Видео

Awesome! thanks for tuning in!

Thanks so much for tuning in! It's been fascinating seeing the Can-Am branding slowly reappear out of the woodwork in Canada over the past few years.

It probably did! Most Canadian towns and cities established during the horse and carriage era are usually just far enough apart that you could cover the distance between them in 8-12 hours by horse. Nobody planned things this way, it was just sort of an unconscious unit of measurement that settlements developed around.

Little-known fact: Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Clara Bow all got their start as auto-workers, hahahaha!

@@CanadianAutomotiveMuseum what a factoid! I worked at Fisher Body in the late 1970’s. It was an old plant, a 1920’s industrial complex, building bodies for various automobile manufacturers back in the day, until acquired by General Motors. It was an awesome plant to work at and will be always my favorite place to work at! But I never made it to the silver screen, but had a God encounter during a Bible study during lunchtime!

For the record: the above fact was said in jest, and is not at all true.

@@CanadianAutomotiveMuseum awe, you got me! But what I said is true, have a good day!

The original St. Bruno deal wasn't very widely publicized. As far as we've been able to tell the plan never really got out of the boardroom, as it were. Certainly nothing was finalized.

Absolutely! The mid-1970s were a tough time to build sports cars, what with the rapidly-changing engine and emissions regulations that were going on at the time.

It absolutely is, and it absolutely is! The Bricklin team were passionate, enthusiastic, but, for better or for worse, not very good at running a car production line, especially one involving what was then pretty cutting-edge plastics technology in a factory where they didn't have time to work any of the kinks out. Money was always tight, so there was no wiggle room to fix major problems (like how one-third of the acrylic bodies they built fell apart during the curing process), and the failure to sell the car in Canada seriously hurt their bottom line. Hatfield's decision to can the factories and pull funding was harsh, but it was a decision that absolutely made financial sense at the time.

There's a good chance they are, though we don't know for certain, and you're definitely not the first person to suggest as much. We know for a fact some of the footage was taken at Port Alberni, and given that Cameron was and is the next big stop on the highway between Alberni and Victoria... again, can't say for sure but probably.

at this point if we want anything to change we need a reset, north america is done for if we keep the way things are.

This is a wild take. The goals and structure of the economy must be set by oversight, or we're back in robber baron territory (which is creeping up as is). Pretty much every large, successful company has massive government involvement; to say nothing of the vast amount of subsidies that companies like boeing tesla etc snarfle down. I'd much rather the government spend money on trying to get work to a disadvantaged town then send it to line some billionaire's pockets or build another overpriced missile.

Thanks! We do too! He's one of our most popular cars.

@@CanadianAutomotiveMuseum Would be fun to sit on his hood haha

Absolutely correct! The export of Canadian-made Fords and Ford parts around the British Empire was a massive undertaking, one that's probably deserving of its own video or seminar some day.

Indeed. My 1920 T was built at Walkerville and the engine casting confirms that.

Thanks for tuning in! If you'd like more info, I'd strongly suggest contacting Andrew or Neville, I'm sure they could tell you more about your car.

Thanks for tuning in!

There are pretty good reasons, at least originally, why the Malahat didn't have many tunnels- these were the very early days of driving, and even modern road-building in Canada, so the funding and demand weren't there for full-scale road tunnels. Also, the first Canadian highways were often expected to pay for themselves through auto and cycle tourism, mostly from the United States- so the more scenic and windy the route, the better the investment. That was the thinking in 1912, at least.

Thanks for tuning in!

Thanks for tuning in! Driving in the early 20th century was indeed a heckuva lot more dangerous than it is now- the only reason accident rates weren't incredibly high is that so few people were actually driving.

Not at all! Canada's first steam car was around in the 1860s, and there were electric cars and gas cars by the late 1890s. Plus, bicycles started being really popular in the late 1880s- when this film was made, the country was on the tail-end of a huge cycling boom.

It's a bit more lush and overgrown now than it was in 1912.

Both certainly look like they could be, and geographically make sense together. Do you have anything to hard-confirm this?

The mile zero mark was installed at Victoria Quay and Johnson Road. There are pictures online. Cameron Lake part of the video I know those mountains around the for sure as I have driven past them for the last 60 years. You can check Cameron Lake photos online and see the same mountains. 1912 was the same year the rail line was brought into the Alberni Valley.

Oh, we hadn't realized there was a mile marker! Fascinating stuff. We're really uncovering up this proto-Trans Canada Highway story as we go. Thank you!

Mile Zero: In 1912, hundreds gathered at Victoria Quay for the installation of a post recognizing the terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway. In the spirit of rivalry between the two towns, pranksters from Port Alberni stole the sign in the middle of the night and replanted it at Argyle and Kingsway; Port Alberni's mayor, Arthur Waterhouse, made sure that the sign was returned. In 1950, the terminus, or Mile Zero, was moved to Victoria

In terms of rural roads, absolutely! Dragged and flattened gravel roads is one of those technologies we pretty much figured out a century ago.

Little more pavement, little more greenery, sliiiiightly more traffic...

NW.

Absolutely. Our only reference for where some of this footage might have been taken is a single newspaper article from 1912- the rest is guesswork, not helped by it clearly incorporating footage from multiple different trips.

Thanks for tuning in!

Doesn't stop us from complaining about it though! 🙂

Absolutely correct. This footage is mostly Malahat, but also appears to include footage from at least two other driving trips in B.C.; it doesn't represent one continuous voyage.

It’s explained in the description.

Yes, absolutely! Victoria had one of Canada's largest auto clubs at the time- we know that by 1909 there were at least a dozen cars being regularly driven on the city's roads, which is certainly above-average for that time period. The city's motoring community were also early lobbyists for the construction of a trans-Canada highway, and appear to have used their local highways often.

@@CanadianAutomotiveMuseum A dozen cars. Why that’s absolute chaos. What if they were all on Douglas or Fort streets at the same time? It wouldn’t be safe to go downtown.

Extremely brave! Early driving, even on a good road, was scary. The cars were dangerous and unreliable, and could be quite difficult to control, and even the best roads were rough. There was no easy way to call for help if you got in an accident. Driving, especially fast driving, was an activity for the foolhardy or confident.

If you find any, let us know!

I have a picture of my grandma is driving her model t ford through the canyon in the late 1930s. When her husband and 2 kids drove from Saskatchewan all the way to Victoria and never left.♥️🇨🇦♥️

So, this footage is made of driving footage from two, possibly three different road trips and filming sessions edited together, the last of which was probably taken at least a few months after the previous two. We don't have notes for context on any of them, and they certainly don't show any kind of geographical sense. Think of this as a compilation of three different trips, instead of one continuous route.

Not only the main highway, the first highway! Or at least the first one in the area developed specifically for motor traffic.

I didn't know where it was at first ... but I recognized the name Malahat, and I've lived all over south BC over the last few decades, so I couldn't pin-point it ... I had to hit a GOOGLE map !!! 😜 But Shawnigan (Lake) I knew... But I didn't make the connect !!! 🤭 I've traveled that way many times '81 to '84, and then '94-2002 I think the highway was built above that original road (?) Maybe ??

A beautiful scenic drive to Duncan and Nanaimo.

Well, a substantial chunk of this road trip is the entourage of the Duchess of Connaught, so presumably they are, yes!

LOL. yes that was before the 1960's when a nasty MP or someone like that began to curtail the British Isles immigration/ migration to Canada and opened it up for a very different demographic.