Curbside Classics: Cars of Nova Scotia and the Cabot Trail

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– Posted on February 18, 2025

In the summer of 2024 I was lucky enough to visit the east coast for the first time, including the city of Halifax as well as a road trip along the world famous Cabot Trail. While not prime curbside classic hunting area, we covered enough ground to find some interesting finds from a double decker bus to an ocean themed Chevette.

Halifax is the most populated city in Nova Scotia as well as the capital city. It located on the Atlantic Ocean with a port and deep history. Tourists flock to its art galleries, festivals, as well as its historic sites and buildings.

These tourists can choose to tour Halifax in some genuine and classic double decker buses. The buses appear to be AEC Routemasters with a door added to the right side to aid in passenger loading and unloading. This bus is RML 2525.

The other bus I saw was a RML 2329 in a more subtle livery. I am told these now run a Cummins diesel engine in place of the original Leyland one. This one was delivering tourists to the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site which is a strategic hilltop fort.

Distracted by the bus I almost missed this air cooled Porsche 911.

This European plated Mercedes van was also delivering tourists with a touch more comfort.

I was on foot rather than travelling by bus which meant I saw this lovely Royal Enfield Bullet outside a local coffee shop.

While we did not experience the double-decker bus we did take a tour on a Habour Hopper which is a repurposed LARC-V (Light Amphibious Resupply Cargo 5 tonne) vehicle. These Vietnam War era vehicles allow a tour on both land and water.

Classic vehicles at the curb seem to be rare in Halifax which is probably due to the climate and vicinity to the ocean. This Volkswagen Type 2 appears to be in rather good shape however.

A newer but perhaps more exotic van is the Japanese domestic market Honda Vamos in pink.

The van is right hand drive which is not really a big bother in such a small vehicle. Automatic transmission in this one unfortunately.

This one seemed to belong to a local business and used for promotion.

It even has some coffee taps but I was not able to determine if they were functional.

Another promotional vehicle was this amazing Piaggio Ape P601 three wheeler truck. The box looks a little top heavy to me but it could merely be an eye catching sign these days.

Leaving Halifax we picked up our rental car to do a speed tour of the Cabot Trail. I had reserved a small four door sedan but was upgraded to this Cadillac XT5 400. Overall I think I would have preferred the fuel economy of something a bit more modest but the Cadillac provided a good level of comfort.

For those that may not be familiar the Cabot Trail is a 298 km (186 mi) scenic highway in (and around) Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. It’s a popular route for sightseeing and is considered one of the world’s most beautiful drives. Many people think that it is non stop ocean views but it is mostly forest with brief glimpses of dramatic ocean scenery. It is essentially a loop and there seems to be a lot of debate as to what is the better way to travel around the loop; clockwise or anti-clockwise. We did a consideration bit more driving than just the Cabot Trail which is marked in red.

The Cabot Trail has some wonderful curvy sections with not that much traffic. Admittedly, what traffic there is seems to move at quite a leisurely rate.

I was quite jealous of both the Fiat 500 and the motorbikes for the additional fun factor in the curves.

In the parking lot at the whale watching tour was this European market Volkswagen Amarok with a camper in the bed.

While the motorbikes were reasonably common on the trail genuine classics were in short supply. This very nice Volkswagen Vanagon is as close as it got.

We came across this amazing Chevrolet Chevette art car with an ocean theme.

Here is a look at the shark fin on the roof. It seems to have horns … or faux exhaust pipes?

It also had fins at the back as well with a combined aquatic and 1959 Cadillac vibe.

The interior received the same decorating style as the outside.

Have you ever seen a Chevrolet Chevette with a porthole?

This wild Chevette might be my favourite find of the whole trip.

The same business had this funky coloured but comparably tame Volvo. And what is that hiding behind the white SUV?

A rear wheel drive Ford Aerostar minivan with the same theme. I do not imagine there are too many Aerostars still existing on the east coast.

We then took a detour to visit Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site which is the largest military fortification reconstruction in North America. It seeks to display French colonial life between 1713 and 1758 with an almost fully reconstructed town site.

The project started in the 1960s as a way to provide jobs for local unemployed coal miners and utilized artisans from Europe to construct all the buildings with the period correct methods. Well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.

In Sydney we came across this old International Metro van converted into a food truck. I am not sure this one was a driver or was converted to a trailer. Neat old rig regardless.

Sydney also yielded this solidly looking Ford Gran Torino on a trailer. We travelled to New Brunswick but the most exotic thing we saw was an older Acura RSX.

We also visited the Bay of Fundy with a tidal range of 16m/52ft which allows you to walk on the ocean floor and explore the Hopewell Rocks.

Back in Nova Scotia we rounded out the trip south of Halifax and spied this yellow Datsun Z car.

We found another air cooled Volkswagen, this time in historical Lunenburg with its eye-catching and colorful buildings on the waterfront.

We will end the tour with this amazing old four wheel drive station mere steps away from the famous Blue Nose II sailboat (the boat featured on the Canadian dime). While the classics on the go or at the curb were not plentiful there was some amazing quality to had.