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DELMER & CECIL DELMER AND CECIL Really, really nifty old cars


Hi! Cecil here. Seeing as this is the wheels


edition of Bounder, I thought I’d go back in time to my days as a whippersnipper and recount some of the treasure searches for a jalopy to make a hot rod.


I remember a 1932 Willys coupe I found in


Brennan’s Hill over on the Quebec side. It was in great shape and was kept under a tarp behind a shed. The old fella that owned it said it still ran and I could have it for $300. I said I’d think it over.


My buddy said, “You don’t want a Willys, you want a Ford. Nobody drives a Willys!” So I started my search again and couldn’t find a Ford of that vintage, especially a coupe. I did find a 1930 Ford in a barn near Poltimore, but it was a sedan (in 8/10 condition), so I kept looking. Next I came up with a 1931 McLaughlin Buick near North Gower. It wasn’t a coupe, but the thing oozed quality, and the fella said I could have it for $250. It was a deep blue with red pin striping, green velvet interior with curtains, a fold- up wooden bar on the floor in the back seat and a big wooden steering wheel that was solid as a piece of granite.


I said, “I’ll take it” and made arrangements to come back the next day and get it. When I returned the next day, the fella said his


sister’s boyfriend wanted it, and to save a family donnybrook he couldn’t sell it to me. So the search continued.


44 BOUNDER MAGAZINE


Next, while out partridge hunting one day, I walked through a cedar bush and came out in a clearing, and sitting there was a 1926 Hupmobile. It wasn’t in bad shape; but, once again, it wasn’t a coupe, so I didn’t jump on it.


I hunted that place for several years (near North Gower) and watched that car disintegrate year after year. The windows were shot out. The body was riddled with bullet holes. Eventually someone set it on fire and all that was left was a heap of rusty metal.


Next I came on a 1929 REO near Clarence Creek but again, it was a sedan.


Then came a car that was really great…a 1936 Pontiac convertible above Low, Quebec. It was really, really nifty, but the guy didn’t want to sell it.


I found a 1947 Indian motorcycle, but once again the guy wouldn’t sell.


Next came a model B Ford in the Glebe in Ot- tawa, but it was a sedan.


Just down the street from that I found a two- seater in a garage. It was an “Alvis” from the 30s. I’d never heard of an “Alvis”, but it was cool, with a big long hood and great big headlights. Again, it was not for sale.


I ended up buying a 1950 Ford for $70. It


wasn’t a 1932, but it was indestructible. It had a flathead eight and as long as you kept throwing the oil in (I used to buy it in five gallon cans) it would go forever. I took it to Key West, Winnipeg and


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