Arthur O'Donnel_3

Whether he was racing motorcycles, doing stunts in airplanes, or driving non-stop from Florida to Toronto, Arnold O’Donnell loved speed.

But he was best known for selling cars. For more than half a century, from the late 1920s to the late 1970s, his surname was part of two of the best-known car dealerships in Toronto: O’Donnell-Mackie and O’Donnell-Morrison.

Arnold O’Donnell lived a luxurious lifestyle that included a home in Rosedale, Rolls-Royces and a Royal Canadian Yacht Club membership.

He “built a life around speed ... Arnold travelled in wealthy circles, establishing useful contacts through his sale of high-end cars” writes his niece, Lorraine O’Donnell Williams, in her book <a href="https://www.dundurn.com/books/Memories-Beach">“Memories of the Beach — Reflections on a Toronto Childhood.”</a>

Arnold O’Donnell was born in 1897 in Orillia, Ont. and trained to be a pilot during World War I. In the early 1920s he was the Canadian motorcycle champion.

Then he got into the car business with Dickson Mackie in 1927 by purchasing what had been a Dodge dealership, Moore and Hughes, at 577 Yonge St., just north of Wellesley. It had opened in 1919 as the Canadian Motor Car Co., which sold Marmon, Saxon and Velie automobiles. This building is still standing today.

Business was booming, and O’Donnell and Mackie sold upscale Jordans and Hupmobiles with price tags from $1,800 to $3,590 at a time when Model T Fords sold for $480.

In 1930 O’Donnell-Mackie was named as the Ontario distributor for expensive and prestigious Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs. Customers were the rich and famous of Toronto, including the Eaton family. The car firm moved to a larger dealership in 1932, at Bay St. and St. Joseph St., with room for 20 vehicles in the showroom, while keeping the original dealership. That summer, as the impact of the Depression deepened, production of Cords stopped and the prices of Auburns were cut. O'Donnell-Mackie also began selling lower-priced Studebakers and Fords.

<img src="https://d3odfdcwc42kff.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/CIAS-2016-Duesenberg.jpg" alt="" />

O'Donnell continued to fly planes, and during the early 1930s he offered plane rides at the Canadian National Exhibition: 10 minutes for $7.00, or 15 minutes for $10.00.

In the spring of 1934, O'Donnell had his pilot’s licence suspended for 30 days for flying his plane “in a manner dangerous to the public” according to the Department of National Defence. The incident happened near Bathurst St. and Glencairn Ave., just south of Lawrence Ave., on Sunday, May 6 at about 7:45 p.m. The stunting was reported to the Toronto Flying Club, and president Wilfred A. Curtis contacted O’Donnell and later wrote:

"He admits having dived on the house of a friend of his with whom he had been playing golf in the morning. He states that he was particular to dive from south to north, that is, towards the open country. The house he was fooling about over was the last house on the street with fields to the north and west of it. He admits that his action was not only dangerous but very childish and as he is normally quite a level headed chap I feel that this will not occur again."

O’Donnell’s love of speed was also evident when he was behind the wheel of a car. In April 1947, O'Donnell bet a friend that he could drive from Florida to Toronto in 24 hours. Miami to Toronto is 2,391 km — so averaging 100 km/h per hour is quite a feat solo, and would have been more amazing back then, considering the difference in roads and cars.

O’Donnell won the bet, and he wrote: “Made it with an hour and a half to spare in spite of bad detour in Florida. Poor roads on the route I took to avoid Washington and a blizzard from Williamsport which stopped everything else but the transport drivers ... I had a wonderful time. Barney Oldfield O’Donnell.”

As car sales increased during the 1950s, O'Donnell-Mackie billed itself as "Toronto's Oldest Studebaker Dealer" and in 1957 also began carrying British cars — including Bentley, MGA, Morris and Rolls-Royce. In 1961, O'Donnell-Mackie moved a few blocks south to 945 Bay St. By then, Dickson Mackie was no longer part of the firm.

O'Donnell was spending more time in semi-retirement in California. Meanwhile, American Motors was aggressively trying to grow, and wanted a dealership in downtown Toronto to sell Ramblers. American Motors knew of someone interested in getting into the car business — Curly Morrison, a former NFL player and TV commentator. In 1965, CBC lured Morrison from his job as a salesman and football commentator with CBS in New York to come to Toronto to be the evening sportscaster.

