(first posted 1/13/2017) Let’s move on from New York and look at some vintage street scene snapshots from Toronto, Canada. These were posted at vintage.es and are credited to Ellis Wiley, via the City of Toronto Archives.
One often hears about Canadians being thriftier with their car purchases, but some of these shots tend to belie that, especially this one. The cheap and thrift cars are outnumbered by big, expensive ones 3 to 2.
This may be more representative.
Looks like a Vauxhall Victor FB among the US brands.
Given that there’s two Chrysler E Bodies, one of them followed by what appears to be a customized ’68 Ford, I’m guessing it may not be a coincidence, but some kind of cruising activity. I suspect the R8 was not a part of that.
GREAT photos ! .
In Pic. # 4, is that a Suzuki T10 parked across the street ? .
.
-Nate
Either that or possibly a Bridgestone.
No french cars!
Renault R8 in the last pic
Judging by the other cars in the picture, namely the 2 Dodge Challengers (or are they Barracudas?) the picture would have been taken sometime 1970 or later. By that time, my Dad had bought his ’68 Renault R10..he bought it new in So. Burlington, Vt but by 1969 he got transferred to northern Virginia with it.
Of course Burlington is just a bit aways from Quebec, but I think part of the reason my Dad bought the R10 and not another Beetle (’59 which was totalled in front of our house, the reason he had to buy another car) was that he started travelling to Corbeil-Essonnes in France which I think was sister plant to the one he worked in, since he was a process person, they’d ask for help (pretty often, back then process variations were more frequent than now, I’d wager), and he kind of became a bit of a Francophile. Also, the R10 had 4 doors vs 2 for the Beetle, even though we seldom used it with his whole family in it at once, it was more comfortable when we did than say another Beetle would have been. The certainly were never very common, though I recently found out that a lady I worked with more than 40 years ago also drove an R10 (before I knew her, she had a ’79 Datsun 310 coupe after that). I missed driving the R10 by probably weeks, my Dad ironically traded it in on a car with an automatic transmission so my Mom could also drive it instead of her ’73 Country Sedan with the 400…this being early 1974, when people were freaking out about gas shortage. The R10 almost certainly got better gas mileage than the replacement, but that my Mom could drive it instead of her wagon when my Dad wasn’t using it was why he sold the R10 (only had 22k miles or so on it at that time, since it was his commuter car). Almost forgot to add, I just started driving right after he sold the R10, having gotten my learner’s permit at that time, almost 50 years ago.
My parents honeymoon was in Canada…Quebec and Ontario (but I don’t think they went to Niagra Falls).
Americans love to hate on Renaults, I’ve had one and driven / ridden in / worked on more, IMO they’re fine, comfy and easy to drive / park etc.
French care are *different*, if you can get past that they’re wonderful .
-Nate
i’m from toronto. my impressionable years for cars are the early 80’s to mid 90’s…. canada had lots of french cars in those days. LeCar (renault 5) was popular, encore’s, i used to see a few 504’s and 505’s and my brother owned a MI16. there were a few Lada’s too. but i remember the vast majority were american. i recognize most pics here. toronto is not anywhere near the same anymore, but they are easily identifiable to a born and raised guy like myself.
Thank you I enjoyed the work
I’m from Toronto too – the first photo looks like Yonge St. and Queen, and photo 4 is our new city hall (1960s) and photo 5 is our old city hall. They are very close together, and I’d say the person taking photo 4 simply turned 45 degrees to the right to take picture 5.
In photo 1 there are two Falcons, one in photo 3 and a Comet in photo 4. Throw in the Corvair and a couple of Ramblers and the Canadian frugality of this era is upheld! I remember VWs were very common (Beetles as well as Type 3s), and if there were some shots from the early 1980s you might have seen some Ladas.
I’m not a fan of modern architecture anyways, Your old city hall LOOKS like a city hall. I like it a lot. It has a “vibe” similar to Pittsburgh’s Allegheny county Court House.
So much of old Toronto has been knocked down for a sea of modern high rise buildings.
Old City Hall (which is its its formal name now) survives almost by a fluke. It was scheduled for demolition 50 years ago, and barely survived the wrecking ball.
