![]() 07/01/2017 at 16:18 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
Most of Canada’s auto industry is centred in Southern Ontario, which makes sense due to it’s proximity to Michigan, the (well, former) centre of the American auto industry. There are a few cars though that were built outside of Ontario.
Volvo had a plant in Halifax from 1963 to 1998. Volvo even called the Amazon the Canadian in Canada to celebrate it’s Canadian origin. The plant was the first foreign auto plant in North America, before the onslaught of Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai plants that now dot the landscape of North America.
There was also the Bricklin SV-1, which, like the Volvos built in Halifax, was built in the Maritimes. This time however, Saint John, New Brunswick (Not to be confused with St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador) is where it was built.
There’s the Campagna T-Rex, which is kindof a car. Built in Boucherville, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal.
There’s also the equally Quebecois HTT Plethoré. Built in Saint-Eustache, just across the border from Ontario.
Last but not least, the fourth and final gen F-Body Trans Am and Camaro, built in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec. There are others, but these are the most notable ones.
![]() 07/01/2017 at 16:51 |
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I went to the New Brunswick Museum in St. John a couple of times, they have a Bricklin there.
![]() 07/01/2017 at 16:55 |
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Campagna T-Rex
I actually saw one of these yesterday, mistaking it for a Polaris Slingshot. Maybe if I’m less lazy later I’ll go and fetch my dashcam footage of it.
![]() 07/01/2017 at 17:49 |
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I’d argue Michigan is still the center of the American auto industry. The Silicon Valley companies are really not that big even though their stock might be valued higher.
![]() 07/01/2017 at 17:54 |
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You forgot some Lada had plant arcross the from the Volvo plant in Halifax. GM had plant for short time in sasaskewan before ww2, then the plant supported the war effort.
![]() 07/01/2017 at 18:53 |
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There was a handful of car-building operations in Saskatoon, but they didn’t really produce enough to call them factories... Although if he’s counting the HTT...
Lada’s “plant” wasn’t really in the business of building cars. They came assembled from Togliatti and just had Canadian-market necessities (DRL’s, English/French door stickers, etc) installed. They did get a little adventurous, turning the odd Niva into a pickup using S10 hardware, but they were pretty crude conversions, and no two I’ve encountered have been the same. I’ve also heard rumours that they put two-speed automatics into a handful of cars, sourcing them from the Chevette, but there are no surviving examples to anyone’s knowledge.
![]() 07/01/2017 at 22:02 |
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Of interest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Thérèse_Assembly
And there’s this company that was moved to British Columbia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermeccanica
![]() 07/01/2017 at 22:13 |
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I forgot Intermeccanica. Never thought BC’s flag would look so good as a badge.