<img src="https://d3odfdcwc42kff.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/CIAS-2016-Cord.jpg" alt="" />

Morrison made the move, and then jumped at the chance to also get into the car business as a high-profile, part-owner of a well-established downtown dealership. In the fall of 1965, advertisements announced Curly Morrison — a "TV football personality" — was the new president of the renamed O'Donnell-Morrison dealership.

However, Morrison didn't stay in Toronto long; he moved back to the U.S. in 1967 after parting company with CBC and selling his share of the business back to O'Donnell.

So in the fall of 1968, O'Donnell was in his dealership for the launch of the new American Motors products — more than 40 years after he and Mackie first welcomed new customers into the original dealership where they sold Jordans and Hupmobiles.

In 1975, O'Donnell was presented with a plaque for 10 years of service as an American Motors dealer, and soon thereafter he sold his share of the business, which continued to operate until 1979.

Arnold O'Donnell died in 1989 at the age of 92.

Lorraine O’Donnell Williams says her uncle “accomplished everything he wanted to in life” and was “one of the few men who actually accomplished what he set out to do. He lived the life he loved.” And, she says, "he loved going fast!"

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Arnold O’Donnell, A long life in the fast lane

traffic jams in the city, road, rush hour

Running a car dealership is often a family affair, and several Toronto dealers are following in their fathers’ footsteps.

But these young owners are putting their own stamps on the business. And although they are competing with each other, they share very similar views on where the automotive business is headed.

City Buick

Michael Carmichael’s family has been part of the General Motors family for a century, but he’s running his business in very different ways from his predecessors.

“My whole approach to management is dramatically different than my grandfather’s and my dad’s, because times have changed and it requires a different approach,” explains the 33-year-old owner and president of the City Buick dealership on Victoria Park Ave., north of Lawrence Ave.

“When my grandfather and my dad were running this place, 1 per cent of the dealership team was leadership, and 99 per cent were referred to as ‘staff.’ Everything was top down, and staff were told, ‘This is how we do it. Don’t ask, don’t think — just do.’

“I’m the opposite way. We can get so much more accomplished by getting our team engaged in our goals.”

His roots with GM go back four generations, to 1912, when his great-grandfather, Harry Carmichael, landed a job as a patternmaker at McKinnon Industries in St. Catharines, which made leather and metal products for the auto industry.

Carmichael rose up through the ranks and, in 1929, when General Motors bought McKinnon, Carmichael was named president and general manager. The firm expanded under his leadership, manufacturing such things as generators, starting motors and shock absorbers.

In 1935, Carmichael was promoted to vice-president and general manager of General Motors of Canada. He worked alongside president Sam McLaughlin in Oshawa.

During the Second World War, Carmichael was a “dollar-a-year man” and loaned to the Department of Munitions and Supply, where he helped industries convert to munitions production.

Harry Carmichael helped his son, Jack (Michael’s grandfather), get into the car business in 1955, when he bought a dealership at Danforth Ave. and Main St., originally known as Giles, Rice and Peters.

In 1967, City Buick moved to its current location at Victoria Park and Lawrence. By then, Jack’s son, John (Michael’s father), was working in the dealership. Michael soon followed.

“I started coming here on weekends when I was 6 years old, jumping in the cars, honking the horns, riding the conveyer belt in the parts department and driving the salesmen nuts,” Michael recalls.

“I started working here part-time when I was 12, washing cars. I’ve done almost everything. I’ve worked in the body shop, the parts department and shipping and receiving. I’ve even driven the snow plow. The only thing I’ve never done is work mechanically on cars.”

Michael earned a degree in political science at the University of Western Ontario in 1999. Then he got an MBA in 2003. He bought the dealership from his father in 2009, who had bought it from his father in 1992.

Michael immediately began with a different approach and brought in a partner, the Humberview Group, which owns 12 dealerships in the GTA.

“When I bought my dad out, I thought, I can spend the next 10 to 15 years paying it off and becoming the owner or I can bring in a partner, own half, and do more immediately,” explains Michael. “It’s the new world of consolidated ownership. It’s a very different business these days.”

Islington Chrysler

Islington Chrysler has been in the same spot since it opened in 1960, on Dundas St. W. just east of Hwy. 427. Now, the dealership is undergoing an extreme, $3-million makeover.

The idea of a new building had been considered for some time and, with the addition of a Fiat franchise in 2011, the timing seemed right.

“If there wasn’t a future here, we shouldn’t be spending $3 million on this new building,” says Kris Rams, the dealership’s 33-year-old vice-president and general manager. “My job now, as we go through the construction phase, is to keep selling cars.”

