| Jan's story about her car |
As much as we know about this car goes back to a previous owner from Langham, Saskatchewan, a small town 20 Km from Saskatoon. In the early '70s the car was burgundy and the lady who owned it seldom drove it.
The car was stored in a quonset hut and for that reason was in pretty good shape inside and out when we got it in 1996. There is no record where she bought the car, but at her nephew's insistence, the car was eventually sold to him. He said he had been begging for the car for many years. Fortunately for me, Bob Blushke lived not far from me and the 'For Sale' sign was seen right away.
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Bob really loved the car, but because it had sat so long, everything leaked and he did not have the knowledge to fix it himself nor the money to have someone else do it. He really wanted someone to buy it that would restore it to some degree and keep it on the road.
I went to see the car and then had my husband Gord, son Mike and nephew Ken Boy take a look at the car for me. They were in agreement that it would be quite a bit of work and money but was definitely do-able. Bob and I settled on a price and we actually were able to drive it home.
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The first winter we did very little, but in the spring of 1997 we got an early start. The motor was out in mid-March and back together by mid -April. We had fun driving around that summer. With the bodywork not yet started, I didn't feel the need to be as careful. Neither did Gord, Mike or Ken and the car was put through its' paces that summer.
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The next spring, 1998, after a winter of looking for parts, the body work began. Rick Caruk, a friend of our daughter's, agreed to help us. At first he wondered what we would want to do this for, but, he slowly began to really like the car.
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We worked in his garage with a deadline; he was to have surgery in late April and I wanted it done and on the road.
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Those were very interesting weeks. Late nights, full time jobs, weekends in the garage, a week of vacation leave and many shopping trips for supplies. Sometimes it felt like we didn't have a home, just the garage.
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Although the body was in pretty good shape, we took all the old paint off to really see what we had and, in doing so, exposed the RMS purple.
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During all the looking for parts, I came across information that gave us some idea of the history of the RMS. I didn't get very far in researching this particular vehicle but some basic information was out there.
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Given the RMS info, the question of paint colour came up. I was determined to have a Candy Apple paint, but the purists, including Rick, assured me that the original colour was the only choice. This message was loud and clear from everyone I spoke to, even a parts guy from Oregon! It wasn't to be. I knew what I wanted and purple wasn't it.
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Candy Apple Pearl Red Metallic is the colour(1996 Chrysler) and I have never been sorry. I love the paint. I love the taillights. What could be better than Candy Apple Pearl Red Metallic and sequential taillights!
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Anyway, since 1998, Gord has been working on the rim blow horn, clock, 8-track player, the tac, the tilt-away and other items . Some are very unique to this car, some dependent on a vacuum system and others somehow affected by it. Although this is Gord's domain, what I've seen and heard! is evidence that fixing these items is not easy. We're still working on a number of items and continue to benefit from the research and expertise of others.
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Under the hood some chrome items have appeared; they look great. But never finished, of course.
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Never finished was a warning I got when I started this project. Not believing the stories of how much time and money it would take, was very helpful in getting started. And once started, it had to be finished(whatever that means). I was keenly interested in understanding the ins and outs of this thing called restoration. I certainly know a lot more now!
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We've had a lot of fun and met lots of very interesting people through the project. We've enjoyed many car shows and the stories from folks who owned a Cougar or knew someone who had.
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Mostly, I just enjoy driving the Cougar. After all, that was the point in doing all that work!
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