Early last Saturday morning, I threw a bunch of tools into the back of my friend “Madman” Mike’s pickup and we headed north. Our destination was Sudbury, over 4 hours away. Somebody in Sudbury was parting out a 1966 Chrysler convertible that had some parts that each of us was looking for.
The Big Nickel
Sudbury is primarily a nickel mining town, but as the largest town in Northern Ontario, it also serves a hub for business, shopping, health care, and (if Stompin’ Tom’s lyrical account is accurate) Bingo halls and bars. It has a famous landmark, the “Giant Nickel”. I caught it with the sun shining bright off the face of King George.
The first notable vehicle we encountered in our travels was this VW Cabriolet.
Next we passed a Vehicle Production Group (VPG) MV-1. This was designed to be a purpose-built wheelchair accessible taxi cab. They had a custom-built body and chassis, and a Ford drivetrain. I’ve only seen one other MV-1 before, owned by a municipal transit company.
VPG had been funded by a $50 million loan from the US Department of Energy. They ultimately went bankrupt and were acquired by AM General, which has resumed manufacturing MV-1’s.
About the time Highway 400 merged into the Trans-Canada Highway, the weather started to turn. I had been checking the Sudbury weather forecast for the past few days and Saturday was supposed to be decent, so this snowstorm came as a surprise. Thankfully it passed and by the time we arrived the sky was clear and blue, although the temperature only ever reached a high around -8C.
Finally we reached our destination just before noon and found the object of the hunt: a 1966 Chrysler Windsor convertible. The Chrysler was not alone however. A 1958 Cadillac, a 1968-71 Charger and some other vehicles kept it company, all buried in the snow.
Back of Caddy. Front of Charger.
The owner said that the drivetrain from the Windsor was destined to go in the Charger once the weather improved. Normally I’d be dismayed that yet another C-body was serving as an engine donor, but in this case I didn’t feel so bad about it. You’ll soon see why.
This particular convertible had a blue roof, and it may actually be the factory original. The blue roof was available with only a select few exterior and interior colour combinations; otherwise a black or white convertible roof was available. I also spotted the bumperettes on the front bumper, drivers side adjustable mirror, and the hole in the rear deck where a power antenna had resided. We already knew that it had bucket seats, and that the driver’s seat was of the 6-way power adjustable variety.
Not much left inside once I was done with it.
Digging a path through the snow and opening the door revealed that the car had not only power windows, but also power vent windows, factory tinted glass and day/night rearview mirror. This Windsor had been well equipped! We never dug out the hood to take a look underneath, but the seller assured us that the engine had a 2-barrel carburetor. That meant that it was the base 270hp 383 big block V8.
Whoever had ordered this car must have really loved it, because they had had the bodywork restored and repainted. Perhaps they figured it was easier to remove the lower body moldings and fill in the holes, because that’s what was done. Then they apparently continued driving it year-round until it was unsafe to drive or the owner couldn’t drive anymore. It is one of the most thoroughly rotten Chryslers I’ve ever inspected.
Lost the keys? No problem!
To open the trunk, I had merely to pull up on the trunklid, and the latch ripped right out! It had 1973 plates (the last year that Ontario issued new plates annually) and the last registration sticker on them was from 1982. Chances are good that this had been a one-owner car for all of its useable life.
Mike had come primarily for the bucket seats to replace the worn out ones in his 300, and he was in luck. They had been nicely reupholstered in white, which matched the interior of his car, were still in good condition, and thankfully were already unbolted from the floor for easy removal. I was hoping to score the power antenna and dashboard control for it to retrofit into my Windsor, as well as the 8-foot long beltline moldings on the rear fenders, and any other exterior chrome that was in good condition. I didn’t fare so well. There were two power antenna units inside the car, but both were broken. The chrome was all either missing or damaged, which I’d expected after seeing the car upon our arrival. I grabbed a few pieces, not sure if I’ll use them or not. I also removed the rear quarter windows, which are unique to C-body convertibles and break easily. The first one was a struggle, as they’re not intended to be removed with the top in place, and without power I couldn’t operate the power window regulators either. Then the owner ran an extension cord over and handed me a grinder with a cutoff wheel. The second window came out much faster!
A real Flintstone-mobile!
By this time it was after 5pm. I was cold, hungry and tired. I was wearing a bulky snowsuit, and there was a hole in the floorpan that got bigger every time I fell through it. When I got out, I found I could no longer close the passenger-side door even though the hinges weren’t sagging. The unibody had actually “bent” from me climbing around inside. (Good thing we decided against buying the whole car and towing it home!) We left to get some supper and be on our way. I didn’t get home until midnight. But that’s okay, because…
We’ll get to work on Monday, but tomorrow’s only Sunday,
And we’re out to have a fun day for it’s Saturday tonight. Yeah!
All loaded-up. (The truck, not the occupants.)
Mike said that, if I didn’t stop humming the tune to Sudbury Saturday Night, I would be riding out back with the parts.
