I got this car in 1987 off a Swiss family that had bought it when they first moved to Canada. They had lived in Alberta until the early 1980's and when a job brought them east to Montreal the car came with them. A few years later a dead battery had the car abandoned at the local garage and for $300 I took it off their hands. I was 17 and the car was the coolest thing I could ever have imagined owning! I think the colour was Blue Glow Poly. The years in Alberta had kept the rust to a minimum.

I had this car for 2 years. It was true new-found freedom! I took it on a big road trip to Hampton Beach one summer. A Grateful Dead show in White Plains another time. And camping at Long Sault every weekend.

When I bought the car it came with a set of snow tires that I quickly used to coat the bottom of the car with blobs of melted rubber. This car was fun.

It eventually could not pass a safety inspection and was towed away for scrap. But the Torino gave me the bug and I've owned a string of oldies as summer cars ever since.

Bowen