His father, Al Rams, was part of a group that bought Islington Chrysler in 1981, and Kris has been going there since he “was old enough to walk.” Al later bought out the other partners.

Al earned a degree in economics at Waterloo and started in the car business right after he graduated.

Kris went to the University of Western Ontario and graduated with a degree in history and economics. Then he attended Northwood University in Midland, Mich., which specializes in automotive marketing and management.

Al and Kris are now partners, although Kris is in the process of buying his father out. Although Al is president, he is stepping away from daily operations and Kris is now running the dealership as general manager.

Kris gained experience at other dealerships. His first summer job was washing trucks at a Ford dealership. Then he worked in the service department at a Toyota dealer. He’s also worked at Chrysler Financial and at an independent used-car wholesaler.

After joining Islington Chrysler in 2003, he did almost everything. He worked in the parts department, drove the parts truck, worked in the accounting office, sold used and new vehicles, worked in the dealership’s leasing company and took on increasingly more senior management roles.

Al says that diversity of experience has prepared Kris to run the place.

“In the earlier years, Kris was impatient. Something would come up and he would say, ‘Can you give me the three-word answer?’ and I’d say, ‘No, it’s not that easy.’ Now I have full faith in his abilities. He’s gained my trust and my respect that he is making the right business decisions.”

And Kris has been clearly influenced by his father.

“I’ve learned the car business from Al, so it’s almost impossible for me not to be like him,” says Kris. “You could go to 20 or so other Chrysler dealerships in the Toronto area and buy the exact vehicles there. So what sets us apart? It’s customer service, being upfront and straightforward with people.”

Still, says Al, the two have different styles. “I’m more forgiving than Kris, who is more results-oriented and has a focus on performance and accountability.”

Scott Vickers took a somewhat circuitous route to owning his father’s Ford dealership, Summit Ford, on Carrier Dr. at Hwy. 27 between Albion Rd. and Finch Ave. He studied business at Sheridan College and got work experience outside the car business.

“I worked in a marina for a couple of years. I worked at a fibreglass shop and a tire shop. I had my own painting business for three years. I sold office equipment for a year. So I tried different things,” Scott says.

He started full time at his dad’s dealership in 1978 and bought out his father, Lou, in 1983.

Lou sold cars at a GM dealership and then Thorncrest Ford before buying a Ford dealership in 1968 at Hwy. 7 and Martin Grove Rd., in Woodbridge. In 1972, he built the current dealership.

Although he’s now running the place, Scott says he still does a few things like his late father.

“Management by walking around hasn’t changed. My dad was famous for it. He was a clean freak and he’s passed that down. All this simple, basic stuff you never forget,” he laughs. “First and foremost, it’s a people business, and that hasn’t changed.”

Future gazing

The three dealersvery similar views on where the retail car industry is headed.

Vickers expects dealerships will get physically smaller, given the soaring cost of real estate.

“There are some places in the world where dealerships look like an oversized gas station, with two or three cars in the showroom and four or five cars outside. The service facility and inventory are two or three kilometres away, on cheaper real estate.”

Carmichael agrees the current model of 65,000 square feet and all the cars on display is not necessary anymore; nor does it work.

“The cost of real estate is so high. I’m sitting on eight acres and that could become many different things. It could be five dealerships, it could be 500 stacked townhomes, or 22 levels of three different office towers.”

Both Vickers and Carmichael also expect dealers will eventually sell vehicles from multiple manufacturers.

Rams suggests technology will be a major driving force in the future of the car business.

“The biggest difference is the Internet, and how we can use the powers of the Internet to do business going forward,” he says. “Rather than having to come to car dealership lots, on the Internet, you can search out exactly what you’re looking for.”

Vickers agrees. “When I got in the car business, we were doing the contracts by hand because we didn’t have computers,” he says. “Now we do e-business and use social media. You’ve always got to try to learn and do new things — and be open to new things.” [reviews-news-gallery id=1]

Like father, like son for dealers

Driving in snowstorm

A hundred years ago this year, RCMP Commissioner A. Bowen Perry sought permission to buy the force’s first automobiles for general patrol duty.

He was turned down. He re-submitted the request each year until it was approval was approved and the first car arrived in 1916. It was a McLaughlin-Buick delivered to the Regina headquarters of the Royal North West Mounted Police, as the RCMP was then called.

By 1920, there were 33 cars and trucks and 28 motorcycles in the fleet. By 1928, RCMP cruisers (mainly Fords and McLaughlin-Buicks) finally outnumbered horses. Mechanics had to be hired to care for the fleet, and driving lessons were needed for the many officers who had never been behind the wheel of a car.

