Dec 20 2018
It just occurred to me that there’s a winter theme among some of the items that populate the walls, floor and shelves of my home office! Most of this stuff has a historic Canadian connection. First of all, here’s a Rallye des Neiges plate that I acquired from fellow Ottawa MG Club member Bill Pickthorne …
Nov 29 2018
Well, General Motors has cancelled further production of the Chevrolet Volt. Disappointing, for several reasons. The first is that it’s an excellent car, and in my opinion, the best plug-in hybrid (or more accurately, Plug-in Electric Vehicle) on the market. Because of that, I’ve recommended it to people considering a vehicle of this type, and …
Jul 30 2018
As a kid growing up in England in the 1960s, I remember watching an American television show called Route 66. Along with shows like Highway Patrol, it was part of my introduction to life in America. From what I could tell, things looked pretty good over there. Apparently it was usually sunny and everyone had …
Apr 15 2018
Only a few years ago, you could pick up a vintage boler camper trailer for $1,500, maybe less. But over the past five years or so, interest in these diminutive Canadian-built, 40+ year old fiberglass trailers has soared to the point that $10,000 can be asked for an example in excellent condition. Why the demand? …
Jan 31 2018
Websites come and go, but there’s no website cemetery that I know of. Likewise, there’s no Website Hall of Fame. If there was, I reckon CanadianDriver should be in it. CanadianDriver was the brainchild of Grant Yoxon of Ottawa, Canada. He registered the name in 1998 as what was then called a “link list.” A …
May 13 2017
The Bargman L-400 is the lockset that was originally fitted to all Boler camper trailers (1969-1988) along with the some Trilliums, the Airstream Argosy and maybe other small campers of similar vintage. The Detroit-based Theodore Bargman Company goes way back to the early 1930s, making door locks and other RV parts from the 1940s, and …
Mar 11 2017
“Poli Glow is a marine polish that wipes on without rubbing or buffing.” These modest words from Poli Glow Canada totally understate the impressive results you can get by using this product on a boler! Bolers, of course, are fiberglass like many boats. And long ago bolers lost their original lustre, resulting in a flat …
Mar 09 2017
It was a foggy, grey morning in British Columbia’s Slocan Valley. We were taking down our tent after a wet night, casting envious glances at the appealing vintage trailer in the campsite next to us. It looked kind of like a lozenge, with smallish windows, a period awning, vent at the top, and according to …
Dec 14 2016
It’s early Monday morning, and winter in Canada. The eyelids of most Canadians are reluctantly fluttering into wakefulness as clock radios come alive. First item of the day? The weather, of course. In Ottawa, it’s minus 10 degrees, a light snow is falling, and school buses in the entire region have been cancelled due to treacherous …
Dec 05 2016
Recently I was cruising down Meadowlands Drive in Ottawa where the speed limit is a paltry 40 km/h. There I happened upon an immaculate but slow-moving Toyota Camry, the cleanest and slowest car on the road. Sorry, but I sized up the driver as a Senior right away. Characteristically hunched over the wheel, he was …