Its mostly old inside as well, but has an innovative environmentally – friendly A/C system that uses frigid Lake Ontario water for cooling.
Perhaps It’s my local bias as I mentioned our court house (A national historic landmark, fortunately). But those massive stone buildings reek of municipal government. Your “new” city hall is interesting, but it says “corporation” , not government. Modern architecture some how doesn’t convey “permanence”. like the old one. I’m glad it was “accidentally” saved.
“On Yonge Street,” ……. Gordon Lightfoot …..
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=qltQD9YA02g
What the heck is the copper colored car closest to you in the second picture down? I can’t say I’ve EVER seen anything like that. It looks like it’s some sort of Mercury, say ’59-ish, maybe a ’60, but I don’t recognize it. It’s cool looking what ever it is….
It is a 1960 Mercury!
James Slick beat me to it.
Given the location though, one might have expected the Canadian version to be featured — the 1960 Monarch… But no, the car in that pic is a Mercury.
Thanks, guys! – You know it’s cool when you can learn so much at this site, that you can make an educated guess at something with which you weren’t familiar. THANK YOU Curbside Classic!
’60 Merc was a total guess for me, but I’ve read so much material here to become familiar with the styling cues of various makes and vintages, that this stab in the dark was nearly spot on. ’59 Merc was a bad guess though; upon doing a quick Google Image Search, the pictures of that car were like, “Yikes! What were they thinking?” – but then one thing I’ve learned from coming here was everyone was having a wild time styling-wise in 1959, not just Chevy and Cadillac.
I didn’t recognize that car either. It clearly looked like a Ford Motor Co. product from ’58 or ’59, but not a Ford, Lincoln, or Edsel, so it had to be either a Mercury or one of those in-betweener Canadian brands like Meteor or Monarch. Forgot the ’60 Mercurys didn’t get a variant of the new Ford body.
Great pictures, and they remind me of growing up in that era, in that area. One pic is obviously Ottawa, as the Parliament Buildings are shown.
Paul, Canada has political subdivisions. For example, just as you would say, “Eugene, Oregon,” and not “Eugene, USA,” it is more apt to say, “Toronto, Ontario,” as Canada is subdivided into provinces and territories.
Pic 5 is Toronto’s Old City Hall.
At least Toronto had the good sense to keep their Old City Hall. Hamilton demolished their equally handsome building and opened an equally hideous new one in 1960…
And when Hamilton built their new city hall in 1960, they demolished 24 of their best homes in the city, heritage mansions that should be museum pieces.
The one that survives was owned by a feisty old lady who refused to sell at any price. So they built around her home. Good for her, too because that one surviving home is now a popular museum.
You are correct! A little too rushed this morning!
My sister lived in “T.O.” in the ’70’s but I don’t see her Cortina in any of these pics.
I normally avoid Toronto if at all possible, so the only scene I can place today is the one with the Falcon and Corvair.
It’s Wellington St W and Bay Street. The only thing that remains of that scene is the facade of the old Toronto Stock exchange which was incorporated into the skyscraper surrounding it.
Looks like my Beetle parked in front of the TSE.
These pics are a few years before my time. I do miss seeing so many European cars as was common here, well into the 70s and 80s. At least in cities like Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, where service was available. Rideau Street in Ottawa…
Wow, as interesting as the 1960 Ford looks (as we discussed earlier today) the 1960 Mercury is positively strange. And I love it.
+1. That’s no rebadged Ford, you can see what you’re paying for.
I am a bit surprised that there are no pickup trucks at all in those pics and other then the panel van in the first pic and the bus, there are not trucks to be had. Were pickup trucks not common in Toronto of the late 1960’s or 1970’s?
Hmm… what 40 or so years does to the vehicle demographic of an area, now you cannot pass a street in a city with several pickups there
These photos are from the banking / government district of a major city, where nobody was driving a pickup for personal transportation 40 years ago. Commercial shipments would require a van body to protect the goods.
The new city hall building is just gorgeous.
the new city hall is 51 years old now, and is a rare example of Brutalist architecture actually being pretty.
