1926 McLaughlin-Buick 26-24 Country Club Roadster

Engine: Inline, six-cylinder, liquid-cooled
Displacement: 3.4 L (207 ci)
Bore and Stroke: 79 x 114 mm (3.125 x 4.5 in)
Power: 48.5 kW (65 hp)
Transmission: 3-forward, 1-reverse, manual
Weight: 1290 kg (2,845 lb)
Capacity: 4 passengers
Original Cost: C $1960 (estimate)

Country Club roadsters, built in Canada for export to the United Kingdom, feature right-hand drive and a rumble seat. In 1926, of the 12,334 cars that GM Canada manufactured, only 84 were of this model, making it one of the rarest cars the company every produced. This car has innovative adjustable headlamps with high/low beams.

This car was built for export and sold in England. The nameplate on the dash reads: The Royal Forest Garage, Automobile Engineers, Chingford, E.4., Silverthorne 2200.

The first passenger vehicles sold in Canada were two sleighs built by Robert McLaughlin in 1867. McLaughlin Carriage Company soon became known for the high quality of their product. In 1907, his son Sam was almost ready to enter the car market with the first McLaughlin car, when his engineer, Arthur Milbrath became severely ill. Sam approached Billy Durant, and came away with 15-year rights to use Buick engines and other parts. Called simply McLaughlin, the Canadian car was readily distinguished from the American Buick. It was called, and sometimes advertised as McLaughlin-Buick. Some models, said McLaughlin on the radiator and McLaughlin-Buick on the hub caps.

Chronology:

1867 - The first passenger vehicles sold in Canada were two sleighs built by Robert McLaughlin at his Blacksmith shop in Enniskillen, Ontario, Canada.
1876 - Robert McLaughlin moved the company to Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
1880s - McLaughlin patented his fifth-wheel mechanism which improved safety and comfort.
1899 - McLaughlin Carriage Works was destroyed by fire and the City of Oshawa lent McLaughlin C $50,000 to rebuild.
1901 - McLaughlin Carriage Company is incorporated and production numbers are over 25,000 units and sales for the year are over one million dollars.
1905 - Robert's son Sam McLaughlin became interested in automobiles and tried to make a deal with Durant of Buick to combine manufacturing but no deal was made at the time.
1907 - Sam formed his own car company - The McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited and he made a 15 year deal with Buick to buy their drive trains for his vehicles.
1907 - The Model F is the first McLaughlin car produced.
1915 - The McLaughlin Carriage Company is sold to Cariage Factories Ltd. of Orillia, Ontario and they started switching from making carriages to car bodies for companies, including McLaughlin Motor Car Company.
1916 - General Motors Corporation is formed with Sam McLaughlin as a director and Vice-President. McLaughlin began manufacturing Chevrolet automobiles in his plant.
1918 - General Motors of Canada was incorporated when Mclaughlin and Chevrolet merged. GM Canada built a large plant in Walkerville, Ontario.
1923 - The Canadian bodied model was officially called the McLaughlin-Buick and continued under that badge until 1942 when the McLaughlin was dropped and the vehicles were just called Buicks.
1977 - Stan Reynolds acquired this vehicle from Maryland, USA.
1984 - Stan Reynolds donates the vehicle to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum.