The Lincoln and the little boy

It was probably around 1958 when this event occurred and I would have been five years old.

I’m not sure why, but I was interested in cars from a young age. When I was ten years old I could tell you the make and year of any car on the road.

Growing up on a farm near Midale, Saskatchewan, I didn’t get many opportunities to see luxury vehicles. If we happened to be in town when a traveller passed through in a Cadillac or Thunderbird, it was a festive occasion.

One of my first memories of seeing a high-end car was when Max came to visit my dad. Max drove a Lincoln. Max’s farm was a fair distance north(five miles!), so we didn’t ever see him drive by our place. Can you imagine how awestruck this five-year-old kid was upon seeing this dreamboat of a car for the first time?

The story has it that when oil was discovered on Max’s farm, he went to Estevan and bought a beautiful, black 1954 Lincoln Capri. Many farmers became rich overnight subsequent to the discovery of the Midale oilfield in 1953.

My memory of this event was jogged when my brother spotted this yellow 54 Lincoln Capri on the streets of Medicine Hat. I was in the ‘Hat to see the Redcliff Lions car show on June 18.

With numerous oil rigs in the area, it brought in a lot of workers. We kept boarders at our house who made lots of money on the rigs and bought nice cars. I remember George’s 59 Ford Galaxie 500. We had a three bedroom house with six kids, two parents, and occasionally one or two boarders. Where did we find room?

My oldest brother was working for Precision Drilling when I finished school and got me a job on a rig as a roughneck. Although I was familiar with hard physical work on the farm, it didn’t take me long to realize I was more suited to some other line of work. When the project was finished, I applied for a job as an announcer at the radio station in Weyburn and started my career in the media. I went from making over $1000/month to $330/month but it set me on a course that was more suited to my interests and abilities.

How did your interest in cars get started?