Great Canadian Buick with Royal pedigree up for sale
By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos
The history of General Motors in Canada can essentially be traced back to one Oshawa man who decided to build his own cars but needed engines to power them. Eventually, the cars that started as McLaughlins, then McLaughlin-Buicks, finally Buicks as we Canadians know them. There's lots of intrigue, misinformation and money involved in the creation of Canada's biggest car company, but the early products were fit for kings.
Want proof? Well, one of two 1928 McLaughlin-Buick 496 Tourer built that year - and the only one pressed into service for the 1927 Royal Tour of Canada - is being auctioned by Bonhams off in the United Kingdom in early March. The seven-seater was used to transport two future kings; according to the press release, "they were used extensively by the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), his brother the Duke of York (later King George VI), and their entourage carrying out their civic duties." The 496 Tourers completed the, well, tour by being shipped by train between provinces on their route across Canada.
Bonhams figures the McLaughlin-Buick should fetch between £40,000-£45,000 (or about $65,000-$71,000) during its March sale. We're hoping a Canadian comes forward with the cash to bring it home for retirement.
Justin Couture
Mark Atkinson
John LeBlanc
Posted by: Ron | 2013-01-29 11:28:49 AM
Let's take up a collection...... We could store it in my garage ..... hehe
Posted by: 655Hemi | 2013-01-29 4:50:58 PM
To all you foreign car nut-huggers:
When was the last time you saw a 90 year old Turdyota or Datsun or any Korean crap sell for this much money? Oh wait!!! They didn't make quality cars back then.
This folks is what they call a "pedigree".. Something the Asian car companies know nothing about.
Turdyoda "moving forward uncontrollably"
And yes, I hope a CDN buyer buys and stores this car correctly.
Posted by: JD | 2013-02-01 4:04:25 PM
65Hemi once again shows his biased opinion, based on supposition, not facts. Here's the 10 most expensive cars sold at auction, the oldest a 1929. Not one domestic manufacturer in the list. The only two American built cars that sold for ridiculous amounts of money at auction were race cars, and both built in the 1960s. http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/top-10-expensive-cars-sold-auction-article-1.1176211
Why aren't there any 90 year old Toyotas around? Probably because they didn't start building them until 1937. Datsun began in 1931. Hyundai was a major shipping and construction company before they began building cars in 1967. Seriously, if you want to talk pedigree, you need to look at Daimler, the forerunner to Mercedes, beginning in 1886, Rolls Royce, 1906, etc. And before he starts his personal attacks (again), I'd cheerfully like to point out I've owned 45 vehicles since I was 16, most of them domestic. Presently, I have 2 domestic, and 2 foreign cars. All of the import cars I owned, except for two, have been more reliable and more economical to run than the domestics. If that makes me a foreign car nut, he's welcome to his misguided opinion.