Rust never sleeps. I guess this was the downside of Chrysler’s unibodies – this well-equipped ragtop will never be salvaged and put atop the frame of a rusty green sedan. A fine adventure story – thanks.
That is dedication in all that snow. So easy to get cold hand pulling parts in the winter.
That’s some serious girder worm!
Thanks. Now I have The Hockey Song stuck in my head.
RIP Stompin’ Tom.
This was the wrong article for me….I’m wanting to hit a 100 acre salvage yard about 2 hours south of me and have been wavering due to a forecast high of only 55 Fahrenheit on Friday. Now, I am reconsidering…
Good catch on the MV-1. I think I saw one in Yellow Cab livery the last time I was in Kansas City, but was too far away and never caught up.
I left out a little detail about digging out the car…. We got there at 11am. The owner wasn’t home. I called his cellphone. He had been out late watching a hockey game, then went to a friends house and crashed there for the night. He said he’d be another 45 minutes.
I didn’t feel like hanging around twiddling my thumbs, but there was no shovel to be found. I donned my padded coveralls and boots. I grabbed an empty recycle bin (blue box) from the front porch, kicked the snow, and used the recycle bin as a scoop to remove it. That’s how I dug the path along the side of the car.
Ah the MV-1. The D.C. metro uses a bunch of these and they can be seen around parts of Maryland and VA also.
https://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5235
Portland, OR area cab companies tend to use crappy Chevy Ventures with a smattering of Uplanders to help out their wheelchair using customers. Trimet has several 5th generation Dodge Grand Caravans and maybe a few 4th gens. The local VA has Dodge Grand Caravans, Chevy Ventures, and even a Ford Freestar or two. They must be annoying vehicles to drive because all of them (especially the Freestar) have a really raised rear end so you have to lean your head back unless you want to stare at the pavement and I bet you always feel like you are about to slide into the steering wheel. Wonder if anyone around here will pick up some VPG MV-1s?
In the past 15 years so many states have gone for the ABC 1234 format when it comes to issuing their license plates, but at least Ontario keeps things interesting by issuing ABCD 123 instead. So, what do the Mounties think of the plate up by the cab?
Ontario sure is brutal on vehicles which makes seeing that vintage VW Cabriolet quite surprising. I have seen some rusty and ratty Ontario vehicles on the East Coast as far south as Orlando, Florida. Does Ontario have providence wide safety inspections and emissions testing? Glad you found usable parts and did not get too cold. Perhaps one of these days I will drive back East via Canada instead of I-80.
Parts of Ontario have emissions testing every 2 years for vehicles newer than 1987 , and safety inspection is only once, when the vehicle is put on the road.
Mounties don’t patrol anywhere in Ontario. The policing is by Ontario Provincial Police (highway, rural and small communities) or municipal services. I have seen a few local tow trucks with plates mounted like that too. It must not be an issue since they have been like that for a long time.
Ontario winters are brutal on cars, especially in the North. The only time a vehicle is required to have a safety inspection in Ontario is during transfer of ownership. However, I did have an insurance company that wanted one before because they thought my car was too old. Further, the Police and MTO will sometimes do random spot checks and pull the old clunkers off the road. That said, there are always lots of old rust buckets out there on the roads. Emissions checks are not required in the north.
There is a town, in North Ontario
With dream comfort memory to spare
And in my mind, I still need a place to go
All my Chrysler parts were there
What a shame that this poor car is a total rust bucket. It looked so nice hidden by snow in the first picture. I love all that blue inside and out. Must have really been something else back when it was new!
I think VPG’s existence was predicated upon getting the exclusive NYC taxi contract that Nissan ended up with (ugggghh). It seems like it would be the ultimate vehicle for that purpose, but despite being on the T&LC list of approved vehicles for many years now, there are only a handful of them being used as cabs. Left to their own devices, the cab companies chose the fuel savings of hybrid sedans and CUVs over more simple and familiar machinery like this in the wake of the Crown Victoria vacuum.
I still do see tons of MV-1s, however. Even though they lost the shady cab contract, they’ve become the city-operated paratransit vehicle of choice. Most of them are CNG powered as well. The one you saw looks like a rare civilian model – VPG made them both ways, just like Checker did back in the day.
Are these catching on as cabs anywhere else? The idea is great but unless American cities start adopting regulations requiring all cabs to be handicapped accessible en masse, I doubt they’ll ever do much volume.
That Chrysler’s “Helpless” all right! 🙁
It’s sad when something gets that far gone and you know there’s no saving it.
Love that snow sculpture on top of the convertible in the first pic. It looks like a whole other car!
Good thing it’s just snow and not a real car. With your description and pics of what was underneath, that would turn that Chrysler into a pancake! 😉
Fascinating story of the Big Nickel here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Nickel
Excellent write up, as I can always expect from the contributors at CC. This article really hit home for the simple reason I spent 4 good years in Sudbury as a student at Laurentian University, including several “Saturday Nights”. I’ll never forget the Saturday night towards the end of second semester one year when me and a few buddies were out late at a rather infamous downtown “club” that shall remain nameless. Before heading back to rez we decided to grab a bite to eat at the Pita Pit. Just as we got there a guy pulled up in an absolutely gorgeous red and white ’58 Corvette ragtop. Needless to say we were more interested in the car than getting something to eat! As a quick aside, I would love to get back to Sudbury if I can find a well paying job there.
