1970 AMC Javelin Mark Donahue Edition

The 1970 AMC Javelin was a serious contender in the Canadian muscle car field.

To tell the Javelin story properly one has to start at the beginning. In the beginning there was Rambler. Rambler was the phenomenal North American automobile success story in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In the United States, Rambler was need of an image change by the mid-1960s. People weren't buying Ramblers anymore. Rambler had somehow gone from being the chic car of choice for the smart and thrifty consumer to representing a vehicle owned by losers. 

In Canada, the situation was not the same. Canadians appreciated the value that Rambler represented and production at the Brampton, Ontario plant rose steadily from 1961 to 1970 (though there were very slight dips in 1965 and 1969).

The 1965 Marlin by Rambler was imported into Canada from Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The pony car revolution was in full swing in 1964 and though American Motors fielded a fastback model called the Marlin for 1965, no one was fooled by its origins. Marlin was a feeble attempt to enter the market when compared to Ford's hot new Mustang. 

Marlin was nothing more than a sensible Rambler Classic with a dramatic fastback. People didn't buy Marlins. They were fish out of water. Dropping the Rambler name from the fastback for the 1966 model year didn't seem to help either. Marlin grew larger for 1967 but even fewer sold.

In its third and final year on the market, Marlin now shared its body shell with Ambassador.

What American Motors needed was a hot-to-trot muscle car that could take on the likes of Mustang, Camaro and Barracuda. Fortunately there was such an animal being readied in AMC's styling studios on Plymouth Road in Detroit.

The 1968 Javelin was all business on streets and racetracks.

Charles (Chuck) Machigan was the designer in charge of the programme and worked in the advanced studio under the direction of the Vice President of Design, Richard (Dick) Teague. Javelin was incredibly beautiful with its deeply-recessed venturi grille, a bold-look bumper and uncluttered styling. Although its wheelbase was only three centimetres longer than Ford's Mustang, Javelin's long deck and crouched-cat rear proportions were altogether lovely.

Interior designers, under the direction of Don Stumpf, made sure that Javelin was particularly commodious in rear seating when  compared to the back seats of other pony cars, all of which were notoriously skimpy and uncomfortable.

The 1967 Rambler American was a no-nonsense, high-value compact in the Canadian market.

Javelin was derived from econo-box Rambler American's mechanicals, just as Mustang's underpinnings came from the Ford Falcon. Both pony cars were endowed with many power options not available to their lesser kin. Both offered trusty six-cylinder engines as standard equipment but both could be powered upward.

Dealers and salesmen had to be specially trained to sell the Javelin. Comfortable selling sensible cars to older customers, Rambler dealers did not know how to talk to kids, nor did they know the language of racing.

The 1954 Nash-Healey.

AMC hadn't had a serious sports car on showroom floors since the Nash-Healey two-seater some fifteen years earlier. People needed to know how to relate to the youth market and not offend those young people who came in to shop for a Javelin. AMC dealers were taken to special Javelin races and introduced to a whole new world.

Javelin sales were great. AMC brass figured the car would be success if production hit 45,000 units. To their delight and astonishment more than 56,000 Javelins scooted out the doors.

In the US, Javelins were marketed in conjunction with Hugh Hefner's Playboy clubs. Neil Gaskin was AMC Canada's VP of Sales and knew that the Playboy Club image would not sit well with Canadian consumers. Besides, there weren't any Playboy Clubs in Canada, so he dreamt up another scheme.

Gaskin ordered a genuine Olympic javelin from a concern in New York City, the only place he could find one. "It was heavy," he called. Then he hired a "Javelin Girl." Christine Demeter was the model who wore the skimpy cave girl outfit and posed, javelin in hand, next to the muscle car. Gaskin recalled that the shoot was along Highway 400, north of Toronto--still under construction at the time. The background of gravel and raw earth lent itself perfectly to the shots.

The Javelin Girl campaign appeared in both English and French publicity. Dealers were given life-sized cardboard standups of Christine to place next to Javelins on showroom floors.

Sadly, the stint at American Motors was one of the last modelling jobs that Christine Demeter ever had. The 33-year old model was murdered by her husband shortly after--in a fashion so brutal and lurid that her death became a best-selling book and a murder-mystery movie on the CBC.

