4 — Auto Edition 1992 AuloMOTION | The Boy and his Car — A love story for the mechanically minded Neal McKenna NEWS STAFF It’s an time worn story, an open and shut case of true love: boy meets car. In this instance, the boy is Jack Pooachoff of Play- more Junction and the car is a red — very red — 1959 Buick LeSabre convertible. Rescued from’an Okanagan auto graveyard, the Buick was eased from its berth of 21 years ago and moved to the Kootenays for restoration. Time and neglect had taken their toll and the LeSabre had to be completely gutted, first removing interior debris with a shovel. é Requiring a full four months, five days a week, the convertible slowly arid, no doubt, expensively took shape. Body panels and chrome bright-work were cannibalized from two other ’59s — a two door bub- ble top and a four door flat top. The end result, through the efforts of Corral Glass and Upholstery of Castlegar, and Bill Horst Body- works of Trail, has returned the Buick to her original grandeur. When asked why he spent so much time, effort and cash on such a pursuit, Jack Pooachoff grinned and said: “This Buick is a piece of history. A car ;like this will never roll off an assembly line, anywhere, ever again. “It’s big, opulent, and wild.People turn their heads. what kind of car it they've never seen like it. It’s a dream machine, its fun, and its mine...” “Fifty-nine Buicks are also rare. The economy of - 1957-59 was quite similar to the economic climate" we suffer with today,” he said. Times were tough, there was a recession going on and automobile sales were down to say the least. ‘People turn their heads and smile when it’s on the road.’ —Jack Pooachoff Imports were still strange little cars named Volk- swagen, Opel, Vauxhall and barely made a blip on the sales sheets. Japanese cars weren't éven acon- - sideration. To add to already-existing troubles, the ’58 Buick looked like a chrome brick with pod-like fins pro- truding past the rear bumper and outweighed Cadil- lac’s flagship, the 60 Special. In a word, it was ugly. A gas guzzler — even in terms of the era — and it simply didn’t sell. Fortu- nately, 1958 was the end of that particular three-year styling era. It was a pain-staking task, but Jack Pooachoff managed to rescue this "59 Buick LeSabre from it’s shameful death. Auto Edition 1992 —5 AutoMOTION — Labor of love transform °59 LeSarbe into a driver's dream — In 1957, as was customary at the time, General Motors had gone batk to the drawing board to design the 1959-60 models. The results were spectacular. From Chevrolet to Cadillac, body shells were shared throughout the GM line but with unre- strained styling and the omniscient tail-fin in its many forms, few consumers were aware of the cor- porate money-saving device. GM prices went down across the board. rey Ifthe 58 Buick had been stodgy, undignified, and gross, the 59 went 180 degrees in the opposite direc- tion. ; It was clean, smooth, and aggressive looking in a his way to the top. Aside from the all new styling, some important de- velopments appeared under the hood as well. A401 cubic inch V8 generating 325 horses, (4.2x3.6 bore and stroke) was standard on the senior Buicks while the smaller models made do with 364 V8's. For a now unknown additional cost, a monster 445 Wildcat could be dropped into any Buick model — one lives ;under the hood of Jack Pooachoff’s convertible. Other goodies offered that year were power as- sisted disc brakes, a $150 option; air conditioning, $430; an in dash record player, (45’s only) $97; and ear wheel air suspension $420. Auto-Glass Tinting ¢ Improves appearance + Keeps vehicles cooler ¢ Reduces glare * Increases privacy * Helps preserve interior ¢ Scratch-resistant « Five smoke tints ¢ Three bronze tints Now Available at: Trail Auto Body - Castlegar Ltd. Tinting the glass of your car or truck is the most economical way to improve its appearance and comfort. TRAIL AUTO BODY LTD. 2361-6th Avenue Castlegar, B.C. + 365-5114 — The latter two options never caught on. In 1959, everything about Buick was new and ex- citing, including the model names. Gone were the Special, Century, Super, and Road Master, replaced with LeSabre, Invicta, Electra, and Electra 225. : The most senior Buick derived it’s name from it’s actual bumper to bumper length : 225 inches, that’s a whopping 18 feet, nine inches. Jack Pooachoff is absolutely right, we will never see the like of these winged birds of prey ever again. CAR LOANS “Thinking About New Wheels" CAS -GAR SAVIA RED N YOUR COMMUNITY FINANCIAL CENT nb) CASTLEGAR SLOCAN PARK 601-18th Street + 365-7232 Highway 6 + 226-7212