In 1964 my dad was offered and accepted a transfer and promotion by Rootes Motors from Toronto to Vancouver. He was
promoted to Parts Supervisor at their Vancouver office at 3135 W. Broadway.
Upon his arrival in Vancouver he purchased a
one year old Hillman Minx Series IIIC Saloon (Sedan). As mentioned on the My Hillman page of this website, this car
had been bought new the year before and was equipped with the much maligned Smiths Easidrive automatic transmission. The previous
owner had grown tired of its repeated trips back to the dealer so Rootes had decided to let her return it and then either gave her
a refund or a new car (probably the latter I would think). My dad offered to buy the car if they put a manual gearbox in it, which
they did, and for $900.00 we had our new family car.
Two friends and I plus Rex the Beagle on our front lawn on 44th Ave. in Vancouver. Our Series IIIC Minx is in the background
My dad (left rear) in the Parts Dept. office at Rootes Motors in Vancouver sometime in the 1960's
My dad at a car show (probably at the Bayshore Inn, Vancouver) posing with a Tiger, Imp and a Series V or VI Minx
My mom and I with our 1963 Series IIIC Minx in the mid 60's. I don't know whose Minx I'm standing beside though.
Camping near Parksville, Vancouver Island, late 1960's
Rootes Vancouver in the early 50's. The premises had been renovated with a 2nd floor added by the time my dad got there in 1963 or 1964 .
In the fall of 1974, when I was starting my final year of high school, my dad decided to buy a new car. As far as I know it was the
first new car he had ever owned. As he was now working for Chrysler (since the buyout of Rootes in 1967) it made sense to buy a company
product with the employee discount, so he purchased a 1974 Dodge Dart. He then gave me the 1963 Hillman. As you had to put
a price on the transfer papers at that time he put down $1.00 and delighted in bugging me for years about the fact that I had
never actually paid him that dollar.
My friends and I had a lot of great times in that old Minx for the next few years and with
a built in mechanic it was quite reasonable to operate. Truth be told it never really gave much, if any, trouble that I can recall
but by 1977 the clutch had started slipping (still the original after 85,000 miles) and the rust was starting to eat away
at the sills and fenders so I decided to retire the old girl. After a brief foray into American car ownership I purchased
another Hillman. This time it was a 1961 Series IIIA Minx (unfortunately I took no pictures of that one). It was painted
a green and white combo and was in very good condition. As I recall I paid $ 500.00 for it but only kept it for a year
or less, selling it when I moved from Vancouver to Calgary for a few years. My dad sold both Hillmans for me while I was away and
got $500.00 for the pair. Not a bad return on investment I thought.
A friend and I with our Hillmans - mid 70's
My dad with Hillman Avenger, UK visit, 1970's