Some Archive Pictures

[Andrew T]

We came across some old pictures that I thought some might find interesting.

The first one is a 1975 31' and 1976 Pontiac Bonneville, I drove this combinaton to Florida my self when I was 17 following dad who was towing his partners trailer down for him with his Mark 5 Lincoln.

The second shot my father cooking breakfast at an Airstream rally at the store in 72 or 73. See the new Airstreams parked in the building around him.

The third shot is a trip to our first international rally in Wyoming in 1969 the trailer is a 1965 30' and the tow vehicle a 1966 Chrysler with a 383.









The fourth is of a 1985 Chev Caprice modified for towing on display at an Rv show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

[Andrew T]

Here are a couple more.

This is our second front drive tow vehicle, a 1988 Oldsmobile with a 3.8 Litre V/6 on a trip to NewFoundland.

The second is 1977 Camaro connected to a 1978 23' at the London RV show in 1978. This was a lot of fun to tow with and really openend our eyes tow how much stabilty you could get with a tight handling suspension. It would not be great by today's standards but at the time it felt like it was on rails compared with anything else you could buy.

Andrew T

[slowmover]

Thanks. I wish I had more pics of parents Silver Streak hooked up to one or more '70's Cadillacs and grandparents Streamline hooked up to police-spec '68 Dodge Monaco.

[Road Ruler]

Andy... thnxs for taking the time to post the pics. Really cool!!!

Back in the mid 60's my Dad started a trailer club in St. Catharine's ONT which soon grew to 50 trailers. 49SOB's and 1 Airstream owned by Jake Dyck. Back then (60's and 70's) the Dyck's bought 3 Airstreams from you and your Dad. A Caravel, Bambi, and then a 27 International. They towed with a 1965 Plymouth Fury 383 for many years.
I recall Jake leaving the parking lot the day the pic was taken. With the Airstream in tow the 383 spun the back tires on dry pavement when he started moving. You can see the Airstream in the top left corner of the pic.

[kry226]

Awesome pics.

[bganso]

Thanks for sharing...love your Dad's Leisure Suit. A great idea for a vintage rally.

[subfan1]

The Olds and Chevy Camaro are both rear wheel drive, or did I read your " front drive" comment wrong?

[Andrew T]

The Caprice and Camaro were both rear wheel drive the 1988 88 Olds was front wheel drive.

We had a 1987 Front drive Olds as well. The front drive did not matter to us so much as having independent rear suspension and rack and pinion steering.

[GCinSC2]

My '75 Camaro 350 CID 4BBL 4 Speed certainly was rear wheel drive, the rear tires made these black stripes and squealing sounds sometimes!

Neat looking pic's folks.

[subfan1]

The Toronado was the olds I know of that was fwd at that time. I'll have to look at my new car catalog collection I have for that era. Interesting
The other fwd cars from GM were the Chevy Citation, I don't seem to remember the Olds version name right now. Was that it Andy?

[GCinSC2]

Are you referring to the X Body?

Olds Omega. My wife owned one a V6.

[subfan1]

Yes that's it. Because I think the olds 88 was the equivalent of the Chevy Caprice, if I remember right. Thanks

[DKB_SATX]

The Citation and its cousins where thankfully done before '88, replaced by the Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Olds Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century. The X-body cars just ended, supplanted by the A-body cars that started a bit later but lasted longer.

The bigger cars were a different platform (it may have been related, I don't remember) that had Olds 88, Buick Le Sabre and Pontiac Bonneville. They were much smaller in the late 80s than they had been as rear-driver cars in the early 80s.

[subfan1]

Oh that's right! I had forgotten about those. It has been a long time. Thanks for helping my memory out there. I had forgotten when those started.

[Andrew T]

The front drive Oldsmobile 88, 98 and Buick Lesabre and Park Ave along with the Cadillac deville all came out on a new front drive platform in 1986 but the 86's had a glass transmission. In 87 they fixed that and we started using them ourselves as an experiment but as people test drove them they started to buy quite a lot of them.

This is our 87 at the top of Independence Pass in Colorado.

That's a great shot of the rally in St Catherines, Interesting there used to be a lot of those local clubs I think the others are pretty much gone now.

[BigAl]

Nice photos Andy.
Al

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by Andrew T

This is our 87 at the top of Independence Pass in Colorado.

That's a great shot of the rally in St Catherines, Interesting there used to be a lot of those local clubs I think the others are pretty much gone now.

Yes, there is now a Harveys and a Swiss Chalet on the site at the Fairview Mall where that photo was taken.

Back in those days there was an Ontario organization that had about 7 or 8 trailer clubs under it's umbrella. They would have all the clubs meet once a year at a specific location. There were hundreds of trailers and it was well organized. About 1966 there was a big rally at the large fairgrounds in Ottawa. They hired an upcoming new band to play at the stadium for the club. "The Guess Who".

We have a photo somewhere in front of the same sign at Independence Pass. My dad took the family there in 1962. He had a 1961 Ford towing a 16' 1959 Shasta.

[Andrew T]

That was the TTCAO "Travel Trailer Club ????? Ontario. I did a seminar at their rally about 10 years ago. There were about 40 units there, I am not sure if it is still running or not? The Ontario Unit of the WBCCI used to be a member of it.

Andy

[Jim Flower]

Travel Trailer Clubs Association of Ontario. I googled it and it appears to be still in operation. Jim

[Road Ruler]

Yes Andy and Jim .. I believe it was the Travel Trailer Association of Ontario. My Dad was on the executive for many years in the 60's and early 70's.

The Scope Camping Web: RV Clubs