Automotive history on display in Oshawa

OSHAWA -- There is hidden gem located deep in the heart of downtown Oshawa and it’s called the Canadian Automotive Museum.

Standing strong since 1962, the museum has become a landmark in downtown Oshawa, documenting more than 100 years of priceless automotive history. People visit from across the country just to see the cars on display.

As he laid is eyes upon the 1903 Redpath, a car that was a marvel in its time, a middle-aged man smiled like a young boy.

“My father brought me here in the early 1970s when I was five,” said Clarke Blumberg, who traveled all the way from Thunder Bay to make his second visit to the Automotive Museum. “I saw the Redpath and my dad said ‘We can build that at home’. So that’s what got me into cars.”

He moved from building go-carts with his dad to becoming an engineer for the Society of Automotive Engineers. Blumberg reflected back on his boyhood as he admired more than  100 years of Canadian automotive history. The Canadian Automotive Museum in downtown Oshawa has more than 60 cars on display, some of which come from the McLaughlin Buick collection.

I like the McLaughlin Buick,” Blumberg said. “They have a lot of history behind them. It’s nice to see cars that have Canadian content.”

That same history was the root of the museum. Col. R.S. McLaughlin, who took over the McLaughlin company from his father and became founder of General Motors of Canada, was one of the people involved in starting it in 1962. Since then the museum’s collection has grown.

The collection was geared towards the preservation and display of automobiles and a majority of the cars were donated by collectors like Bud McDougle, a former chairman of Argus Corp Ltd. Keith Tregunna from the Oshawa Chamber of Commerce said the race model cars are some of the most valuable. Racecars like the 1926 Bugatti and the 1931 Alfa Romeo Grand Sport that cost $7,000 in their time are on that list.

One of the most unique cars at the museum is the 1909 Ford Model T, a car that revolutionized the high production of affordable cars for the workingman. Fifteen million were sold in the first few years of production, which was unheard of in that era.

Store clerk Kim Chrapek sayid the museum is a regular visiting spot for public school children.

"We get a lot of visits from public school students,” she said. “There are also groups such as the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts that visit. We also get a lot of tours from seniors.”

The museum carries a long list of luxury, racing and sports cars. You name it, they have it, from Bentley to Ford and even Rolls Royce. For $5 or less you could get a chance to be marveled by what the collection has to offer.

Chrapek said the building is a medium through which the older folks can teach their grandchildren about the importance of the cars.

“I don’t think the young kids are that interested,” Chrapek said. “But the neat thing is when their grandparents say, ‘I use to drive that one when I was young’.”

 The museum is located on Simcoe Street South, across  from  Memorial Park in  Oshawa.

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Jason Miller is a Durham College journalism student.