There was little to do in Javelin's second year but sell more of them. Javelin script on the grille was replaced  by a bull's eye and the stripes were redesigned. More woodgrain appeared on the instrument panel and in the interiors. 

Both Javelin and AMX were available in Big Bad Colours in 1969.

For the 1969 selling season, Big Bad Colours were introduced for Javelin and AMX. Big Bad Blue, Big Bad Green and Big Bad Orange were just too mod for words.  Despite the tweaking, sales dropped by some 14,000 units as the market was over-saturated and insurance companies were hiking rates on the pony car segment of the market.

In 1970 Javelin underwent a mild facelift to become six centimetres longer and three centimetres lower. Now it shared a common front bumper, parking light position and hood with AMX. 

Piloted by Peter Revson, this Javelin Trans-Am races in St. Jovite, Quebec on August 2nd, 1970.

A hundred Trans-Am Javelins were assembled under the watchful eye of industrial designer, Brooks Stevens who made sure the cars met the rules of the Sports Car Club of America. In 1970 the SCAA changed the rules to a minimum of 2,500 units of a car being built in order to compete in the club's events.

AMC responded with 2,501 copies of the Mark Donahue Javelin. Most sported a specially-cast, thick-walled 5.9-litre  (360-cubic inch) V8 engine with a 290-horsepower rating. They came with an aerodynamic duck-tail spoiler designed by Donahue himself. The race driver's distinctively bold signature appears on the right-hand side of the spoiler.

The two-seater AMX was deleted at the end of the 1970 model-year run but Javelin was given a major restyle and would soldier on racetracks for several more glorious seasons. 

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Copyright James C. Mays 2000
All rights reserved.

1970 1/2 AMC Gremlin

April Fool’s Day 1970 was picked as the launch date for
American Motors’ subcompact car.
 Gremlin listed for $2,398 f.o.b Brampton, Ontario.

"What would you do if you had to compete with GM, Ford and Chrysler?" was the question burning everyone’s lips at American Motors in 1968. Like little Suzie, the last of the independent automakers was in trouble deep. Its Rambler line had tumbled from a dizzying 35,273 cars produced in 1965, holding a full 5.3 percent of the market, making it one of the most popular automobiles in the Canada to land somewhere near the bottom of the heap. Things were bad enough that when Studebaker folded its tent in 1966 in Hamilton, Ontario, pundits and industry analysts alike predicted American Motors would follow in short order, joining Studebaker in that great Scrapyard in the Sky.

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American Motors top brass vowed to the public it was here to stay and the company was committed to building automobiles. It could reach back to an automotive heritage that began with the construction of the first Rambler in 1902. Top brass acknowledged that the company had been most successful when it reached for and claimed the title of economy king and publicly pledged to return to those small, economy roots. In order to stay afloat, AMC divested itself of its profitable Kelvinator appliance business--after 33 years--and then sold REDISCO, the corporate finance arm.

Weighing in at 2,633 pounds, the 1970 ½ Gremlin
was the first subcompact built by a Big Four automaker.

In order to stay competitive, the team had to deliver products that were exciting to the public—and those products had better arrive quickly—one right after the other. The new head of the firm, Roy Chapin, announced there would be a new model from AMC every six months. The pace was dizzying—even for the auto industry. The luxurious fastback Marlin was unceremoniously dumped and replaced with a sizzling pony car, the Javelin. Javelin was hot and it was followed by the stunning two-seat AMX sports car.

With scarcely enough time to catch their collective breaths, dealers took down the old Rambler signs and hung out the new corporate logo. They saida final ‘goodbye’ to the faithful Rambler and popped the champagne corks for a smartly styled, all-new compact called Hornet.

Three home runs in a row weren’t enough for American Motors. There were more steel beauties on their way up to bat. Ever the pioneer, AMC was the first of the Big Four automakers to enter the subcompact market with a domestically built vehicle. It is absolutely true that head stylist Richard (Dick) Teague designed the tiny car on the back of a Northwest air sickness bag.

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The look was brilliant—Teague sawed off the back of the Hornet and added massive reverse-slant C-pillars that gave the design an unforgettable wedge-shaped profile. A wide, wrap-around grille and oversized flares at the wheel wells added to the sassy looks. Tooling added up to a mere $8 million, chump change around Motor City.

