J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.

PHB

My photo
Brooklin, Maine, United States
We own a 1975 GMC Sierra Grande 15 in Maine and a 1986 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 10 in West Texas. Also a pair of 1997 Volvo 850 wagons. Average age in the fleet is 28 years--we're recycling. I've published 3 novels: THE LAW OF DREAMS (2006), THE O'BRIENS (2012), and CARRY ME (2016). Also 2 short story collections: NIGHT DRIVING(1987) and TRAVELLING LIGHT (2013). More of my literary life is at www.peterbehrens.org I was a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study for 2012-13. I'm an adjunct professor at Colorado College and in the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. In 2015-16 I was a Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The Autoliterate office is in Car Talk Plaza in Harvard Square, 2 floors above Dewey Cheatem & Howe. SUBSCRIBE TO THE AUTOLITERATE DAILY EMAIL by hitting the button to the right.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

1959 Pontiac Laurentian Station Wagon & Richard Ford's CANADA

 from Alex Emond: "This wagon was in Redcliff , Alberta , which is close to Medicine Hat . What can I say ... this is one outrageous car . I don't think I've seen a longer wagon . Drive past those "small car only" slots"--AE 
We've posted before about our peculiar interest in 1959 Pontiacs. You can find PB's essay on the subject by following this link: the essay, which has been a lot of places, was reprinted most recently in a Mexico City magazine, LITERAL, last summer.  This wonderful wagon is a Canadian edition Pontiac, a Laurentian. In the US it was the year of Wide-Track Pontiacs--axles were stretched out a few inches longer and wheels pulled out to match the width of the body. But the Canadian Pontiacs of that era were actually Chevrolets with the wide Pontiac body bolted on, which meant their wheels were tucked inboard, ultimately kinda weird looking and unbalanced---the cars looked a bit like railroad boxcars teetering on narrow-gauge trucks.
AE's posts from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan are in my mind as I'm reading Richard Ford's wonderful novel Canada, part of which is set in that weirdly beautiful and desolate terrain. Best novel I've read in the past couple of years. The man does something simple, plain, and astounding with language.





Posted by autoliterate at 11:36 AM

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