TREASURES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND

    The following is a portion of an article published in the March 2003 issue of The Self Starter, the monthly magazine of the Cadillac LaSalle Club. This section tells of a ’31 LaSalle that now resides at club member Jim Morley’s estate, awaiting the ground-up restoration that Jim is famous for.  The picture published in the article is not available at this time but it is hoped that photos of the restoration will be available in future.

                                                    By Lorne Scott

    The Northwest portion of our great continent contains some of the most interesting and exciting areas in the world. Hidden in those areas are treasures, set aside by folks who one day wish to do something with them. There are times that these items are lost due to unforeseen circumstances and are located years later and the project begins.

    I live in Sidney, which is just outside Victoria, on Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada. Here on the Island, as in many other places in North America, the temperate climate is conducive to retirement living; hence the population is older and has a large interest in things of the past. Victoria is reputed to have the largest population of vintage and special interest vehicles per capita in Canada. There are over fifty clubs representing different marques and interests in the automotive world registered here in the Lower Island region. This does not include those of us belonging to clubs, with headquarters elsewhere and no local club as yet. There are only five or six members of the CLC here in the Victoria area but old Cadillacs abound.

    This month, I hope to show some unique vehicles by Cadillac that are either showable or hiding from public view, waiting their turn in the sun. The first one from the Island was the "BIOGRAPHY OF LADY VICTORIA" in the Nov.-Dec. issue of 2001 and more recently "The Princess", a 1931 Cadillac Vanden Plas. Since then I have located a few other gems that will hopefully be of interest to Cadillac Buffs. Some of these vehicles are in storage most of the time, some are used as daily drivers while some others have been seen only once and are now hiding from public view-and those of us who would be bold enough to try to purchase them from the owners. Unfortunately, a great percentage of this last group will never be seen again. Cars seem to hold up much better here than anywhere else in Canada due to lack of snow, ice and salted roads, thus vehicles from the early twenties on forward are still being found in strange places and are still easily restorable. The rest of this missive will be dedicated to some of the gems that have come to light to this point in our area. There are ever so many more but they will have to wait The following are some of the more recent finds but the search goes on!

1. 1931 LaSalle Rumble-seat Coupe (Steve Andrejkew - CLC Member)

In the early 1990’s, while on a walk in my neighborhood, I spotted what turned out to be the remains of a 1936 Cord. This peaked my interest and the little old man sitting beside the garage was more than willing to give me his son-in-law’s phone number to possibly get the derelict out of his garage. However the Son-in-law didn’t wish to sell the Cord but he did have this ’31 LaSalle that he would be willing to part with. Money and space precluded an immediate purchase so my neighbor, who is into auto restoration, made the buy. As can be seen in the photo, much work must be done to revitalize this classic. It is a series 345A with a 90-degree V/8 containing 353 Cu.In. that should produce 95 HP. The car rides on a 134" wheelbase and is mainly complete with the exception of the woodwork, which will have to be redone. There were only 10095 of these made and the prices in the "Old Car Price Guide range from $2050.00 to $51,000.00, depending on condition. Unfortunately, this one is not high on my neighbor’s priority list and he recently told me that if it didn’t sell soon that it would be the only ’31 LaSalle Street Rod in existence.

                         ( More to be published next month)

Craig Reeder – Coast Capital Real Estate – 592-1723 – Craig has been the main benefactor in our web site production and maintenance. He is the Webmaster for the club and conducts his very busy real estate business to the joy of his many clients. Thanks Craig for making this all possible.

LORDCO – This western Canadian auto parts company has supported us with club membership discounts and prizes. This is a full inventory parts and accessory store that caters to many businesses as well as retail sales. LORDCO has many branches throughout B.C. as well as machine shops on the lower mainland for service work.

STYLES UPHOLSTERY – Styles is a full service upholstery and trim shop specializing in Auto and Marine equipment. They have provided a Club discount for members of the CLCC and are located at 631 Princess Street in Victoria, Ph. 1-250-384-5442

FINISH LINE MOTOBILIA-This magic toy box has opened at 2008 Douglas Street in Victoria, Ph. 1-250-361-1562. It contains a plethora of Die-Cast Models, Clothes, signs, Videos etc. etc. etc. The shelves are stocked with a great quantity of items only superceded by their quality. It is sure worth a browse if you are interested in anything concerning automotive or motorcycle memorabilia. They have also been known to do favors for clubs, their members and activities.

Many thanks to the above sponsors of our club and their endeavors, without them the CLCC would still be an unorganized group looking for a place to enjoy their Cadillac habit.

                                    Power Steering Squeal!!!

    When a squeal occurs as you turn the steering wheel hard over, it is usually because you are exerting too much pressure on the Pressure Relief Valve and that could damage it over time. If this happens to you, just don’t push so hard on the "hard over wheel" and it shouldn’t occur again. If this squeal occurs frequently even when not applying pressure, check your belt’s as they may be hardening and need replacement. A friend was almost panicked into replacing a water pump due to this problem. Think simple first!!!

Wayne McCallum

                             Cadillac of the Month!!