Grandpa’s buick back in family?
Vintage enthusiast wonders if he owns the 1912 McLaughlin his relative bought over a century ago
Ed Sampson has a photo of his grandparents and great-grandparents, along with younger family members, in a 1912 McLaughlin Buick. Grandfather Edward Sampson, a successful Saskatchewan grain buyer, sits proudly in the driver’s seat.
Although the car appears to be relatively new, prairie mud is sticking to the tires and the giant open car is dusty from use. The photo was taken outside the general store in the farming community of St. Gregor, Sask., near Humboldt. That store is still standing in the village of fewer than 100 inhabitants.
The moment in time captures the homesteading family’s early history. That photo, taken more than a century ago, haunted Sampson, who has had a love affair with old cars since he was a child. Although Sampson has a lineup of collector Cadillacs — including a 1929 phaeton, 1956 convertible and 1959 “flat-top” four-door hardtop — he searched for years for a McLaughlin Buick just like his grandfather’s.
McLaughlin Buick cars came from an agreement between Oshawa, Ont., carriage-maker Sam McLaughlin and Billy Durant. Durant had put together General Motors, which included the Flint, Mich.-based Buick Motor Company. Buick would supply the chassis and engines and McLaughlin would build the bodies to produce a Canadian-only Buick car.
Canadians loved the McLaughlin Buick cars that were built between 1908 and 1942. Although their underpinnings were the same as their American Buick cousins, the bodies and trim were often quite distinctive.
In 1912, McLaughlin Buick cars were turned out in three models: the standard Model 35, the mid-sized Model 29 and the large Model 41. Sampson’s grandfather chose the mid-sized Model 29. Few of these cars were manufactured and only a handful have survived to this day.
Sampson was so determined to get a 1912 McLaughlin Buick he became a successful telephone bidder for a Model 35 being auctioned in England. McLaughlin Buick cars produced in Oshawa were built for the domestic market as well as for export to commonwealth countries, so some ended up in Great Britain.
“I was happy with that car,” he said. “But I kept looking at the picture of my grandfather’s car and the McLaughlin I bought was a little bit smaller. I knew it wasn’t the same model.”
So he continued looking for exactly the same car that his grandfather bought 107 years ago. Internet searches turned up a 1909 McLaughlin Buick for sale in Calgary. He contacted owner Leigh Schubert, who told him he also had a 1912 Model 29.
“That blew me away,” Sampson said.
He sent a copy of the photo of his grandparents and great grandparents in the McLaughlin Buick Model 29 and Leigh Schubert confirmed he had that exact model.
“After seeing the photos and hearing the story, he decided I was the right person to have the car,” Sampson said, adding he was so excited he made the deal before travelling to Calgary to see the car. The beautifully restored 1912 McLaughlin Buick Model 29 was subsequently shipped to Vancouver.
Was this actually his grandfather’s car?
“It could be. But there’s no way of knowing,” Sampson said, noting all he knows about the car is that it had been owned by Stan Reynolds and was sold during the move to establish the Reynolds-Alberta Museum.
As often happens, interest in one type of car leads to further purchases.
Sampson saw an ad in the U.S.based Hemmings Motor News for a McLaughlin Buick for sale in Manitoba. It was a 1913 Model 40 – the largest McLaughlin Buick built that year. It was a two-owner car with both owners living into their 90s.
Sampson bought the car and had it shipped to Vancouver. The big, open car is in amazing preserved condition, right down to the original leather seats and collapsible top. It is now garaged alongside his other two McLaughlin Buick brass-era cars.
“Now I have all three models,” he said.
The quest to recreate family history with McLaughlin Buick cars has now become multi-generational with one of Sampson’s sons recently helping to purchase two 1914 models from the auction sale of a collection of 110 vehicles in Saskatchewan.
Sadly, both Sampson’s grandfather and great-grandfather lived for only a few years after being photographed in the new 1912 Model 40 McLaughlin Buick. They were among the 20 million to 40 million people who died during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.
After seeing the photos and hearing the story, he (the Model 29’s previous owner) decided I was the right person to have the car.