Car Talk

Taking a shine to classic and vintage automobiles

- Mike Lane

When I turned 17, I finished high school and set my sights on going to university. For this I needed a car, and my father had a friend who had a car dealership. As a result, I commuted to classes in an old Austin A55, a car that promised to be reliable, though about as flashy as my auntie’s brown teapot. After a couple of years, and several well-paying summer jobs, I bought my dream car. Well, it was a student-on-a-budget’s dream car. It was a Volvo PV 544. I loved that car and quickly added a blue racing stripe and a specially tuned exhaust.

Later in life, I purchased a succession of cars, some quirky like the ancient Volkswagen minibus I tried, and failed, to drive over the Rockies. Some were practical like the grey station wagon I bought after the birth of our son.

I still love cars but now I enjoy photographing them, talking to their owners or just admiring the flow of their lines or the colour of their paintwork. And living on Canada’s West Coast means that there are plenty of car shows, usually put on by a group of owners such as the British Car Owners Club, or the Ford Owners Club.