“A McLaughlin what?” you ask? A #McLaughlinBuick - for many years “Canada’s Standard Car” and a key link in how the U.S. and Canadian markets evolved in the pre-ww2 era. Canada’s constitution dates from 1867 and in that year Robert McLaughlin, started making carriages in Enniskillen, #Ontario. By 1877 he was so successful that the operation moved to much larger Oshawa, Ontario and became the largest builder of carriages and sleighs in the British Empire. Transitioning to cars was natural, but in attempting to build it’s first car, the McLaughlin enterprise had setback - the chief engineer fell ill and died before the running gear was finished. So Sam McLaughlin turned to a friend - Billy Durant, then in control of #Buick - to secure powerplants for the original McLaughlin car of 1908. The resulting car was a McLaughlin powered by Buick engines, and the two formed a license agreement that lasted until 1922 for the powerplants. But not long after McLaughlin helped Durant with cash for the founding of #GeneralMotors, and in short order GM owned stock in McLaughlin and McLaughlin owned stock in GM. Eventually the Canadian side also started making Chevrolets under license. After ww1, the entire McLaughlin operation was incorporated as General Motors of Canada Ltd. and brought under one corporate roof. After 1922, the Buick products were labeled as McLaughlin-Buick, owing to the huge recognition of the McLaughlin name and it’s excellent reputation (Alfred Sloan supposedly berated Buick execs in Flint in the 1920s about the superior quality of Oshawa’s version of their cars). GM’s expansion in Canada made for even larger economies of scale, helping both parties and, because Canada was part of the British Empire, easier access to some markets and booming exports. Sam McLaughlin also remained as the head of #GMCanada even long after his official retirement - he was still on the board when he passed away (aged 100) in 1972. Oshawa produced many different cars in the pre-war era as McLaughlins, and Gradually they became more like the regular Buicks, and the McLaughlin name did not return after WW2. #CanadianCars #madeinOshawa #vintageads #advertising #Ig_autoshow #1937 https://www.instagram.com/p/BnL-NH8HsDF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1gnqbql36qe82
