Wednesday, February 7, 2007 · Page 25 A 1936 McLaughlin-Buick in Saskatchewan Jim Mizzoni of Toronto enjoyed my recent book, "60 Years Behind the Wheel." After reading it, he sent me several photos of old cars from his wife's family album, including this one. This 1936 McLaughlinBuick sedan was photographed somewhere in Saskatchewan in 1942. The identity of the man is unknown. The car is sporting several accessories popular at that time: whitewall tires, headlight eyebrows, a grille guard, fender guides, a bracket above the front license plate for a flag (in this case the Union Jack), two outside rear view mirrors, a spotlight, and a radio with a big cowl-mounted aerial. The four-piece hood opens from both sides, and under that hood is Buick's legendary overhead-valve straight-eight engine first introduced by Buick in 1931 and remaining in production until 1953. It may seem odd that Buick would go from a sixcylinder to an eight-cylinder engine in the middle of the Depression, but car manufacturers had no choice. Sales were down and cars had to be constantly improved to attract buyers. For 1936, Buick's overhead-valve straight-eight engine was available in two versions: 233 and 320 cubic inches. The smaller engine powered the low-priced Special while the larger engine was employed in the Century, Roadmaster, and Limited. Those names were new in 1936 and continued on Buick cars until 1958, after which they were replaced by LeSabre, Invicta, and Electra. The 1936 Century was the hot one because its wheelbase was only four inches longer than the Special but it had the big 320 cubic inch engine. It has often been described as Detroit's first "factory hot rod," and the Century name suggested it was capable of 100 mph. More big news for Buick in 1936: an all-steel "Turret Top" roof, replacing the old fabric insert roof on earlier models. Taking a jab at GM, Henry Ford claimed the all-steel roof made a drumming sound on the highway, yet just one year later, Ford was building cars with an all-steel roof. Buicks built in Canada until 1942 were known as McLaughlin-Buicks and were popular with the British Royal Family. After Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, he travelled to the English Channel in a McLaughlin-Buick. The car was named for two automotive pioneers: David Dunbar Buick and Colonel Sam McLaughlin. Mr. Buick first made money developing a way of coating bathtubs with porcelain. He then began building cars bearing his name in 1903, but was bought out a year later and died in obscurity in 1929. Col. Sam McLaughlin was a very successful carriage builder in Oshawa who began building cars in 1908 with Buick engines. In 1918, he became president of General Motors of Canada and enjoyed a long and prosperous life. He died in January 1972 at the age of 100. Do you have any photos of old cars to share with our readers? Email bill@car story.com or write to Bill Sherk, P.O. Box 10012, Leamington, ON, N8H 2C3. CARSTORY I S SPONSORED BY Your Security. Our Responsibility. Novice A Drs Hager/Kniaziew After a two-week hiatus from playdown action, the team returned to competition on Saturday afternoon n Riverside. There was no ign that the momentum uilt up in the two games rior to the break had deteiorated as the team came ut strong from the opening ace off. Dylan Dent took the raw to start the game, rought the puck over the iverside blueline and ished it over to Jared uerth who scored only 13 econds in, putting the avens up early 1-0. iverside finally got the uck into the Essex end and as able to tie the game 1At 4:08 at 7:54. iverside took their first ead of the game to go up 2after one. At the 6:18 mark of the second Brett Schmidt took a pass from Luke Mahon in on the Riverside goalie and found the back of the net to tie the game at two goals each. Riverside came right back with two goals before the second expired to go up 4-2. Riverside scored early in the third to go up 5-2, but with the game appearing to be out of reach our Ravens never gave up. On the next Ravens powerplay, Jared picked up a pass from Brett in the neutral zone and went in all alone beating the Riverside netminder on a backhand to pull the Ravens within two, 5-3. At 9:48 Riverside opened up the lead 6-3, but this would be their last goal of the game. The Ravens dug in and only 7 seconds later, Jake Watters split the defence and scored on a feed from Brendan Jones to once again pull the team to within two. At 8:20 Jake Maisonneuve took the puck from his own blue line, down the ice, and beat the Riverside goalie to cut their lead to 1, 6-5. The third period continued with 8 minutes of endto-end scoreless hockey and it appeared this hard fought match would go down as a Ravens loss. The clock was winding down and Nash Prieur kept the puck in the zone, took a shot on net and with 1.2 seconds left in the game, Jake W. tapped in a rebound to tie the game, 66. The Ravens were happy to skate away with the tie and remained undefeated in the playdowns. On Sunday the team traveled to Tecumseh to face the Eagles. Once again the team came out strong and at the end of a scoreless first, which showcased nice defensive efforts from John Chittle, and Jacob Gagnon. Adam Amicarelli denied the Eagles forward with a great stop to end the period. The team has been exhibiting great team spirit and team play which was evident Sunday when Carly Davison took a nasty slash to her hand but came back to finish the game. The Ravens once again struck first as Josh Amyotte weaved in and out of the Eagles defence and found the mesh, 1-0 with Jared and Dylan picking up assists. With 1:25 remaining in the second the Ravens extended their lead to 2-0 when Brady Rickeard took control and found the top shelf with assists going to Luke and Grant Quinlan. Josh Scratch made same nice saves early in the third but Tecumseh finally scored on the powerplay at 7:31 and less than a minute later tied the game, 2-2. The Eagles continued to come on strong in the final minute of the game and with 12 seconds left the Eagles had a 5-3 powerplay and a face off deep in the Ravens zone. The puck came out of the corner to a lone Tecumseh forward who scored literally at the buzzer, as there was no ensuing face off. This was a tough loss but a game the team will build on as the playdowns continue next weekend. Essex Minor Hockey Association ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Wednesday March 7th, 2007 · 7:00 PM Essex Civic Centre Council Chambers These items will be on the agenda: Reports on 2006/2007 Season Election of the 2007/2008 Executive New Business brought before the meeting for discussion The EMHA Executive has proposed several changes to the Constitution & By-Laws, to be voted on at the Annual General Meeting. Please review these changes by visiting the EMHA website at: www.essexhockey.ca Please submit any proposed changes to the Constitution & By-Laws in writing by February 21st, 2007. Please mail your proposed changes to: Essex Minor Hockey Association Box 111, Essex ON, N8M 2Y2