Here is the saga of Derek Thille and the obsession commonly known as automotive restoration (people who have this addiction are playfully referred to as car nuts).

It all began when I was about 15. A family friend had a 1974 Ford Gran Torino that he offered to sell me. After some thought, I passed up this opportunity. Then (I'm not sure if it was later that year or the summer I was 16), I had the opportunity to purchase a 1953 Chev 1/2 ton pickup for $500. Dad was more open to this idea, especially since the seller was the fellow who was renting his land the proceeds were being donated to a fund to build a nursing home which Dad's aunt wound up in. At the time, I wasn't that turned on by the truck, but of course I am kind of kicking myself now for not taking that opportunity.

Fast forward a few years in which heavy-duty studying was taking place in university. The year is now 1989 and I ask a friend who has GTOs and 442s to keep an eye out for something interesting that I could afford. I'll interject here with a bit about my personal taste in cars - I like cars that are a bit unusual. I can't get excited about most Mustangs or Camaro/Firebirds because there are too many of them. While they are OK looking and some of them are real performers, my tastes are a bit more eclectic - I preferred to have something a bit more unusual. Back to the story - as mentioned earlier, the friend I had looking was into GM muscle cars. That summer, an ad comes up for a 1974 Javelin AMX. I had at least seen a couple of Javelins before, so I knew what this was. It qualified as unusual and there weren't many out there, so I went to take a look. It was in running condition, except that the owner had bought it as a parts car for front end sheet metal and driver side wheel/suspension assembly to fix his Javelin SST. The AMX was arguably a more valuable car, but he had put a bunch of money into the 360 in his SST. So, for $800, I had my first car. An Ambassador with a slipped timing chain provided the front running gear and a Javelin parts car without drivetrain provided front fenders. Next thing I knew, I had a multi-coloured car that was on the road. That 401 with a Borg-Warner T-10 and Hurst shifter provided a lot of fun. Even though it wasn't as powerful as many cars out there, it had a fair amount of oomph (225 net hp) and was a bit of fun. Alas the unibody was bent and over the years it began to sag. I stored it at the farm for about 3 years and got it going again. By this time, I was working on a Master's degree.

One day (late summer 1993) another friend who was into Pontiacs was going to get parts from a wrecker's yard. He invited me along, partly to help and partly because they had a couple Javelins in the yard and he thought I might be able to get some parts. I looked, but there was nothing I could use from those cars. As we were taking his parts to the office to pay for them, we saw this very interesting Buick front end. We take his parts out and go back to take a closer look.

The car is complete. I knew nothing about Buicks, but I fell in love with the design. Similar to an Impala, but with a different character. The air cleaner said Wildcat 445 which I initially mistook to mean there was a 455 under the hood. We go to talk to the guys running the lot and let them know that I want it. All I have to do is raise the money. Well, an aggressive advertising campaign goes on to get rid of the AMX (which I had tired of). I manage to sell it for $900 and for half that the 1966 Wildcat Custom hardtop is mine. It had been driven onto the lot and I was told the brakes were poor.

I get the wrecker's to tow the car home, which they did at no cost except for a bent front bumper (I am still a little bitter to this day). It is now October and there is snow on the ground. I get a good tarp and the Wildcat sits for the winter. I then joined the Saskatoon Antique Auto Club and wound up as secretary in 1996 and 1997.

The following spring, even though I was smitten by a woman, I manage to get a friend's help and replace the master brake booster and one of the brake cylinders. This makes a big improvement in the brakes. That pretty much was the end of working on my big blue baby as there was a wedding to plan and pay for that summer. I move, the Buick goes to a storage compound, and I get married. We purchased a house with a large garage and I bring the Wildcat home. It sits again, although it at least is under cover. A family starts and we are kind of living month to month. Not much happens with the Wildcat (except admiring and wishing I had more money to work on it) for the next four years at which time we move to Winnipeg.

Once again, income is tight and there is insufficient extra dollars to do any work on the Wildcat. I joined the Manitoba Classic and Antique Auto Club and found a couple of Buick lovers. I manage to learn and to gather information, but I still don't get much done on the car.

Then, in the year 2000, I finally find a job and in the summer, my wife finishes her training and begins to earn more money. Between the two of us, I begin to foresee a car fund and work beginning on the Wildcat.

In the June issue of the Sidemount Reporter (the MCAAC's newsletter) an ad appears for a 1961 Buick Invicta convertible. The price is affordable and I convince the boss (that is, Suzanne) to let me take a look. One thing leads to another and the second Buick joins the stable. Restoration thoughts on the Wildcat are again put on hold as the Invicta grips my mind. As you can see from the pictures on it's page, the car is in decent shape. It had been driven into the previous owner's storage about 20 years previously and sat there since.