Just to be on the safe side, the Gremlin’s overall design was subjected to a probability study. Marketing invited 1,000 owners of compact and imported cars to view small cars and included the yet unnamed Gremlin among the groupings. The reaction was overwhelmingly favourable. The public had no idea who the maker of this cute little car was but they wanted to buy it.

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Gremlin was AMC's foot soldier, off to battle
 the mighty Volkswagen.

 On April Fool’s Day of 1970, the adorable Gremlin bowed to the public. Highly unique from stem to stern, this subcompact boasted a generous six-cylinder engine. Advertising took on Volkswagen head-to-head. Designed to win back a good percentage of the market being gobbled up by imports--primarily Datsun, Toyota and VW--Gremlins were displayed on university campuses throughout Canada to create awareness and drum up interest among young buyers.

At only $2,398, the car was billed, tongue-in-cheek as the first domestically-built import, “the kind this country has needed for a long time.” Gremlin offered twice the power and double the fun of Volkswagen’s 57-horsepower engine; claimed to be a regular gas grouch delivering 495 miles on a tank of regular fuel and boasted a smaller turning circle than a Beetle. A Gremlin was only 2.5 inches longer than a VW, too.

The entry-level price got one a basic, two-seat runabout. There were no frills whatsoever. The flooring was rubber and the rear window was fixed into place. Only a handful of people bought the unadorned stripper. Buyers could upgrade to the four-passenger version and lots of Canadians did exactly that. 

Whether one bought the two- or four-passenger Gremlin, under that long, bubble-blistered hood lurked AMC’s tried and true 199-cubic inch, six-cylinder engine that scuffed up the asphalt faster than snow melts in April. With a seven main-bearing crankshaft, the mill was virtually indestructible. All 128 horses were mated to a three-speed manual transmission or an optional automatic shifter.

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Gremlin interiors were smart and stylish.
 The bucket seats were optional.

Like Mattel’s Barbie, Gremlin could be had with an tasteful extra-cost accessories tailored to drivers' needs. AMC’s frisky little fellow was given 30 carefully selected optional equipment items including a very fast 145-horsepower motor, power steering, power brakes, a remote control mirror, electric windshield wipers and washers, air conditioning, tinted glass, an AM push-button all-transistor radio, a block heater, a roof rack, rally stripes, full wheel discs, bucket seats and a twin-grip differential. In addition, there were seven complete option packages available. 

American Motors workers caught Gremlins in the factory anddeep-dipped them in rustproofing before triple-painting the little rascals in any of 13 colours, including Classic Black, Frost White, Matador Red, Hialeah Yellow Bittersweet Orange, Bayshore Blue, Sea Foam Aqua, Mosport Green, Tijuana Tan and Sonic Silver. If those weren’t enough, the ultimate hues were borrowed from cousin AMX and left the factory floor wearing Big Bad Blue, Big Bad Green and Big Bad Orange.

The 1970 1/2 AMC Gremlin was 161 
inches long—only 2.5 inches longer 
than a VW Beetle—

and rode on a 96-inch wheelbase.

The smallest AMC offering got off to a good start in an abbreviated model year, racking up 12,618 builds in Brampton, many of them headed south to the United States. Things would get even hotter in 1971 as 26,348 Gremlins scampered out the doors of the Brampton, Ontario factory, scooting all over the continent for fun and frolic with their new owners.

The subcompact that looked like a sports car, loaded like a wagon and turned on a dime turned out to be the single best-selling model AMC ever built. Though it has been more than three decades since the last Gremlin rolled out the factory doors, they’re still occasionally seen on the nation's highways and byways. This writer spotted one yesterday and that made him grin from ear to ear. “Long live Gremlin!” he was heard to shout as he waved and honked from behind the wheel of his Ambassador wagon. 

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Copyright James C. Mays 2006 All rights reserved.

1962 Acadian

The compact-size automobile was firmly entrenched in the driveways and garages of folks in all ten provinces by the end of the 1950s. Sales of new cars throughout the Dominion in 1959 were phenomenal and 110,301 of them—a full 26.2 percent--were pint-sized European imports.

