Well, with Hurricane Wilma pounding the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, Florida expecting her arrival in a day or two and Cuba having evacuated it’s western end, I sit here on a nice warm sunny day wondering why anyone would want to leave Vancouver Island. It is almost too nice to be inside writing a newsletter. Oh well, I guess there will be another nice day very soon to go out and enjoy.

    Last Saturday the Cadillac LaSalle Club of Canada, in co-operation with Dave Bolster, presented the Mt Newton Center with a donation from the sale of parts and pieces and a matching amount from our club. It was gratefully received by the Manager – Patsy Berger-North and as we saw on a tour of the establishment, it will be put to good use. Photos and a brief description are shown at www.cadillaclasalleclubofcanada.com/events under the October event archival. A very pleasant day began with 8 of our members meeting at the White Spot for lunch then continuing to the Mt. Newton Center for the presentation. It was a very short run but it did exercise some of our cars and the sunshine made it even better.

    Due to some of our members not being available during the month of November, unless someone has something that they would like to do, our next tour/meeting will take place on December 11^Th, at the Waddling Dog Restaurant at 10:30 A.M. It will be a "Christmas Brunch" and possibly a tour to get us there or a tour afterwards, depending on what is happening at that time. Further details will be forth coming as they are worked out. Please see www.cadillaclasalleclubofcanada.com/events for continuing information.

Craig Reeder – Coast Capital Real Estate – 592-1723 – Craig was one of the founding members of the club and provided some of the financial and idea impetus to get it off the ground. His Real Estate business is flourishing and he is still able to maintain his interest in the Cadillac world. Thanks Craig for making this all possible.

    With the onset of winter driving and the continuous use of the windshield wipers, a little help for them may be in order. I have discovered a product called "Rain-X’ that is available at auto parts stores, Canadian Tire and many other places. This solution when applied properly should almost be able to deal with torrential rainfall without the wipers. It would also be recommended for cars with vacuum operated wipers that are not as functional as electrical ones at times. Rain-X seems to be a good safety backup for those of us with questionable or intermittent operation of the Windshield wipers.

    I have also found a formula for an inside "fog" reducer on the car windows and will publish the formula as soon as it is perfected. It is from a very "Vintage" book and some of the ingredients are not available at this time. Watch for it- coming soon! -?

    Again, we are trying to find a suitable place to have window decals made for the club cars so if any of you know of a good place to have them done, please contact me as soon as possible. I have tried to get MVP in Sidney to look at the job but they don’t seem to have time to get back to me.

    The following is part 1 of an article that was published in the July issue of the "Self-Starter", the club magazine of the Cadillac LaSalle Club. There will be another two segments in future Cadillac Chronicles. The photos included in the article are of a 1928 LaSalle Roadster owned by Richard Stanley in LA, one of which appears below.

    Envision yourself "Crusin’ Woodward Drive", enjoying some "Hot August Nights", "Getting your kicks on Route 66" or just enjoying the trip to a local event in your favorite wheels. We have all had those dreams and many of us have actually had them fulfilled. Along with those dreams were the many sleepless nights over decisions that must be made even before you start on the quest for your new ride. There are many factors that must be taken into consideration at this dream stage. Some of them may not be too pleasant should reality set in but they must be made non-the less. They will be both pro and con and each person will have a different opinion, as to which is which for their application. I will endeavor to provide some general food for thought before embarking on this adventure.

    It usually depends on your dream. I have found in my years that you can justify almost anything if you try hard enough and it is good to have someone with a realistic outlook keeping you in check on these ventures.

    When the decision has been made on the vehicle, your next one should be the initial price range. I say initial because this is only the beginning. What you don’t put in now, you may well have to pay later.

Some of the main considerations in this venture are as follows:

1. Initial price plus taxes and insurance.
2. Storage availability
3. Knowledge and mechanical abilities.
4. Availability of parts and information.
5. Eventual resale of your project.
6. Time available.
7. Other commitments and obligations.
8. Available assistance.
9. Eventual purpose of the finished unit.
10. Are you thinking with your head or your heart?

Initial price and choice of vehicle

    This factor is usually determined by your vehicle choice, the availability of it and what you can afford. For the more unique and exotic vehicles, more time will be required in the hunt and the higher the price will usually be. The condition of the car is another price determining factor when it comes to the initial financial outlay. Suffice it to say, that the better the condition, the less must be put into it later. At this point it is usually beneficial to have some other mechanically inclined person give a second opinion as to its real value. If you are spending more than "pocket change" for the vehicle it may be worth calling in an appraiser, remembering that this charge must also be added to the balance sheet. As the old adage goes, "you only get what you pay for".

    Sufficient storage space is always a problem for a car buff and this becomes very vivid if major restoration is required. A recommendation of 2-3 times the size of the car is recommended as a minimum especially if a ground up resto is going to occur. Too small an area will lead to mistakes and usually an incomplete project. Your space requirements will depend on your choice and condition of vehicle and the quality of outcome you wish to attain for future presentation.

    This is one of the major factors in the question of restoration and or maintenance of a special interest vehicle. If you are not mechanically inclined but wish to drive and enjoy the car to it’s fullest; a finished vehicle may be the way to go. Should you opt for an unfinished project or one requiring restoration, you will require deep pockets to keep the tradesmen on the job. Most of us range somewhere in between this and the fully qualified restoration shop. In any case, the average car buff will have some knowledge, a little money, do some of the work themselves and have the rest farmed out.

    Those wishing to purchase the finished vehicle may have a time finding their vehicle of choice. If and when you do, you will usually find that someone has put more time and money into it than they are asking. If you can locate your dream machine like this, your money will be well spent.

    Should you opt for the long term restoration and doing as much as possible on your own, the same holds true –you must be careful to not invest more in it than the eventual value will be. This happens frequently, the restorer becomes discouraged and either the job is poorly done or not completed at all.

    Be sure that the end result is worth it to you either financially or in happiness points.