Today’s gallery features a nice amount of 1970s traffic in the City of Toronto. The images date from 1970 to 1978 and come from the City of Toronto Archives. They have been lightly color-corrected for this post.
Vintage Snapshots: Traffic In Toronto In The 1970s
– Posted on November 12, 2024
This is how I remember the 1970’s .
-Nate
+1 🙂
I enjoy finding the current version of these scenes, and in looking for the Picture #4 location, I was amazed that not only is the block of buildings still standing, but that the Acadia Book Store is still in business, and still has the same sign too.
Then-and-now images below – Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qimm7BgHsZWJqF6u7
great catch!
I’m glad I am not the only one who enjoys doing that!
Eric, you regularly uncover so many curious mysteries that would have been lost to time, without your passionate hobby, and fact-finding. Thank you!
(You would have made a great journalist.)
Thanks! I’m glad other folks enjoy this kind of stuff. (Oh, and I’d make a terrible journalist because while I love research, I’m much less enthusiastic about talking to actual people…)
Double-hung windows above the bookstore all replaced by (i assume) fixed picture window glass with a small sideways-sliding window at the bottom.
I am surprised the green Pontiac is a Catalina. Must have been an American tourist.
Appears to be , still, a “butcher shop” two doors down.
Pic 1 – Bloor St. West facing west, University Theatre on the right (north) side.
Pic 2 is Yonge at Carlton St.
Pic 3 is on Yonge St south of Bloor.
Pic 6 is iconic. Yonge south of Dundas, during the building of the Eaton Centre mall.
Is picture 9 the NE corner of Bloor and Yonge?
The Highway 11 sign is the giveaway. That is or was, the provincial name for Yonge St. Hwy 11 now starts at Barrie and runs north, but at the time, Highway 11 was the ‘other’ name for Yonge St.
Here’s another pic of that same building from an earlier time to confirm it is at Bloor St. at Yonge, NE corner.
What’s the stodgy, square, red car in the first pic? Looks like an “Opel Kadette” that’s taken a lot a vitamins.
In the gas station pic, is “82.9” a “per gallon”, price?
Don’t think I ever bought gas in Canada.
Only been to “Niagara Falls”. Got the gas on way there near “Buffalo”.
I’m pretty sure that’s a Vauxhall Victor, 1962ish. Could be an Envoy as well, same car, different dealer.
The gas price is in imperial gallons(about 15% bigger tha a US gallon), we didn’t go to metric in Canada until 1977.
In some parts of Canada gas had to be sold in half gallons just before that, since the price had gone over a buck a gallon and virtually all gas pump meters only went up to 99.9 cents. Today it’s about 1.60 a litre here on Vancouver Island, or about 7.26 per imperial gallon. Its been over 10 bucks at times…..
I had thought we switched to metric for gas earlier than 1977, so I checked the web, and wiki says it was in 1979.
Speed limits were changed to metric on Labour Day weekend in 1977.
Our drivers licenses list height in centimeters, but don’t ask me what 160 or 170 or 180 cm mean. Give me feet and inches every time. Same thing with weight. Pounds not kg please.
Thank you so much. Interesting, that “imperial gallon” measure.
Yup, pretty sure it’s a ’62 Victor. I bought one exactly like it in the summer of 1969 for, I think, $200 – my first car.
Unfortunately I totalled it after about a month on the road (no one hurt thankfully), and moved on to a ’65 Volvo 544. 🙂
Notice the billboard in the first picture for Mercury Meteor.
I can read the street sign on the last photo – Wellington St., but I don’t know the crossing north – south street.
It’s at Yonge St. The building itself (a former bank building) is fortunately still standing. The photo above is actually of the side of the building, since the main entrance is on Yonge St.
Here’s the current StreetView location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/yJs79oF3Euz6m5h26
That is a BEAUTIFUL building. The 70s pic looks like they were tearing it down, but I guess the scaffolds were for renovating, not demoing.
Another great collection. Not apparent here, but by the late 1970’s, Toronto became one of North America’s most ethnically diverse cities.
As seen in the sixth pic, Toronto used to feature distinctive illuminated street signs from the 1960’s onward, and for several more decades. This one featuring the official logo for Canada’s Centennial year (1967).
In pic. 3 what are the odds of 2 Chrysler e bodies driving past one another at once? Way too cool of a post as I just took my family to Toronto for the first time this year.
I like the “phone booth” , in that pic!
Nice pics, Ric. I remember seeing the Olds Custom Cruiser for the first time in grade school morning drop-off. Looked like something out of this world! Still does.
We drove up to Toronto around 1991 to see the Phantom at the Pantages. Enjoyed a great couple of days in the city. Other trips to see relatives were also fun. It is a very ethnically diverse city.
I have been to Western Canada but never to the eastern two thirds. These are very interesting photos.