In addition to the Euro cars, there was a pair of domestic players: Studebaker and American Motors. In Hamilton, Ontario, Studebaker found itself needing to hire a hundred new workers to keep up with demand for the lively Lark. At the end of the year, Studebaker’s production had nearly doubled to 7,686 units for the calendar year. 

Rambler Canada was the other domestic player, of sorts. Though the unprofitable Toronto factory had closed in the summer of 1957, Ramblers were imported from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Dealers throughout the Dominion were delighted with 9,231 sales rung up by new Rambler owners and American Motors Canada Limited was poised to open a new assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario.

The big winners in the 1959 Canadian compact car game were Volkswagen, Vauxhall, Rambler, Austin, Studebaker, Renault, Morris and Britain’s Fords. Big wheels were clearly in  danger of being crowded off the nation’s highways and byways; small cars now accounted for one out of every three new automobiles sold.

Studebaker, Rambler and the imports were about to be challenged like they had never been challenged before. The automotive playing field changed considerably for the 1960 selling season. Ford and Monarch dealers introduced a new compact car called the Ford Falcon while Lincoln-Mercury-Meteor dealers received a badge-engineered version of Falcon christened Frontenac. The new Valiant brand replaced  the tired--and now retired--DeSoto marque for Chrysler Canada and GM introduced the Chevrolet Corvair.

While Ford and Chrysler’s compacts were designed to compete against Rambler, engineers and stylists at Chevrolet had created Corvair in a bid to appeal to Volkswagen owners. GM Canada went so far as to build a new facility in Oshawa for Corvair production. Surprisingly, the six-cylinder, air-cooled, rear-engined product didn’t sell well. It was galling for GM officials in Oshawa to watch Volkswagen with its clearly outdated platform rise to be the Number Three best selling car in 1960 with 31,146 units sold while the technologically advanced Corvair was mired at Number Twenty with only 6,147 sets of taillights put on the road.

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GM executives hustled its design teams back to the drawing board for a second crack at the compact market. For the 1961 season, dealers offered the Pontiac Tempest, the Olds F-85, and the Buick Special. All of these small cars were shipped in from the US. The trio ranged in price from $2,577 for the Buick Special and Oldsmobile F-85 four-door sedan to $3,216 for the Pontiac Tempest four-door wagon. Sales of the imported GM products were dismal because of the high import duties levied by Ottawa.

It made no sense to continue import vehicles that didn’t sell. The boys in Oshawa put their heads together and came up with a simple, homemade solution. When the more conventional Chevrolet Chevy II debuted in the fall of 1961, they would badge-engineer a model that Canadians would like and could afford. From the Chevy II came the Acadian. It arrived shortly after the Chevy II made its debut. Acadians sparkled on the showroom floors of Pontiac-Buick dealers along with a relatively new captive UK import--also badge-engineered for Canadians only, the Envoy--wrought from Vauxhall.

The 1962 Acadian was not a model of Pontiac; GM registered it as a brand in its own right. The name reached back some 400 years, drawn from the proud history and heritage of rugged Francophone pioneers who settled and thrived along the unforgiving Atlantic coast.

Advertising emphasized  the GM Acadian as a real family car that promised family budget economy with a miserly 90-horsepower four-cylinder mill. For an extra $70 one could order the zippier 120-horsepower six-cylinder version of the Econo-Flame engine. Acadian boasted clean, uncluttered styling with a classic flair and ad copy swore that the pert, practical and perfectly sized car would easily hold six husky adults and their luggage.

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Advertising and salesmen urged consumers to spoil themselves by dressing up their Acadians with the extra cost Powerglide transmission, power steering and power brakes. Eight models were generously spread over two series. A trio of economical Acadian Invaders offered value and five top-of-the-line Acadian Beaumonts added glitz and glamour to the mix.  The price range for the line ran from $2,383 for the modestly dressed two-door, four-cylinder Invader and topped out at $2,935 for the snazziest of the Acadian Beaumont models.