More: <a href="http://www.wheels.ca/news/driving-rcmp-recruits-to-be-better-behind-the-wheel/">Driving RCMP recruits to be better behind the wheel</a>

More: <a href="http://www.wheels.ca/news/cop-car-collector-celebrates-his-nostalgia/">Cop-car collector celebrates his nostalgia</a>

Today, the RCMP has a fleet of more than 11,000 cars, trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles and buses (including 217 hybrids). The most popular patrol car is the Ford Crown Victoria. There are about 2,800 in service. The model was recently cancelled.

There are also pickup trucks (used in rural areas and for towing) and sport utility vehicles, including Ford Expeditions and Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes, in both two- and four-wheel-drive models.

The large and diverse fleet is required for provinces outside Ontario and Quebec, where the RCMP doubles as the provincial police force, and patrols highways.

“Pickups and SUVs are used in the north and in rural areas, and sedans are used more in urban policing,” said Sgt. Julie Gagnon, the force’s media relations officer in Ottawa

By the 1930s, Ford was a popular choice for patrol cars. A 1934 advertisement in the RCMP’s magazine shows a Mountie, with his gun drawn, beside a Ford sedan.

“When lives hang in the balance, the Ford V-8 gives you a real advantage,” the ad copy reads. “Before you buy a new car, it will pay you to compare the Ford V-8’s top speed and acceleration with any other car practical for patrol duty. You can expect the Ford V-8 to excel in any test you care to make — flashing performance, rugged stamina, long life, dependability and economy.”

As more personal cars hit the roads in the late 1930s, police cruisers were needed, not only to chase criminals, but to enforce traffic laws. The first RCMP highway patrol started in Manitoba in 1937, with a fleet of five vehicles.

There were limitations: there were no patrols during the winter because of poor road conditions, and the only way to communicate with headquarters was to stop periodically and find a public telephone.

Starting in 1951, RCMP cars were painted black, with white doors. In 1974, they changed to blue with white doors. Since 1994, vehicles have been all white. (One colour is less expensive, and the vehicles have a higher resale value once they’re retired from service, typically after three years or 180,000 km.)

The emergency light packages have also changed over the years. In the 1950s, RCMP cars had one flashing light (known as a cherry) in the middle of the roof. In the 1970s, two cherries were standard. In 1980, a new light bar arrived from a company in New York. It was essentially a rectangular box across the entire roof with two enclosed lights that would flash.

“There’s one motor in the middle, and it drove the two lights at each side, connected by a nylon belt,” explains Sgt. Alain LeBlanc of Regina. “But on the Prairies, the belt would freeze up solid in the winter. So, you’ve got a big car crash, you’ve got to get there fast, but guess what? Your lights would light up, but they wouldn’t turn.”

The light bars were removed and shipped to British Columbia detachments, where the climate was a bit warmer.

LeBlanc was stationed in Nova Scotia in 1988, when the first air-conditioned patrol cars arrived.

“We were excited to get air-conditioning,” he recalls. “Before that, you had to roll your windows down in the summer. When you have to be in a car for six to eight hours with the windows down, it’s not comfortable. And . . . you couldn’t hear the police radio with the siren blaring and the wind blowing, and you’re driving 130 km/h.”

Although most cruisers have been full-sized sedans, there was a move to add a few high-performance and fuel-efficient cars in the 1980s.

Highway patrol in Regina acquired two high-performance Ford Mustangs on a trial basis for a year in 1986. With a fuel-injected turbo 5.0-litre engine, the Mustang could reach 185 km/h. And there were no lights or sirens on the roofs, as they would catch the wind and reduce performance.

The force also had eight Chevrolet Camaros in use from 1992 to 2002, with a special police package.

“The Camaro outperformed the Mustang,” says Cpl. Sean Chiddenton of Regina. “With a bigger engine and longer wheelbase, the Camaro was faster and handled better. It’s absolutely my favourite police car I have ever had the privilege to drive.”

“They were able to close the distance before most people even realized they were being pulled over. They were almost invisible because of the few numbers. People just did not associate them as police cars and were not looking for them when driving.”

The muscle cars were soon put out to pasture, Chiddenton says.

“The pursuit vehicles were expensive to purchase, maintain, and, with the exception of B.C., were limited by the weather and season, so they were not the most practical cars.”

The reliable Crown Victoria soon developed into a much better performer.