FWIW technically the last year that Ontario issued new plates annually was 1972. The 1973 base lasted in production until 1994 when it was superseded by the “reflective” plates that are now the current base. Case in point: my father bought a 1977 Malibu new, and was issued a new pair of plates for this car, which at that time still read “73” in the bottom left hand corner (the 73 disappeared from plates not long after)…I highly doubt that Ontario would’ve stockpiled 4+ years of license plates to issue back in 1973 (or at any other time for that matter).
The 1973 series plates only lasted until 1978. Any plates issued in those years had “73” in the corner. In 1978, the plate looked the same but the year was removed. In 1982 they changed again. The “sticker box” was eliminated from the bottom corner (they went to the new stickers currently used) and the slogan changed from “Keep it Beautiful” to “Yours to Discover.” Then in 1994, they switched to the reflective plates and from steel to aluminum.
Interestingly you can register year of manufacture plates in Ontario to your vintage car (1972 and older) for a fee.
Dear God, how do you people live like this? I don’t even own a heater…
Dear God, how do you people live in that heat? I only install a window A/C unit in my house for a couple of weeks in August. 🙂
Also, to all you Floridians out there laughing at the crazy tourists wearing shorts in 50F weather, now you see why.
On that note, we just had 29 straight hours of freezing rain followed by 8″ of snow. Now the sun is out and it’s supposed to go above freezing today. I think I’ll put my shorts on and listen to some “Bud the Spud”. 🙂
Maybe the key fell out and the air-bag failed to deploy?
Thus leading to the untimely death of the driver???
Wonder how some of have survived so long without airbags and even supplemental support systems.
A semi-useless piece of information. Airbags or other supplemental restraint systems are not required for new cars in Canada. Only shoulder/lap belts. However, they all have them anyway. If originally supplied with “supplemental restraints”, these must be maintained in working order.
Cool story on a winter parts hunt. Sudbury was a second home for me growing up, my father’s family all lived there. My grandparents lived within walking distance of the big Nickel and as kids we used to always climb the big hill to check it and all the old mining equipment out. My old car was also originally purchased in Sudbury too, in a now non-existent dealer (and I still have the 1973 Ontario plates on my car too).
That old Chrysler is pretty rough, but nothing that unusual for around northern Ontario when you come across old cars. I don’t live in Sudbury but still visit regularly. And even at the old car cruise nights, there are plenty of cars that have clearly had serious body repairs over the years.
Just a note, highway 400 doesn’t change to the Trans Canada (Hwy 17 in Ontario), it changes to Hwy 69.
> Just a note, highway 400 doesn’t change to the Trans Canada (Hwy 17 in Ontario), it changes to Hwy 69.
I would say you’re right, Hwy 17 is rightfully the Trans-Canada. Google maps shows that Hwy 69 was part of the Trans-Canada and I never thought anything of it, which is why I wrote that.
I looked it up and there are apparently two “branches” to the Trans-Canada highway between Sudbury and Ottawa. The southern route goes through Orillia and Peterborough. My guess is they designated that route as part of the Trans-Canada for tourists travelling across Canada by RV.
That’s interesting. Now that I look it up, some maps show multiple legs through Ontario, including as you mentioned part of Highway 69. This site shows that it has multiple paths:
http://transcanadahighway.com/Ontario/#.UzwbJWePKUm
However, this site says that Hwy 17 is the main route through Ontario, while there Hwy 11 as an Alternative route once you get at North Bay. I have always been taught Hwy 17 is the Trans Canada and if travelling though Ontario to cross Canada, this would be the shortest route.
Speaking of Stompin’ Tom, he also did the song I’ve been everywhere where he does the big loop around Northern Ontario, Hwy 11 around to Hwy 17 and back again.
http://artists.letssingit.com/stompin-tom-connors-lyrics-ive-been-everywhere-2tc3nzp#axzz2xjo4qxV5
I can’t imagine working on cars in that weather! On the other hand, I’m sure some readers can’t imagine working on cars in 35-40 deg C either.
Well, this is something I’ve never done before…I am chiming in twice on the same article. This is for those of you who were discussing highways around here (and for anybody else who is interested), here is a really interesting website devoted to highways in Ontario: http://www.thekingshighway.ca/
Since my ’65 has never bent when I stood in it, I think I feel better. 😉
I have stepped through holes in the floor however. The side drains in those convertibles weren’t really well done, so they all rust under and in front of the rear seat.
Well, i guess that you really need the parts on that chrysler To go there on winter. I don’ t remembre your name Bigodlchrysler but i went To see that car on april 20. Then the snow melted. Some parts were interesting, so i’m going To buy the hole car, removed the parts that i needed and like you noticed, the body was Too rusty To repair. So the body will end up at a srcrapward In Quebec.