A3

Bill Sherk

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As reported to you in September, the mystery car rusting away in a field near Antigonish, Nova Scotia, has been positively identified as a 1929 Hudson Model R Standard sedan, with thanks to the readers of my syndicated weekly column who assisted in clearing up the mystery.

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The 1929 Hudson rusting in a field near Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

On September 23, the "Antigonish Casket" published the story of the car in the field along with a photo of the restored 1929 Hudson currently owned by Ted Fox of Brighton, Michigan. All that remained of the mystery was to find the answer to this question: Does anyone living in the area around Antigonish, Nova Scotia, remember who owned the car rusting away in the field?

Ralph McIntosh lives near Antigonish and phoned the "Casket" the same day the story appeared. His phone number was passed along to me.

I called him and was delighted to learn that he not only knew the identity of the man who owned the car but also remembers riding in it as a young boy some 70 years ago!

The owner of the 1929 Hudson sedan was a man named Alec Gillis, who lived on a nearby farm and was employed by a company in the U.S., possibly a telephone company. He may have bought the Hudson in the U.S.

He never married but became a close friend of the McIntosh family and often sat in the rocking chair in their living room.

He took the children for rides in his car and Ralph can remember how big it was and how smooth the ride was, even over gravel roads. It was green, the same colour as the restored Hudson we located in Michigan.

Our latest challenge is the hope of finding some photographs of the car when it was on the road, and perhaps even the bill of sale indicating where it was purchased when new. Alec Gillis died in 1953.

Meanwhile, Ralph McIntosh remembers riding in another old car about 60 years ago.

It was an Orient Buckboard of around 1905 vintage and was owned and restored by Gordon Penny. That gentleman is still around and Ralph has given me his phone number. The story of that car is coming soon. Stay tuned.

* As a thank you, if your story is published in this column, you will receive a copy of Bill Sherk's book, "60 Years Behind the Wheel: The Cars We Drove in Canada 1900-1960." To share your stories and photos, email billtsherk@sympatico.ca or write Bill Sherk, 25 John St., P.O. Box 255, Leamington, ON N8H 3W2.