Our first car, purchased just days before our wedding back in 1970, was a 1967 Cougar. This was the first year of Cougar production, and it was acclaimed as 'car of the year'. I needed no such third party acknowledgement, as I thought it was a beautiful car anyway! We eventually had to sell that car, and always missed it. We began searching for a replacement about ten years ago, and my brother John found one in Kelowna about five years ago. It is green, not white as our original had been, but it is still a pleasure to drive and to use as a source of reminiscence.
As you can imagine after 35 years, a car is no longer in showroom condition, and even though this one has lived in the enjoyable climes of BC, it still suffers from rust. After four more years of waiting while we were in Zambia, we finally found a body shop willing to take on the task for a level of funding we felt we could manage. And just last week, the body work was completed. It sports new rear quarter panels, and many places on the remainder of the car where the rusted parts were cut out, and new steel was welded in. It looks great, as you can see in the photos.
Ontario has a program for Classic Cars that allows us to add it to our insurance policy for only $150 per annum. However, they require a safety inspection, and will not accept Manitoba or Saskatchewan's inspection. So, I had reluctantly decided to drive it all the way back to Thunder Bay to get it licensed. However, while we were in Regina, I checked out what Saskatchewan had to offer. And their deal is even better! They will license it as for only $120 per year, and do not even require a safety. This is obviously minimal insurance (as was also the case in Ontario), but they will allow me to insure it for whatever I wish up to the appraised value. So, we decide to get it licensed in Saskatchewan, and leave it here. And my father-in-law graciously agrees to store it at his place. So that is what we do, and I get to drive back with the rest of the crew.
As you can imagine after 35 years, a car is no longer in showroom condition, and even though this one has lived in the enjoyable climes of BC, it still suffers from rust. After four more years of waiting while we were in Zambia, we finally found a body shop willing to take on the task for a level of funding we felt we could manage. And just last week, the body work was completed. It sports new rear quarter panels, and many places on the remainder of the car where the rusted parts were cut out, and new steel was welded in. It looks great, as you can see in the photos.
Ontario has a program for Classic Cars that allows us to add it to our insurance policy for only $150 per annum. However, they require a safety inspection, and will not accept Manitoba or Saskatchewan's inspection. So, I had reluctantly decided to drive it all the way back to Thunder Bay to get it licensed. However, while we were in Regina, I checked out what Saskatchewan had to offer. And their deal is even better! They will license it as for only $120 per year, and do not even require a safety. This is obviously minimal insurance (as was also the case in Ontario), but they will allow me to insure it for whatever I wish up to the appraised value. So, we decide to get it licensed in Saskatchewan, and leave it here. And my father-in-law graciously agrees to store it at his place. So that is what we do, and I get to drive back with the rest of the crew.
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