When Canada Track & Traffic reviewed the 1962 compacts in November 1961, the writers made no mention of the new Acadian. Noting its 110-inch wheelbase, they called the Chevy II a “compromise-sized” car. A month later the magazine staff tested a Chevy II. The Acadian was mentioned but dismissed out of hand as being nothing more than a Chevy II with “petty trim alterations and the usual maple leaf insignia traditionally bestowed on ‘Canadian’ cars.”

Acadian was the right-sized car for many Canadians. The Dominion Bureau of Statistics counted noses in 1961. The numerical snapshot showed that of the 18,238,000 of Canadians, 69.7 percent of us lived and worked in urban centres. The Acadian might be a compromise, but it was a most honourable one, fitting right into the largely urban and suburban lifestyle.

 Acadian was not the only headline grabber in the fall of 1961. Folks warmed up their Electrohomes and Northern Electrics to watch  programmes on CTV, the new private television network.  The Saskatchewan legislature passed universal Medicare bill late in the year, prompting the province’s 750 doctors to go on strike in July of 1962 when the bill became law. The federal Ministry of Health ordered thalidomide withdrawn from the market because there was evidence it caused birth defects. Pregnant women were warned to stop taking the drugs Enovid and Orthonovum.

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker called an election for June of 1962. His Tories took only 116 seats but formed a minority government with the cooperation of 30 Social Credit MPs. The $1 billion Trans-Canada Highway opened officially on June 30, though nearly half of the 7,770-kilometre road was still gravel surfaced. The new Number One highway would get plenty of traffic from St. John’s to Victoria as folks explored the splendours of Canada. Many of those discovering  the Dominion would be driving that asphalt ribbon in shiny, new Acadians.

In 1962 the term “global village” was coined by University of Toronto professor and communications theorist, Marshall McLuhan, in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy. Thrifty and economical compacts like the Acadian helped to make that global village a very real thing.

The Chevrolet Corvair muddled along with 7,505 units produced during the 1962 model year. Records show that 662 of the imported Oldsmobile F-85s were registered during the calendar year, along with 885 Buick Specials and 163 Pontiac Tempests. The American-sourced impacts now started  in price at more than $3,000. They weren’t really needed any more; Acadian was a huge hit with consumers despite what Track & Traffic might think of cloning. Sales of the Canada-only compact were hot, running neck-and-neck with the Chevy II. Model year production for 1962 showed Acadian finishing with 13,010 units built and Chevy II finished out the model year with 15,876 units produced.

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 Copyright James C. Mays 2005 All rights reserved.

1970 AMC Hornet

AMC's Hornet bowed in the fall of 1969 as a 1970 model. It was designed to replace the Rambler, the car that started the modern compact revolution.

Even as American Motors' president Roy D. Chapin stood before microphones to tell the press that the 1968 Rambler would be frozen in style and price for years to come, he had three styling teams busy as a barrel of monkeys secretly whipping up the Rambler’s successor.

Rambler was a sacred name in auto history—first gracing a line of bicycles in the 1890s and then on a line of fine automobiles from 1902 to 1912. The name was polished up and returned to work in 1950 with the advent of the modern Nash Rambler. Synonymous with compact-sized automobiles and outstanding value for the money, the moniker had been around for almost two decades.  Rambler was an automotive hero and like a hockey great, it was about to hang up its skates, its jersey retired forever. Any vehicle that would deign to replace such an icon would have to carefully crafted.

The result of a marriage between pioneer Nash and historic Hudson, American Motors had come into existence in Canada in January of 1956. The company built cars in Toronto and then later in Brampton, Ontario. As the smallest of the Big Four automakers, the folks at American Motors often did things on a shoestring budget.

To introduce Rambler’s successor, top brass earmarked a whopping $40 million and dedicated more than a million man hours to this project. There would be only one kick at the can and the company couldn’t afford to miss the mark. To do so would send the firm to automotive heaven where Studebaker had gone only two years earlier.

The 1970 AMC Hornet SST four-door sedan listed for $2,775 f.o.b. Brampton, Ontario. Vinyl tops were available in three colours at extra cost.

Stealing a page from its own history, the Hornet bowed as “the little rich car,” just as the Nash Rambler had two decades earlier. Like the small Nash, the Hornet was dressed to the nines in SST form. Unlike the Nash Rambler, the Hornet could also be ordered as a stripper.

