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.j Page 18, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, October 16, 1996 ........................ ...................... by JiI Mclftosh Look!ing back And You 77ink Shopping For A Car Is Tough Today The Bugatti, buit between 1910 and 1939, was an extremely expensive car. Only some 7,500 were ever made, and the six exclusive Royale models, ail of which stili exist,- are today the world's costliest antique cars,' valued at more than $11 million each. To buy one when they were new required more than just a co-signer. Company fonder Ettore Bugatti entertained potential buyers at his chateau, and if they did flot meet his ex tatins,. they could flot buyi oyle. King Zog of Aibania did flot get his car because Bugatti disapproved of his table manners. I Walk The Line: The first white road lunes in Ontario were painted in 1919 on four dangerous curves near Clarkson. Home, James: The word 'chauffeur" is actually a railway term; he was the firemnan who stoked the locomotive's boiler. In the earl y days, the chauffeur didn't drive the car. The owner did,' while' the chauffeur's job was to crank the engine, change the tires and make emergency repaire. ButIt Did Proue To Be A Moneymaker:- When Daimler, who later merged his, company to become Mercedes Benz, was first workIng on bis four-cylinder engine, he kept everything 50 secret that he was raided by police who thought he was forging Icoins. A Lonýg Way From Brinks o. The first armoured car was buiît in 1898 by the Duryea Auto Company. It was an Open car with a steel body and had a Colt machine gun mounted on the front of it. F11 er Up Anzd Gimme Some Nails: Before service stations came about, people bought gasoline from hardware stores, o sold from barrels and poured into the car through a filter to trap And Wash 7&e Windows: The hardware store's nionopoly on gasoline came to an end on Oct. 27, 1908 when the first Canadian gas station opened in Vancouver. Liaten To 274àg: In 1899 a Gerinan engineer named August Horch began bis own Company which made luxury cars. The company- lasted until 1939, but in 1909 Horch quarreled with bis directors and left to start another firm. The Horch Motor Company took legal action to prevent him using his own name on the new cars, so Horch (which is German for'listen") used the Latin version of bis name - Audi. làd W/ose Bright Idea licese WtIni 1911, Ontario lcneplates were made of porcelain. They - were changed te metal for 1912; SEE PAGE 19 Another car for Garnier GARNIER GRADE il1 auto ShOP students crowd Mazda Canada. Toyota Canada earlier donated around an experimental 1996 Miata, donated to the two 1996 Corollas to te sohool. French Catholic Grade 7/8 high school recently by Photo by Mark Rmesor, Whltby Free Prou Auto affôrdability at 20-year Iow Buying a new car, van or truck is more expensive today than at any other time in the last 20 years, a new report on auto affordability from Royal Bank shows. But rising car prices only tell half the story.. 1 Flat or declining wages have also blunted any benefit from the dramatic decine in intereet rates over the last 17 months, says Royal Bank's New Auto Affordability report. A typical Canadian employee today needs the equivalent of 37.9 weeks of net. earnmng to buy a new vehicle, or about 74 par cent of a year's average disposable income after taxes, the report says. Last year, a typical employee needed te work three fewer weeks te buy a new vehicle outright, and Il fewer weeks five years ago. The cost of financing a new purchase is also up: It takes, about 7.1 weelcs, or 14 per dent of a years income, te meet annuel financing payments. While new vehicle prices continue te rise, - the average price paid for a new model is over $27,000, including GSI' and delivery charges- take home pay for Most Canadians has remamned flat year-over-year. "The continuing drop "in interest rates this year took some of the sting outI ofrising vehicle prices but it wasn't enough to offset the cobie effect of stagnant wages and sticker shock," said Royal Bank economist Jack Vermeeren. The drop in affordability is reflected in auto sales figures. Sales dropped 4.6 par SER PAGE 19 1997 Goff CL *'~iI~j, %p$29*/month. .................. ...... ..24 M o nth s. *Deluxe 8 Speaker Stereo Cassette *1.8 Litre Engine e Anti-Theft Alarm System a Roadside Assistance Based on 24 months, $1,500 down payment, wak-away lease. First mo. pymnt.. sec. dep., P.D.I. and ail taxes extra. O.AC. OWASCO VOLKSWAGEN INC. Expenience the Owasco Feeling. M Pro en to serve you BESTsince 1972. WHITBY An ul ARE and CAA award winner. HWY 2 Sales, serice, leasing, body shop, ail ma-kes. z01~ Rentais in Canada, USA and Europe, overseas delivery. i0WAScOin 0 c 1425 Dundas St. East, Whitby CrN c.M AuÃ"i 686-641040 OWASO T P DO LARFOR 35 MINUTES Çz DLLR O EAST FROM' RV > DOWNTOWN' YOR RDE"TORON TO