#1 Going by the license plates and the newest car it looks like a 1969 photo. Starting from the left the rear corner of a ’69 Camaro, ’62/3 Ford Falcon wagon, ’61-’64 Vauxhall Victor FB, ’68 Oldsmobile Cutlass 4 door sedan, ’66 Rambler Classic wagon, Mercedes-Benz W111 chassis, ’65 Impala 4 door sedan, ’65 Dodge Dart, ’68 Firebird convertible.
#2 Winter photo, maybe 1970? Left to right a ’57 Pontiac, post ’68 VW Beetle, ’68 Cutlass convertible, ’68-’72 Datsun 510, ’67 Chrysler New Yorker. Going away ’63 Pontiac, ’68 Camaro RS, ’69 Mercury Cougar, ’68 Impala Custom Coupe.
#3 Also winter of 1970? Heading this way on the left ’66 Ford Fairlane, red ’68 Ford Galaxie 500, ’70 Plymouth ‘Cuda. Going away ’70 Dodge Challenger, tired looking ’62-’73 Renault 8.
#4 Left to right ’70 Pontiac Catalina 4 door hardtop, ’67 Pontiac Strato-Chief or Catalina 2 door sedan, ’74 Buick LeSabre Hardtop Sedan.
#5 Left to right Black ’69 Chrysler Newport, ’60/1 Falcon 4 door wagon, ’68-’72 Chevrolet C20 or C30 longbed stepside, light blue ’67 VW Beetle, red ’70-’72 Ford Maverick, maroon ’69 Ford Fairlane 4 door sedan, pale yellow ’70 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Holiday Coupe, dark green ’71/2 Ford Country Sedan, yellow ’67/8 Rambler Rebel, beige ’65/6 Impala Sport Coupe. Right lower corner looks like a ’65/6 full sized Buick.
#6 Left to right ’72 Plymouth Fury III 4 door hardtop taxi, ’73/4 Pontiac LeMans, looks like a post ’75 Ford Econoline van, ’68-’72 Datsun 510, ’73 Plymouth Satellite sedan, ’74-’77 Pontiac Astre Hatchback.
#7 Not sure about the ones in the cross street. Going away from the left a white ’73 Chevrolet full sized 4 door, blue Peugeot 504, white ’74-’76 Ford Torino or Mercury Montego wagon, black ’70-’73 Maverick, green ’73 Buick Century Colonnade Hardtop Coupe. Next to the gas station a blue ’73 Oldsmobile Delta 88.
#8 Left to right a ’70-’72 Maverick 2 door, ’72 Dodge Polara 4 door sedan taxi, ’72 Buick LeSabre convertible, ’73/4 Ford full sized wagon.
#9 Turning the corner a ’69 Pontiac Strato-Chief or Catalina Sport Coupe, ’71 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, ’74-’77 Datsun 710 Coupe, Chevrolet or GMC Step Van.
#10 In the street left side a white ’78-’80 Cutlass coupe, white over blue ’78-’81 Ford Fairmont or Mercury Zephyr wagon, puke yellow ’74-’78 Toyota Corolla 2 door sedan, red post ’73 Chevrolet or GMC Fleetside long bed. In the parking lot from the left a ’74/5 Gremlin, ’74-’77 Dodge Colt wagon, ’71-’74 VW Super Beetle, ’69-’73 Corvette, ’77-’82 Honda Accord Hatchback, may be a ’75-’77 Ford Granada.
Thanks for the photos.
Picture #1 proves that in Canada at least you could order an FB Victor without rust.
Neat finds. My father‘s side of the family is all in the GTA, so I’ve spent quite a bit of time there. The first picture with the Zumburger sign reminds me that about a decade ago, I found a Zumburger tray in a church basement in Toronto. Does anyone have any more information about Zumburger?
Growing up in Nova Scotia, I was surprised on my first visit to Toronto (in the 1970’s) how dispiritingly late-Victorian so much of it looked. I’d expected ‘the centre of the Canadian universe’ to be a totally modern city. 🙂
Toronto and Canada itself always provided some eye candy for visiting American petrol heads. I thought my memory was faulty regarding seeing a Cortina Mark III there in the late 1970s, but indeed, that car did make it to Ford showrooms there after the US stopped importing the Cortina with the Mark II. Also saw the only Rover SD1 / 3500 on the Gardner expressway when it was nearly new. What a pleasant surprise! I was already familiar with the car from the Corgi model. The Vauxhall Cresta on in the first pic is another example of the quirky British cars one would be more likely to see in a Commonwealth country than here. Indeed, and without researching for certainty, I don’t think the Cresta made it Sttateside.
Then of course the homegrown models specific to the country like the 1970 Parisienne in the one photo, or the promoted “Meteor in Cougar Country” on the downtown billboard. How shocked I was to get into a new downsized B-Body Chevrolet taxi that was a BEL AIR!! The classic orange and black Diamond taxis distinctive of the city. I knew the Bel Air had been out of production since 1975 here, so it was neat to see it lived on in Canada as a stripper model low on the totem pole for fleet use.
And the most unique experience was sighting the occasional LADA. Interesting how we wouldn’t touch anything Soviet, but the Canadians had significantly more of a detente attitude.