When viewed from above, it looks like an eye, by design. The dome mimics an eyeball and the 2 towers are eyelashes – really !!
The dome covers the meeting hall where the mayor and city Councillors meet, hence the vaguely Orwellian concept that the council is overlooking the city.
Toronto City Hall…the building with unintended consequences and the one that made wind analysis pretty much mandatory in urban design.
The new Toronto City Hall, opened in 1965, was a great example of international modernism in contemporary architecture. My roommate and good friend at the USC School of Architecture in Los Angeles in 1965-1970 was the son of the principal of the prominent Toronto architectural firm of John B. Parkin Associates, who was engaged as an associate architect in the design of the new Toronto City Hall, actually designed by the renowned Finnish architect Viljo Revell in an international competition. It has stood the test of time quite well.
I grew up about 2 hrs from Toronto in a town of about 11,000 and you seen a lot of pick-ups there-tobacco country. In fact we had a 61 Chev and later a 68 Mercury pickups. The only import dealer in town was a Volkswagen so I didn’t see many Japanese cars until early 70’s. To buy one you had to travel a ways.
I remember the “Meteor coming on strong” ads in 1969 when I lived for a short time in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Visited Toronto 2-3 times as I recall.
Great historical pics – can see what looks to be a Fageol/Flxible Twin Coach transit bus way back in the background of the first pic – don’t see too many of those.
Always enjoyed visiting Toronto.
You can see the old Ontario license numbering system evident in the 6th pic down. It was a six digit system, all numeric, and the plate stayed with the car. In 1973, Ontario changed to a three alpha – three numeric system, e.g. ABC-123. The system advanced sequentially through the alphabet (skipping a few letters such as Q as I recall) up to ZZZ-999, then they switched the sequence to numeric – alpha, e.g. 123-ABC, around 1984 perhaps. Then when all that sequence was used up we changed to add an additional alpha character, in the format ABCD-123. That was around approximately 1998 let’s say. We are up to the C’s now (CDEF-123) so it will take about 180 years to get to the end of this alpha sequence. It gives a lot of longevity to the licensing system.
Also, the license plate stays eternally with the owner if the vehicle is sold.
Prior to 1973 Ontario actually issued you a new plate each year with a different number. They had to be installed on the car by the end of February and once I was old enough it became my job to switch the plates. This was before nylon fasteners so it meant removing the old rusty nuts in the driveway while your hands froze.
Agreed. Plates alternated colours every year as well, prior to 1973. Blue on white one year, white on blue the next.
My Dad would go to a gas station to have them install the new plates, at least when he had a car.
I love these old street scene shots. Thanks, Paul!
By the way, with the exception of Pic #5, there is at least one American Motors product in every picture.
One thing to note- on the photo with the streetcar tracks at Wellington St. (and Bay?) the pavement is clearly with bricks. They used to do that in case track maintenance was needed. Just lift up the bricks, work on the tracks, and re-lay the bricks – no repaving required. Bricks were also used for hills in the belief that they gave better traction for cars. This didn’t work as the clay surface actually had less traction.
Comprehensive website on Ontario Highways with many archive pictures. Search out the 401 page and see the picture in the late 1950s of a morning traffic jam. Just 2 lanes each side where now it is 8 each side including collector lanes.
http://thekingshighway.ca
most of the parked cars have the windows down and the doors are most likely unlocked. of course most cars in canada in those days didn’t have air conditioning. also nice to see all the different colours rather than the silver, white, and black of today.
Nice shots. Those cars were long gone by the time I moved to Toronto in 1988, but the downtown scenes are quite familiar, and my work is a short walk from both City Halls. Too bad there’s none of the Beach.
Not a single, solitary Vsliant…?! Hmph!
Valiant, I meant, and never mind; there’s a blue ’65 parked between the red Plymouth wagon and the red Chev in the pic of old city hall.
History trivia.
The exact year of photos like these is sometimes hard to pin down. But the photo of the ‘new’ Toronto City Hall has to be summer 1965 or later. The (also new) Canadian flag, seen flying in the photo, was adopted in February of that year.
