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Shutter Speed: A New Direction

May 11, 2010 by Allan De La Plante 14 Comments

The car business had given me new powers! I now knew how to sell myself. I knew how to project my ideas to any listener. I knew how to sway a potential client to my intentions and I now knew how to persuade that client that what I had to sell him or her was going to have a long term benefit, not that owning a Porsche or Volkswagen would have any other effect on them than drain their bank account. I also learned that the sale was everything…that is until I sold my own Mother an Austin Marina! That thoughtless act and my failure to protect my Mother from financial ruin through the endless sinkhole that car represented left great rifts between us until I eventually bought her a decent car to make amends. Unfortunately the new Toyotas of the day were not the best choice either! It wasn’t until I got her a new Honda Civic that she was happy that is until not one, but both front fenders, fell off due to rust. These two delightful incidents happened within about twenty miles of each other! She was really pissed at me and promptly went out and bought a brand spanking new Dodge Omni! She liked the colour. She eventually rolled it over north of Newmarket in a snowstorm and spent some time in the hospital. This actually brought us closer together as I spent a lot of time visiting and listening to the whining about cars and weather and every other thing that generally put her off. My son, my girlfriend, my Mother and I all lived in a nice little home in Jackson’s Point on Lake Simcoe. Unbeknownst to me, my Mother and my girlfriend did not get along at all, but both kept me in the dark about their problems. My brother wasn’t talking to me for some reason and I later found out my Mother was sharing her experiences with him which pissed him off. No explaining family dynamics at times.
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Default ThumbnailNext Weekend: 2007 VARAC Festival at Mosport Default ThumbnailSearching for signal in downtown Toronto Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: Posters, dash plaques and a new mentor Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: Dewar, Cooke, and Jackie Default ThumbnailRe-Tired

Sir Jackie forgot his tie

April 6, 2010 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

The year: 1979

Sir Jackie Stewart was offered a ride in a sprint car, to which he replied: “I forgot my helmet”

A helmet was supplied.

His response: “I forgot my balls too!”

Thanks to Ken Graham for the story and photo.

Ed note: Darryl Clarke just added in that car builder A.J. Watson made the offer to Stewart.

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Shutter Speed: The death of two young drivers and the emergence of a new star

March 21, 2010 by Allan De La Plante 14 Comments

The winter of 1973 came and went without much fanfare. I continued to work in the car business with Ashley Motors until mid-summer when a minor incident had me looking for another employer. I turned up about ten minutes late for a sales meeting and was promptly shown the door by the assistant sales manager who was holding down the fort for the big boss while he was on vacation in Florida. When he got back he called and said I should approach Gorries Golden Mile Chevrolet. There was a job waiting for me when I applied. My release at Ashley was a strange one. It was the end of the month and I was the lead in sales with 22 down the road. The next salesman had 8. Go figure! Jumping from British sizzle to Detroit iron was difficult for me. I did not like the product and the Corvette scared the shit out of me. It rattled and banged and handled like a truck! I remember trying to get a young kid of about 17 to think about something less extreme than the 455 LT1. I figured he’d get himself in enough trouble with a ‘B’, but there was no telling him or his Mother who was going to co-sign for him. The Vette and he died one night less than a month later. It reminded me of a kid that had come into Ashleys with Mom in tow. She bought him an E-type. I was sure he would end up on a slab and I was right except he took two friends with him. The turn in the 401 east-bound at Kingston Road was incomplete. The Jag left the end of a bridge much like the end of the bridge in the movie ‘Speed’ if you happen to see it. No explanation of why the barriers were down came to light, but three young boys died. The Mother came into Ashleys not long after and I took quite a verbal beating. I did not reminder her of my suggestion of the less potent vehicle. It probably wouldn’t have mattered what he was driving.
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Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: Posters, dash plaques and a new mentor Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: More racing, new friends, better images and more death Default Thumbnail1972 Grand Prix of Canada Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: A new start, a new car and more racing! Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: Dewar, Cooke, and Jackie

Shutter Speed: Dewar, Cooke, and Jackie

February 2, 2010 by Allan De La Plante 19 Comments

My new position as the chief and only photographer for the Canadian Baby Photographers in the Ottawa area was going well, but it had some serious challenges. Since I worked on a commission basis of my work sold, I needed to have good images and a great salesman to sell my work. The problem was the company would send up a salesman from Toronto to get orders. Then I would get paid. In between I was on my own. It was all very confusing and put a serious strain on my family life. I soldiered on trying to make ends meet. Over Christmas we decided to make a break out on our own with my wife now selling my work. The company supplying the leads for our now ‘Ottawa Baby Photographers’ came with us. There was now a lot more to consider with film processing and the final orders to be processed, but we dug right in and it turned the corner and began to make money. One of my neighbours was a very excitable man named Rick Conrick. Rick was a printing salesman for a Montreal printer. When he saw my work he began to envision a customer for a calendar of motor racing pictures. He came up with Imperial Tobbacco whose head office was in Montreal. He called them and got an appointment with the head of promotions. I soon found myself walking off a top floor elevator at the Imperial Tobbacco head office. The building had a strange smell.  It processed the cigarettes at this location.  We were met at the elevator by Tony Kallock, the VP of PR. All Rick said was, ‘Tony, I’ve got something thats going to blow your fucking mind!’  Not quite my approach, but we walked out of there with an order for prints for the Imperial Tobbacco calendar to the tune of over four thousand dollars!
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Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: Posters, dash plaques and a new mentor

Shutter Speed: Posters, dash plaques and a new mentor

December 18, 2009 by Allan De La Plante 11 Comments

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In the spring of 1968 my wife and son and I moved to the real world away from the mountains and skiing. We chose Toronto. Jobs as now are often found through family and friends. This again proved to be true. Through the same man who got me the Dunlop job I applied for a job as a recreation councilor at the Ontario Crippled Children Center. I really had little qualifications other than I was a man, which was difficult for them to find one interested in working with kids, and I had a sports background. The kids turned out to be a wonderful addition to my life. Many had challenges they would never overcome. Many were results of serious accidents or in the case of the Thalidomide children, the result of a drug that had not been properly tested and prescribed by doctors to suppress morning sickness in pregnant Mothers. I was excited and wanted to involve them in experiences they would never have if left to their own devices or families. I contacted the Don Valley Ski Center in Don Mills and got them to donate rental equipment and facilities to introduce the kids to skiing. We took them to events in a beat up shit-box Chevy van that should not have been on the road, but without it we would not be going anywhere. One of the things I introduced them to was auto racing. [Read more…]

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Default Thumbnail1972 Grand Prix of Canada Default ThumbnailShutter Speed: A new start, a new car and more racing!

1972 Grand Prix of Canada

August 2, 2006 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

72 can am mosport.jpg

1972 was the year Alice Cooper released School’s Out and I’m sure it could be heard in The Pit at Mosport during the Grand Prix weekend, even though school had just started for the fall. I’m sure all those Mutton Chop wearing Grand Prix types in the paddock were more into the Euro bands like ABBA.

Sitting on the pole was Peter Revson, with a time of 1:13.6 which is still a smokin’ fast time today. The man with the turtleneck, Jackie Stewart won the race in his Ford powered Tyrrell, beating Revson by less than 1 second.

Complete results after the break

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