We all have a love for the rare and high performance Canadian Poncho's. However, the reality is that back in the day most folks bought the generic bread and butter cars for their day to day transportation needs. Most of us have fond memories of such cars, the station wagons or four door sedans, many of which where equipped with economical and easy to maintain six cylinder engines. These workhorses ran tirelessly 365 days a year in all weather conditions. Because of their work duty, many did not survive. There are a few exceptions however. Brian Parke's 63 Acadian Canso is one such survivor.



Brian's Acadian started life in a small town called Thamesford, located in Southwestern Ontario. Thamesford had a GM dealer, John Wrights Motor Sales.



Being a God fearing town, most of Johns stock consisted of utilitarian 4 door sedans, wagons, and trucks. You were hard pressed to find any sporty V8 models on his lot. They simply did not sell. One such sedan was this 1963 Acadian Canso. Sparsley optioned, this Acadian did come with an automatic transmission and full wheel covers. The car was purchased by a local lady who was a school teacher who taught at the local school. She only drove the car during the summer and she put it away in the winter. It is said that she rarely drove the car outside of town. She traded the car back into Wrights around 1982. John Wrights daughter drove the car for about a year and then it was put into storage until the dealership was closed three years ago. CP member Eeluddy (Earl) purchased the car from the dealership. Brian bought the car from Earl and proceeded to make it roadworthy again. CP member Gus worked his magic repairing some undercarriage and rear fender rust. Most of the paint is original.




The interior is completely original. No creature comforts like a radio or carpeting in this car! Note the front seat belts. They likely were dealer installed.






The 194 C.I straight six purrs like new and provides ample power. With no power assist, you're on your own when it comes to steering and stopping!



The Acadian also came with a lot of paperwork including documentation showing the engine serial number and an invitation for the new owner of the car to visit the plant in Oshawa!




The Acadian has just over 37000 original miles but the low mileage hasn't prevented Brian, his wife, and kids from travelling several hundred miles in the car this summer alone. And why not? Aren't cars like this perfect for those fun family outings? That's what memories are made of!