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!
Thanks for featuring this Todd. This is a true piece of Canadian Poncho history. Not exotic, or high dollar but an example of early 60's everyday driver.
Great choice ... I kept looking at this car prior to it's sale ... great job Brian!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
having seen it, on the back of the carrier when brian brought it home. i got a good look underneath. i was impressed. lot better then my 63. i'm jealous.
I think the days are gone where we can be picky about how many doors a car has because the cool factor has gone way up when you cruise with a four door. This is a great feature car. So glad to see another Acadian for the month. The interior is amazing on this fine gem. Cool to see more of the 60's paperwork from GM too.
That is exactly the type of car that was around our area in that era. I do not care how many doors the car has it is so nice to see an original one that is driven and enjoyed.
What a wonderful example of the everyday GM driver. As stated, there were literally thousands of the (yawn) 4 door, 6 cylinder autoboxes on the street. But thanks to them, GM was able to produce our 2 door muscle machines. I think Todd deserves kudos for his car, I hope him and his family enjoy her in all it's family sedanish glory!
It's actually Brian Parke's car. I wish it were mine! After we took the photos Brian let me take the Acadian for a drive. I was amazed how well this car drove. Very tight, no rattles or issues.
Very nice survivor. I remember a good friend of my dad's coming over to our place one Saturday in his brand new '63 Chevy Nova 2-dr. hardtop (ess. the same car..) Sixbanger auto, black w/a white roof and red interior..what a great lookin' car that was...!!!