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Sturdy unit-body construction was the secret of the 1970 AMC Hornet’s superior strength. This aircraft type of mass auto manufacturing was pioneered by predecessor Nash in 1940. 

What Hornet didn’t have was the Rambler name. Sadly, the marque had become tarnished in the North American market and come to be joked about as the fuddy-duddy car for Nana and Gramps. AMC decided to drop the time-honoured Rambler handle in a bid to spiff up its corporate image. Outside of Canada and the US, however, the Rambler name still stood for high quality, excellent value and longevity. Stylish new Rambler Hornets were sold in Europe, Central and South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand where they were touted as, “kilo for kilo, this Rambler offers more luxury than any car in its class.”

With or without the Rambler nameplate behind it, Hornet was new from the ground up. Available only as a two- or four-door sedan, the whisper quiet, unit-body vehicle rode on a pert 2 734-millimetre (108-inch) wheelbase. Designed by in-house stylist Chuck Mashigan, the Hornet’s long hood, rear short deck and graceful roof profile was classic. No one knew it at the time but the versatile body shell would serve American Motors for the next twenty years.

The grille was exceptionally clean and simple with black horizontal ribs punctuated by single headlights at the outer edges. Those were snuggled up to by large, round inset turn/parking lamps. The rear quarter was equally clean boasting a pair of horizontally split taillights. A tasteful brightwork insert dressed up the  rear of SST models.

 Hornet could be powered by any one of three AMC-designed engines, the 3-litre (left), the 3.2-litre (centre) or the 5-litre  V8 (right). 

A trio of engines was available for power. The thrifty 3.2-litre (199-cubic-inch) six was the standard mill. The 3.2-litre (232-cubic-inch) was optional on base models but standard equipment on the upscale SST versions. For kicks, AMC’s 5-litre (304-cubic inch) V-8 engine was on tap and it promised to deliver zero-to-sixty in ten seconds flat. Horsepower made its way to the wheels courtesy of a three-speed manual transmission. A floor-mounted shifter was optional with the purchase of the V-8 engine or the Shift-Command automatic transmission.

Interior of the 1970 AMC Hornet was capacious. It is seen here with the optional Rattan Weave vinyl upholstery.

Colours for the cabins were scientifically selected. Seats were scientifically contoured to support the back, too. Interiors pledged to have plenty head room, hip room, shoulder room and legroom for five passengers, not four. Even the base models were nicely finished. Advertising bragged, “Everything about Hornet says unbridled luxury.”  The instrument panel featured a recessed strip running the width of the interior, interrupted only by a tasteful tier of controls vertically stacked at the centre. Circular gauges were easy for the driver to read.

The list of options was as carefully screened as nominees under consideration to receive the Order of Canada. They included automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, tinted glass, vinyl roof and full wheel discs. One could order bumper guards all ‘round, a locking gas cap, an engine block heater, an AM push-button radio, a custom steering wheel, an electric washer and wiper setup, an electric clock, side scuff moulding, two-tone paint jobs and pinstripes.

Even though Jeep was added to the American Motors family, 1970 turned out to be a poor year for American Motors of Canada Limited. Only 18,181 passenger cars were sold during the calendar year. There was a changing of the guard as Bill Pickett became the new president of the Brampton-based company. He had his work cut out for him; The Big Three were not the only competitors these days: upstart imports Volkswagen, Datsun and Toyota and others were all vying for sales  with Hornet, competition in a market segment pioneered by Nash in 1950.

As seen from the rear, the AMC Hornet was striking. The 1970 base model sold for $3,374 f.o.b. Brampton. And weighed 1 207 kilos (2,662 pounds).

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Copyright 2007 to James C. Mays
All rights reserved

1964 Volkswagen 1500 TS Sedan and Wagon

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Volkswagen arrived officially in the Dominion of Canada in 1952.  It was a calculated gamble but VW execs noted that Canadian consumers liked small cars and bought a lot of them. The West German automaker decided to set up shop in modest Toronto headquarters. Canada was the company’s first overseas subsidiary. Typical of Volkswagen’s thoroughness, the company brought in $30,000 worth of parts before ordering a single car. The first display car was actually borrowed from a private owner in the United States.