In 2001, I was getting frustrated about not having a car to drive. I spent a bunch of time on eBay Motors and near my birthday, I came across a 1956 Buick Special four door sedan. While four doors didn't particularly appeal to me, the car was in Canada (Red Deer, Alberta) and was supposedly in running condition. Suzanne told me that for my birthday I could purchase the car or put an equivalent amount of money into the car account. I should have chosen the latter. Overall, I got what I paid for. At least it wasn't a lot of money. The car was misrepresented badly on eBay. Oh well, live and (hopefully) learn. As my brother lives near Red Deer, I had him arrange some temporary storage until I could get out there with a trailer and bring the car home. I did and, after the addition of a new fuel pump, I almost had it running. That fall, I put the car into storage and it sits there to this day. If someone really would like a neat car from the 50's that isn't an overpriced Chev, let me know and I may let it go.

In early 2002, one of the members of the MCAAC, Noel, let me know about a Buick that was sitting in an almost vacant lot here in Winnipeg. Every time Noel saw me he would ask if I had looked at the car. It took a few months before I went to take a look. It was interesting, but again, a 4 door sedan that I was only sort of interested in. Somewhere along the way, I had fallen in love with everything Buick though, and so I took a closer look. It was near where I was working at the time, so I arranged to see it (I forget if it was a coffee break or what). It turned out to be a decent original car at a reasonable price. There was some confusion as the rear fenders had both 1951 and 1952 trim, but the car is definitely a 1952 model. After taking a look, I told Suzanne about it. She agreed to take a look and we made arrangements to see the car on a Saturday. To make a long story short, she liked the looks of the car, money changed hands, and we were the owners of a 1952 Roadmaster 4-door Riviera sedan. Due to Suzanne's influence on the purchase, we refer to this car as hers. This car runs and, after getting brake work done, it was our first car to make an appearance at a car event - an annual toy run that takes place in September in Winnipeg. After that, the car went into storage and it currently remains there.

Since we are near the current timeframe, one would think we almost have the complete stable of Buicks - well, we are close.

In fall of 2002, another car came up on eBay. This time, it was a 1962 Special convertible. The fever struck, and the car was purchased. After some grief, it was transported here from Kansas. Of course, this car was also somewhat misrepresented. However, the car account has grown over the years and there is money for some restoration work. The car finally got to Winnipeg and we had freezing rain the day it came home, hence the appearance of many of the pictures. In late April, the car went to the shop to get ready to become a decent little driver. The goal was to have it ready in time for the Buick Centennial Meet which took place July 23-27 in Flint, Michigan. The event was put on by the Buicktown Chapter of the Buick Club of America. We attended, but the Special did not. As I type this, I am still waiting for everything to come together. The bodywork has begun. There were parts issues with the engine and it will be rebuilt shortly. The mechanical / safety work is also lined up. Hopefully, it will be home and on the road by late August 2003.

In the spring of 2005, we received an e-mail as a result of my looking after the MCAAC web page from a family trying to settle an estate. I tried to help them out with the value of two cars their father owned and also trying to contact someone who could help them out with a garage full of parts. They told me about a 1929 Buick and curiosity got the better of me. After a few phone calls and e-mails, we went to look at the car. Suzanne really liked the styling and we were able to agree to a price with the family. A cheque was written and the car was ours. I was able to get a bunch of information from Bill at 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club and he also put me in touch with the BCA technical advisor. I've learned a lot already, but have much to learn about these older Buicks. So far, all I have done other than gather information is to move it from the yard it was in in rural Manitoba to a storage space that I rent.

On May 5, 2007, we received an e-mail from the Director of the Buick Club of America Pre-War Division with a short message that a nice pre-war Buick driver was on eBay with a link to the auction. Derek decided that it made sense to take a look at the car in case anyone wanted an opinion and a thread was started on the BCA forums about what to look for in a 1941 Buick as he was unfamiliar with that era. Arrangements were made to meet with the seller. The car was listed by the owner's son - the owner had decided that the time had come to sell the car after a number of years of enjoying it. We visited the car without taking too close a look. A discussion was started up and it turns out we have a few mutual acquaintances. That evening, we received an e-mail from the son stating that they would end the auction early if we wanted the car. They'd had a discussion and felt that we would be good custodians for this Buick. The car was paid for and picked up on May 17, just after Suzanne's birthday. As this is typed, it is at Canada Auto getting a current Manitoba safety inspection performed on it. Once that is completed, this car will join the fleet as a driver.

Email us at: derek.thille@ieee.nospam.org and remove .nospam

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