Spitfire, Town Car & Boler
It’s three veterans of many miles keeping company. Over there it’s a thirty year old Lincoln Town Car, a big old land yacht if there ever was one, with this example standing out account its fantastic condition. Across the road it’s a Triumph Spitfire, a couple decades the elder, with a bit of a crumpled nose. And lastly it’s a late model Boler, perhaps about the same age as the Lincoln. File this under “fantastic”! It’s old school rides plus a tidy little trailer, found on a some Calgary side street a couple neighbourhoods over from BIGDoer HQ, photographed in late August 2018.
This was purely a by-chance find, as most of our discoveries are. We just seem to stumble across them. And with this, a great day is made all the better.
The Spitfire was named after a legendary fighter plane of World War Two and was a small two seat sports car, in production by Triumph Motors (Standard-Triumph, part of Leyland, later British Leyland) from the early 1960s to 1980. This one is a 1962-1964 model Spitfire 4 (sometimes called Mark I). While often stylish in nature, British cars never seemed to fare well in the tough Canadian conditions with many spending extended periods in the shop. The dent? Looks to have been there a while.
The Town Car is a mid-1980s example. This beast, like all offerings from the maker, is big, long and luxurious with a healthy appetite for fuel. This one’s in well kept and looking good for its age.
The markings on the Boler tell us it’s a late model, so sometime from the mid-1980s or thereabouts. Production of these little trailers ceased in 1988 (some reports differ). Few we’ve documented appear in this scheme, so this suggests production volumes had fallen considerably near the end.
Later that week…
Old Jack’s Collection (1) – So much vintage metal!
Old Jack’s Collection (2) – More vintage metal!
Boler: A small cute-as-a-bug fibreglass travel trailer made in Canada in the 1970s and 80s. We make a fun game spotting them on road trips and adventures. We also include other similar trailers here, those from other manufacturers who are close in appearance or configuration to Bolers.
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Keeping a Boler company, this 1960s Spitfire with a crumpled nose.
And this 1980s Town Car.
Can a Spitfire pull a Boler? If so, that’s my combo. haha
Given the unreliability of British cars in general, a cross town trip before breaking down would be considered some kind of distance record. So as long as you don’t go anywhere, it’s a good combo. Camping on the driveway!