The red Vauxhall Victor in pic #6 is identical to the 1962 model that was my first car, in 1969. Sadly I had it only about 2 months before totalling it in a disagreement with a Mustang at an intersection. No injuries were sustained, other than to my pride.
May I contribute with a photo from the summer of 1980?
The first time I was in the US and Canada, I was so overwhelmed by the number of cars, that I almost forgot to take pictures of them. There were a few exceptions, though.
I tried to make up for this the following year.
Got another one! The Vauxhall is on Bloor Street approaching the University Theatre, which was demolished in the 80’s
The horizontally lined building across the street is still there though. Toronto is barely recognizable from 40 years ago…
I was born in Toronto and lived there until I retired 10 years ago so seeing these photos is a lot of fun. I particularly like Morris Minors, so I was pleased to see one in the second picture. The street looks familiar, but I can’t place it.
What’s the small black car in front of the green Rambler in the second photo? Before I enlarged it looked obviously a VW Beetle, but something’s a bit off. The taillights look like they’re from a ’50’s model but the rear window is a large curved ’70s style, actually it looks wider than the car itself. And the front fender looks a bit too pontoon-like for a Beetle. So I’m mentally running though other imports of the time, but can’t place it. It’s not a Morris Minor, I don’t think. What is it?
I am pretty sure it is a 2 door Morris Minor. The external hinges on the trunk (boot) lid give it away. On the trunk lid you can also see the raised outline in the size of a British licence behind the Ontario plate. In high school my best friend’s mother drove a 2 door, but this is not it, as it was “Old English White”. 2 guys in my class had Travellers (i.e. wagons) but they were both in rough shape although they did have “timber”.
Yep, now I see it. It’s weird how Beetle-esque it looks from this angle, especially at small size, somehow hiding the squared-off roofline and different proportions. From the front quarter view I’d never confuse it with a Bug.
Lol! City Hall is keeping an eye on you Toronto. Better be good! Nice to see they also kept the original city hall. Here in Minneapolis our city hall looks like it’s twin.
Bay and Wellington – The Cork Room tavern – here is what it looked like inside in the 1950s at least.
See this site for a whole host of Toronto historical photographs, where I sourced this photo.
https://chuckmantorontonostalgia.wordpress.com/
Judging by the other cars in the picture, namely the 2 Dodge Challengers (or are they Barracudas?) the picture would have been taken sometime 1970 or later. By that time, my Dad had bought his ’68 Renault R10..he bought it new in So. Burlington, Vt but by 1969 he got transferred to northern Virginia with it.
Of course Burlington is just a bit aways from Quebec, but I think part of the reason my Dad bought the R10 and not another Beetle (’59 which was totalled in front of our house, the reason he had to buy another car) was that he started travelling to Corbeil-Essonnes in France which I think was sister plant to the one he worked in, since he was a process person, they’d ask for help (pretty often, back then process variations were more frequent than now, I’d wager), and he kind of became a bit of a Francophile. Also, the R10 had 4 doors vs 2 for the Beetle, even though we seldom used it with his whole family in it at once, it was more comfortable when we did than say another Beetle would have been. The certainly were never very common, though I recently found out that a lady I worked with more than 40 years ago also drove an R10 (before I knew her, she had a ’79 Datsun 310 coupe after that). I missed driving the R10 by probably weeks, my Dad ironically traded it in on a car with an automatic transmission so my Mom could also drive it instead of her ’73 Country Sedan with the 400…this being early 1974, when people were freaking out about gas shortage. The R10 almost certainly got better gas mileage than the replacement, but that my Mom could drive it instead of her wagon when my Dad wasn’t using it was why he sold the R10 (only had 22k miles or so on it at that time, since it was his commuter car). Almost forgot to add, I just started driving right after he sold the R10, having gotten my learner’s permit at that time, almost 50 years ago.
My parents honeymoon was in Canada…Quebec and Ontario (but I don’t think they went to Niagra Falls).
”suspect the R8 was not a part of that” here in Montréal we had what it took to pursue the bad ass mopar… and beware this is not a Gordini .
”suspect the R8 was not a part of that” here in Montréal we had what it took to pursue the bad ass mopar… and beware this is not a Gordini .