Ford F-100 Across Canada, Part 7: Arriving in Toronto
Driving into the lot of Ford Canada caps off a 3,500-mile road adventure that can only be described as the best trip of a lifetime.
I can’t tell you how heart-crushing it is to drive our 1968 Ford F-100 truck into Toronto down the 400 Highway and then have to drive through and out of it on the 403 to Oakville, which is one of those suburbs about 20 miles outside. I’m not saying that I didn’t want to complete this trip and take Truck back to her birthplace. It’s just that neither Don nor I have been home in about a month and a half, so to drive right past your home in Toronto traffic is pretty sad. The only consolations are girls yelling at us from cars and guys trying to buy Truck off us at stoplights. No joke, it is happening. Is this a picture of what my life will be like driving this thing? Rad.
We get to Ford Canada completely unannounced and vaguely near a shift change. We drive around the compound for a while until a nice woman who is getting off her shift talks to us and tells us Ford Canada’s head office is just at the other end of this huge parking lot that is surrounded by factory buildings. There are not a lot of cars in the lot, so we drive over. After a conversation with James from the front desk about how fun driving across Canada is, the head of product, Peter Jansen, comes to talk to us. I think he is so shocked to hear what we have done that he had to come down and entertain this whole thing. It is nice of Peter to do this for us. We take some pictures and exit. I parked Truck right where the old truck assembly plant had been, and what is now a parking lot. To be on the Gardiner Expressway heading east feels great, and I don’t even mind the traffic. I wonder if Truck knows where she is. Machines have a soul. It sounds insane but the more moving parts something has, I feel like the more of a soul it has. Things have to work in harmony, and good care or abuse will show.
In conclusion to this whole thing, I’m back in Toronto and Truck is parked outside my place. The trip was a blast, the truck is a beauty, and I think the main thing I learned is that adventures are the best. Really, anyone can have a similar adventure if they have an open mind and look around. Just make the arrangements and save up the money or whatever it takes. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank LMC Truck and the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forum and its members for their support. They care about these old trucks and they want to see them last. Thanks for reading. If you have an impulse and you get inspired, you should probably act on it and get out there to see some things you don’t even know are out there. We did about 3,500 miles all told, and it was one the best drives of my life.