The quirky air-cooled car with the funny shape was immediately popular with the public despite its dubious past and not-so-secret connection to Nazi Germany. By 1960, Volkswagen was the third best selling car in Canada. With 31,146 units delivered, VW was bested only by Pontiac and Chevrolet.

Sales were off significantly in 1962 because Parliament implemented higher tariffs on imports as a way of protecting the domestic auto industry. This new ruling did not affect GM or Ford because they were able to import cars from their European subsidiaries without penalty under their multinational umbrella. Other independent European automakers such as Austin and VW were hit hard.

Studebaker stepped in to offer Volkswagen a helping hand. The Hamilton, Ontario automaker already augmented its domestic line of cars and trucks with the luxurious Mercedes-Benz cars--and at the other end of the scale--the tiny, economical DKW, both of West German origin. Executives in Hamilton were familiar with the rules for importation of cars from West Germany.

The arrangement was simple. Studebaker would  bring in Volkswagen vehicles as a captive import, thus avoiding the taxes and duties. Studebaker netted $135 per unit when the cars were resold to Volkswagen Canada Limited but the fee amounted to a pittance compared to the increase that VW would have paid had it not enjoyed a domestic partnership. Volkswagen Canada wasn’t shy to take out advertisements to announce that the company had held the price line.

The venerable Beetle had stood alone for many years. It was joined by a modern, up-to-date stable mate in 1961. The new 1500 was designed by a team of 2,000 engineers, under the direction of Heinz Nordhoff, head of VW in Wolfsburg. Once the bugs (yes, the pun is intended) were worked out of it, the 1500 Sedan and Station Wagon arrived in Canada for the 1962 season.  Squarish, with softly rounded corners, this pair certainly didn’t look like anything else that carried the VW name and advertising was quick to make the point.

“Our 1500 Sedan doesn’t look like our familiar beetle-shaped car but take a good look and you’ll find a strong family resemblance. For example: The 1500 engine is in the rear with its weight over the drive wheels.”  The usual VW humour was evident, too. An advertisement appearing in the June issue of Canada Track & Traffic pokes fun at the new style. “Lift the front hood of a 1500 and you’ll find a large luggage compartment. Lift the back hold and you’ll find another luggage compartment.”

The other 1500 model was described as “a handsome spacious, rattle-proof station wagon. It is a workhorse with the lines of a thoroughbred. With all seats in position, it’s a five-passenger car. Or fold down the back seat and you can go into the cartage business. You can bring home a refrigerator, or take a little league team to the park or sleep two people on a camping trip.” If the 42 cubic feet of space in the rear wasn’t enough, there was another compartment under the hood of the car. An early advert boasts the Station Wagon is big enough “to carry a bathtub or 14,600 bars of soap.”


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The pancake format TS engine was touted. “Fasten your seat belts!” advertising shouted. “This new Volkswagen will move from a standing start to fifty miles per hour in twelve seconds. (It’s no wonder we call it a family sports car.) Our TS model has 25 percent more power.” It did indeed. The twin carburetor tweaked horsepower to 66 @ 4800 RPM. The TS was capable of whizzing passengers along at speeds of up to 90 miles an hour. The editors of Canada Track & Traffic gave the TS full marks for “its engineering superiority, quality of construction, aesthetics, total comfort, safety and performance.” They then bestowed the coveted Golden Wheel Award on the car.

A base VW Beetle could be had for $1,695 in 1962. The 1500 Sedan listed for $2,495. The optional sunroof was heavily promoted and it added $125 to the tab. The 1500 Station Wagon carried a $2,695 price tag. Model 351— the 1500 Convertible—listed for $2,495 but the ragtop was withdrawn from the market and ultimately never produced.

In 1963 Volkswagen was the fifth best selling car in the country, with 27, 559 units delivered. It was sandwiched in between two other popular small cars.  Valiant, held the Number Four spot and Rambler took the sixth position. In 1964 Rambler passed Volkswagen—in proverbial second gear no doubt—to take fifth position. That gave VW the sixth spot with 31,075 units delivered. While the 1500 Sedan and Station Wagon were well accepted by consumers, they never sold in the numbers that the Beetle did.

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Copyright James C. Mays 2006 All rights reserved.