Doors Open 2012
- Aug 13, 2012
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 3, 2020
The lazy days of summer are here. It’s been so hot and dry outside that there hasn’t been much to do except be lazy.
I’d like to go to more car-related shows during this time of year, but there just isn’t much going on that I can attend. Stirling / Lindsay is in May, springtime Barrie is in June, and fall Barrie isn’t until next month. I do plan on going to Volksfest this month, but that’s a small show, close to home, and easy for me to drive to (as long as Greta isn’t tempermental and doesn’t object to the drive). I tried Bothwell last year and it was fun. Moparfest will be happening soon in New Hamburg—and though I’m not a Mopar guy, the show sure sounds like fun… but with small kids, I have to be very choosy about what events I attend, since it means leaving the kids at home with my wife. My daughter doesn’t like old cars very much. My son is two years old and has the attention span of a gnat. He loves old cars, but he wants to touch them all.
Back in May of this year, the annual Doors Open weekend provided me with some spare time. I had a rare opportunity to tour a storage warehouse of the Canadian Science and Technology Museum. Whoopee, you might think. However, there are two warehouses—one that houses computers, rockets, radars, and other gizmos—and I toured the second one, which houses the transportation collection (trains and cars).
The tour was an hour long, and we went through the trains first, which was enjoyable (even got to see the King’s toilet). But I signed up for the cars, and I’ll briefly describe some of the more interesting cars and plates here. Click on each image for a description.
1932 Nash Motor Home, evidently stored indoors since 1971, as noted by the very clean and undamaged license plate. Late 1910s or early 1920s Rudge Multi belt-driven motorcycle. It only had the front fender license plate, which I suspect is British, like the bike. 1984 Popemobile, used for the Papal tour of Canada in that year. It’s a modified GMC pickup, still like new. The red plush interior of the Pope's shell in the rear is still pristine. 1948 Chevrolet, with a federal government plate. These plates are rarely seen, but many of the vehicles in the facility had them. I’m not sure what this vehicle would have been doing in 1992—the expiry date of the sticker on the plate—maybe it was being moved between museums. 1972 Plymouth Satellite Custom. This vehicle had Environment Canada livery on the sides, and the tour guide said it was a modified electrical vehicle tested in Ottawa. Nobody had an answer when asked about the small wipers on the outer headlights. Toronto Transportation Commission bus number 1. It's a double-decker. Not sure as to the model year. 1929 Durant, with original plate. Concidentally, there’s another of these in Ottawa, at the Cumberland Heritage Museum, which bears plates that I restored. 1958 Pontiac Safari-turned-Fairmont Hy-Rail Car. This one was my favourite. It’s still operational, and has the hydraulics to lift the car and rail trucks to move along rail lines… I saw it gliding down some tracks as I arrived on-site, although my camera wasn’t ready. Note the length of the car is stretched by extending the bumpers due to the hydraulic rail truck housing. It has current and valid historic vehicle plates. I took some extra time to go and see the OC Transpo historic fleet, which is always out on Doors Open weekend. They’re fun to see inside and out. I was disturbed, though, at the deteriorating condition of their 1959 GM “Old-look” bus number 5931. I’m not sure how long ago it was restored, but back in 2006, when I last saw it, it was shiny and looking great (pictured above in 2006 at Doors Open). Apparently, OC stores the bus outside now, which has caused the glossy paint job to fade to a drab flat finish, and rust is now clearly visible around the windows. The ventilation grille above the destination rollsign is also brown with rust. Fortunately, OC has two other vintage buses—one of them being a 1950 Twin Motor Coach. This bus, old 337, is evidently stored with some protection from the elements. It's shiny and happy-looking, just like 5931 used to be. This bus has always been my favourite of the OC historic fleet. As I sat inside, I imagined what the city might have looked like back then. The OC historic fleet also includes am example of the formerly-ubiquitous GM “New-look” or “Fishbowl”, this one being from 1961. Those Fishbowls were everywhere around Ottawa and many other cities. The Canadian ones were manufactured in London, Ontario with their appearance largely unchanged all the way up to 1986.
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