 1980 Toyota Tercel (1984-1988)
My first car. What a great little
car and what a learning experience. I bought this car, used, from Sun Toyota here in Edmonton, and with the strength of my good friend, Martin
Mazurek, helping with negotiations, I got it for a really good price. I got the car in the fall of 1984, so like every other Edmontonians, I
learned very quickly how to drive on ice and snow. If you've never tried this, it is a treat.
I also learned that service garages will always tell you that almost every part of your car need
fixing or replacing and gullible me, believed them. I, quickly, determined where I was going to get good service and places to avoid.
All in all though, a fun little car that I can proudly claim that in three and a half years of owning, never got into an accident and never got a ticket driving.
1988 Toyota Celica (1984-2002)
My friend, Bill Vandermeer, was my main motivation to finding and obtaining this car. Bill had bought a 1986 Celica and I was in love the
first time I saw his car. Due to a handicap I needed a car with an automatic transmission and an automatic Celica was about the most
difficult type of car I could set my heart on. But in the winter of 1988, Sun Toyota in Edmonton was my savior as they brought one in for the annual
auto  show. About ten seconds of debate were needed before I sat down and made a deal on the car. They had me sold and they knew it so I had to pay
what they wanted, I still don't regret this though. I took Bill to the auto show and it took a few minutes of explanation to convince him that
this was actually my car.
God, I loved this car. It fit me just perfect and I
enjoyed this car every time I got behind the wheel. What more can you say about a car that gives you fourteen years of trouble
free service and when a Ford Aerostar decides to ignore my right of way, turning directly into my path, brings me through a nasty accident without a
scratch. The accident, unfortunately, resulted in the end of the car.
The only problem area of the car was the exhaust system, but after paying for my first replacement muffler, Midas Muffler paid for the next
three, I like lifetime warranties. The only other quirk was every light on my climate control system blinking on and off when my signal light was
turned on. I actually got a lot of laughs from passengers with this condition. I did pick my one and only photo-radar ticket with this car 64km in a 50km zone, crap!!
2002 Honda Civic (2002-2005)
 So, after the demise of the Celica it was time to come up with my
next car and eight days after the accident I bought a Honda Civic. I probably looked at twenty different makes and models from Toyota's to
Mazda's to Saturn's but decided that the Civic was by far the most comfortable as well as the best value I could come up with.
What a nice little car, things I've never had like power windows, power door locks and air conditioning as well as a nice ride, great handling and good
acceleration makes this a good package.
I even really liked the salesman, Bob Lamoureux at Yellowhead Honda in Edmonton, who sold me the car, a real bonus in my books. After paying for the car, I even had enough left over
to put in an MP3 player. Hopefully, at least fourteen years of worry free driving lie in front of me with this car.
2005 Toyota RAV4 (2005-Present)
 I left my Civic, although it was a good car, for my long time yearning, the Toyota RAV4.
Although this is an all wheel drive UAV (Urban Assault Vehicle), my friend Pac-Man was greatly aggrieved when I would not 'take it off road' during our 2006 Alberta winter tour.
This is a picture of it on the David Thompson during a period of above zero weather and sunshine.
We had just come through a near white out blizzard situation on the Ice Fields Parkway until we turned off at the Saskatchewan Crossing.
Work Vehicles (1986-Present) - Sorry, no pictures
In the past 20 plus years, driving for the Government of Alberta I've driven four different mini-vans. The first was a 1984 Plymouth
Voyager. A grossly underpowered mini-van that had seen its best years, I still managed to put on over 75,000kms before we turned it in for a new van.
The second van was a 1991 Chevy Astro. O.K., let's get one thing straight, driving a rear wheeled drive van, when empty, in an Edmonton
winter is not my idea of practical. That's right, I got stuck, a lot. But, at least, this van had guts, it could motor off the line very well
and it had a large cargo capacity, unfortunately, reliability was not good, visibility was poor and as a whole it was a disappointment. I put about 129,000kms on this beast.
The Government started leasing vans by my next change over and van number three was a 1999 Chevy Venture extended van. What a treat to drive,
good power, good handling, and you guess it, with front wheel drive, I didn't get stuck once in four winters. It also came with a massive gas
tank and 800+kms in between refueling was the norm. With the back and middle seats out it could also swallow a lot of cargo. We leased these
vans on four year leases and by the end of this time I had accumulated 69000kms.
Van number four and my current van is once again a Chevy Venture but a 2003 model. Everything from above applies except the gas tank size,
only about three fourths the size of the 99 model. But, a CD player came with this model and that's always a plus in my books. I imagine that at
some point in 2007, if I continue where I am, my next will be added to this page.
I can once again proudly claim that I've never had a moving violation in any Government vehicle but as I do a lot of manoeuvring in and
around loading docks, I have had my share of minor dings and dents, oops. I've never had any accidents as nasty as the one that cost me my Celica.
I hope you have enjoyed my "cars" write up. I'd once again like to thank my good friend, Graham Tranter, for scanning pictures of my Celica and Tercel and taking pictures
of my Civic and RAV2. He also has done all the web page work for me, no Graham would mean no web page. You might want to visit his page if you have enjoyed mine
Thanks for visiting.
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