Like most young kids, my interest in older cars goes a way back to high school in Montreal (1953?) when a friend bought a 1929 Ford Model A but because he was underage, he could only drive it up and down the driveway at home. I thought this was so cool, I went out and bought my own running 1927 Buick sedan for $75.00 and started restoring it. However, after two years and lots of dollars spent, I sold it for $150.00, doubling my initial investment, if you forget the money spent on storage.
My first real car was a 1940 Standard Ford Doctor's Coupe, then a 1939 LaSalle, 1940 Buick Limited Series 80 and then the 1954 black Sunbeam Talbot Drophead Coupe in 1962 (which I still own) and used as my everyday car during the summer months and replaced by a $50.00 1947 Chevrolet Fleetline Coupe (fastback) as a "winter beater". This Sunbeam sparked my interest in British cars so in 1966, I added a 1956 Jaguar XK 140 Fixed Head Coupe which I purchased for $200.00 while studying in Toronto, as the engine was seized. Keep in mind that I still owned all these cars at the same time and kept most of them in a barn near Knowlton, Quebec.
Then reality sets in when a new bride reminds me that I have far too many cars so we slowly sold off most, keeping the S-T Drophead Coupe and the XK 140 which we brought with us when we moved to Nova Scotia in 1967. In the early 70s, the choice was made to keep only one of these cars as the growing family of three children demanded more money, and as the Jaguar required more costly bodywork, it was sadly sold for the paltrey sum of $800.00. You can't even buy a seized engine for one of these cars for that amount now let alone a whole car! That is life......and that is why I have such a keen interest in the Sunbeam Talbot line of cars.
Last Updated April 10, 2006