to play Desert Rats on the beach. Our knowledge the post-painting restoration work. of monocoque construction was non-existent and it soon sagged in the middle, pinching the shift rods to the rear- Meanwhile, in the mid-60’s my brother went through a mounted transmission and sticking us in second gear. phase, for a couple of years, of purchasing interesting old We limped home and never drove it again. My brother American cars for about a hundred dollars, keeping them VOLUME 20,NUMBER 5 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 3 bought a Renault Gordini 1100 in 1966 - virtually a race car with an incredible power to weight ratio. I passed through the Deas Tunnel at over 100 mph in it one night back in the day of much less traffic! My Dad traded the Caravelle for a Renault Estafette 800 front wheel drive van in about 1968. My refurbished, pop-up-roof VW van The dealer had added a Webasto sun roof and wooden dashboard to the Mini before I bought it. I kept the car a year or so but I was now married with a new family. The Mini came with mandated head restraints which, unfortu- nately, meant that the seats would no longer lift fully up. This made getting into the back seats very difficult. In general, the “modern” features like roll-up windows, head Blue Renault Dauphine-Gordini with the Thames restraints, etc. just stole room and usability from the Mini. We camperised the Estafette and it made several trips So, the Mini had to go! around BC and Alberta and a half dozen expeditions to California or the Oregon Coast over the next several years. It eventually developed too many issues (mostly due to chronic overloading) and, as my father drove little at this time due to vision problems, he sold it and I bought a tired old Peugeot 403. This took me on an epic Trans- Canada drive in 1971 - total fuel and oil bill $58! Next year, after the 403 was damaged by a hit and run driver while it was parked, I bought a 403 Station Wagon, switched the sedan’s motor to it and set off for the East again. It was an even more eventful trip! 1977 Leyland Mini – note the sun roof The Mini’s replacement was a very nice used Volvo wag- on which served well until premium leaded gas was phased out. Its engine was not happy after that! Next I bit the bullet and went to domestic vehicles for the long haul of family life and multiple kids. I still loved old cars though and dreamed of getting one again someday. Returning to the 1960’s and the Thames: By the end of the decade the pace of life increased and the interests of a young man took precedence over the Thames - it lan- guished at my father’s house for a number of years.