Remembering the rare 67X rolling into Regina
It was 48 years ago today that people in Regina got their first look at one of the rarest cars in Canada.
An Esso 67X — a highly modified Oldsmobile Toronado — was put on display in Regina on May 22, 1967, as part of a cross-Canada tour. Although people may have seen the 67X in TV and newspaper ads, on this date people in Regina could finally come and take a look at the real car.
An advertisement in the Leader-Post had the headline: “THE 67X IS COMING TO REGINA MONDAY, MAY 22nd.” The ad said the 67X would be on display at Curly’s Siesta Esso Service at 541 Victoria Ave. E. from 10 a.m. to noon. Then it would be shown at the Northgate Shopping Mall from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and later it would be displayed at the Golden Mile Plaza from 5 to 10 p.m.
Only four of these cars were produced for Esso as part of a promotion (other prizes included cameras and colour TVs) called “Roadshow ’67” during Canada’s Centennial year. The theme was “family, safety and automobile travelling” and this was to be the ultimate vehicle for a Canadian family to tour the country during Canada’s 100th birthday year.
Imperial Oil hired legendary California car customizer George Barris, who created many of the cars in TV shows and movies since the 1950s.
“We choose the Oldsmobile Toronado because it was front-wheel drive and didn’t have a driveshaft,” Barris once told me in a telephone interview from California.
That made the renovations relatively easy. The car was cut just behind the front doors and extended. When it was done, it sat on a 134-inch (340 cm) wheelbase, and with new fibreglass body panels it stretched to 241 inches (612 cm) long. The 67X was even longer than today’s biggest Mercedes-Benz, which sits on a 124.6 inch wheelbase (316.5 cm) and is 208.2 (528.7 cm) long. The 67X is longer than two Smart cars (which would be 212 inches long, or 538 cm)
“It was a project that I personally enjoyed. They flew us into the Montreal World’s Fair (Expo 67) to introduce the car,” Barris told me.
Four people across Canada had their names drawn, and each won a 67X — as well as gas, insurance and service for a year.
All four of the cars were sold within a year by the original winners.
One person who well remembers the 67X is Nick Tarnovesky, who operated a Shell service station at 425 Victoria Ave. E. (where the Tyndal Stone Centre now is) just two blocks away from Curly’s, where the 67X was first shown in Regina.
Nick was later approached by a business associate who was a car wholesaler in Toronto, and had bought a 67X; he asked Nick to try to sell it for him. Nick agreed, and the car was driven to Regina. Nick drove the 67X around Regina while it was up for sale.
“It was unique and different — and a nice show piece,” recalls Nick, who now lives in Kelowna, B.C.
Nick later sold the car to Ray Korpus of Regina.
Ray’s widow, Sonia, remembers that cold night in December 1968 when Nick showed them the gold 67X.
“Nicky brought the car to our house one night. Raymond and I discussed it, and the next day we decided to buy it,” she recalls.
They were already involved in the old car hobby, so found the 67X to be a unique find. Most of the time they kept it in storage, and it was only taken out for special occasions.
“We used it as a family fun car. We took it to North Dakota for car shows. And I remember driving to Moose Jaw in it. I always noticed that when we were on the highway, people would speed up to get a closer look at the car, because it was very long and very different,” she says.
Their oldest son, Roman — who lives in Houston, Texas — acquired the 67X about 10 years ago.
He was just a toddler when his parents bought the 67X — and he has fond childhood memories of riding in it.
“It was fun to drive around in it. We even had it in the Buffalo Days Parade,” he recalls in a telephone interview from Texas.
Roman says when he was a kid and people would stop to find out more about the 67X “the big question that always came up was ‘Who designed this?’ So then I’d tell them George Barris, who had designed the Batmobile — and everyone at the time knew what the Batmobile was.”
Inside, as well as all the luxury features of the day such as air conditioning, power windows, tilt steering and headrests, there were extensive modifications.
The 67X was profiled in Motor Trend magazine in August 1967, which said: “The interior is really a family affair. A swivelling right front bucket seat turns to face an L-shaped ‘sofa.’ A flip-up table assists diversion among passengers while travelling, and two stereo tapes and two AM/FM radios offer four different simultaneous sounds. All but the driver have the option of using earphones — he has to keep a sharp ear tuned to traffic noises. There’s even a portable picnic cooler in the rear console to take on outdoor jaunts.”
Roman, the eldest of four siblings, says “it had a rounded rear seat, and a single seat on the other side, and it had an ice chest between the seats. There was always a discussion about who would get to sit in the individual seat,” he recalls with a laugh.
This 67X hasn’t been driven in about a decade.
“It’s in the process to be restored. It’s been sitting over the years, and that’s why I brought it down here to Texas — to restore it. Mechanically, everything is sound and so is the interior. It just needs some bodywork, some re-chroming and a paint job,” Roman explains.
He hopes to have the 67X back on the road in a year or so — and a rare and unique example of Canadian automotive history will be rolling again.