“The Crown Victorias of today would easily outperform the first 5.0 L Mustangs the RCMP purchased,” says Chiddenton. “The engine puts out more horsepower, the suspension is better, and, with bigger tires and rims, they handle better.”

Now that Ford has stopped making the Crown Vickies, police departments are searching for new rides.

“We anticipate a 20- to 30-per-cent fuel savings on the newer V6 motors, compared to the older V8 Ford Crown Victoria workhorse,” says Gagnon. “While the motors are smaller, they actually produce higher horsepower, and will deliver the same or better power at lower fuel costs.”

He adds the force will continue to test out new technologies (such as hybrids) as they evolve — just as it did 100 years ago. [reviews-news-gallery id=1]

Mounties quick to adopt horseless carriage

Cpl. Brad Lisson loves to collect old cars. He owns 11 that once patrolled the highways.

Lisson's love for cars began when he was a boy — his father was a mechanic. When he was a teenager, the younger Lisson learned about cars by working in service stations.

As an officer of the New Brunswick Highway Patrol, Lisson started a love affair with police cars that he took with him when he joined the RCMP in 1989.

“Old police cars are nostalgic and something really different. When you take them to car shows, people can relate to them, because they remember police cars,” he says.

Cars are a hobby and a job for Lisson, a facilitator and trainer at the RCMP's police driving unit at the national training headquarters in Regina.

“What really impresses me is they always handle extremely well. The suspension, the larger tires, the lower-profile tires, the heavy-duty sway bars, the heavy-duty shocks and springs mean the cars' rides and handling are really superior.

“It's a four-door sports car, really; you feel close to the driving experience,” he adds.

In his youth in the 1970s, Lisson drove such cars hard and disposed of them, as many did.

“I used to have a Pontiac Trans-Am for my daily driver. Every winter I'd put it away and go to the government auctions and buy a cheap, $1,000 or $1,500 ex-police car, drive it for the winter, and then sell it in the spring. I did that every year for about 10 years.”

But he started keeping the ones he bought. Now, he has 11 of them. It started when he bought a car he used to drive on the job.

“I was a police officer with the New Brunswick Highway Patrol, a provincial police force, and we all got fired in 1989 (when the force was disbanded). The car that I drove went to auction, and I thought it would be kind of nostalgic to buy that car,” he says.

It was a 1986 New Brunswick Highway Patrol Ford Crown Victoria. Next, Lisson bought a 1985 Dodge Diplomat. It had been an unmarked RCMP car. Then he found a 1980 Plymouth Grand Fury used by Saskatchewan RCMP.

Lisson now has three former RCMP Ford Mustangs, two of them 1986 models, the other a 1991.

He's now restoring one of them.

Lisson has a 1996 high-performance LT-1 Chevrolet Caprice, which was used by Alberta RCMP. With an engine that had earlier been in Corvettes, the car is fun to drive, and, Lisson says, “very tight.”

He also has a 1983 Chevrolet Malibu and 1992 and 2002 Chevrolet Camaros, the latter from the Florida Highway Patrol.

Lisson also has a truck in his collection, a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe two-wheel drive.

“They stopped making the Caprice after 1996, so GM came out in 1997 with the Tahoe police edition and they hoped it would be a replacement for the Caprice. But it didn't really sell that well.”

Lisson likes his 1986 Mustangs best, because they were the first of that model the RCMP bought. They represent the first step by the RCMP into really high-performance cars.

“Even though they may not be the fastest car by today's standards, they're still fun to drive,” he says.

Next on his list, if he can get one: a late 1970s Chevy Nova. [reviews-news-gallery id=1]

Cop-car collector celebrates his nostalgia 

Choosing a car at dealership. Thoughtful grey hair man in formalwear leaning at the car and looking away

Choosing a car at dealership.

It’s the scariest car ride I’ve ever taken. Memories of the roughest rides on the Exhibition midway come flooding back. My stomach is doing cartwheels. My fingers are digging into the sides of the seat. My knuckles turn white.

Behind the wheel of this big, white Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor sits Cpl. Brad Lisson, a driving instructor with the police driving unit at the RCMP depot division in Regina. I’m riding shotgun.

And what a ride it is!

My thick shoulder belt holds me tightly in the front passenger seat. It digs into my left shoulder, then my right one, over and over again, as the car lurches from side to side.

More: <a href="http://www.wheels.ca/news/cop-car-collector-celebrates-his-nostalgia/">Cop car collector celebrates his nostalgia</a>

The tires squeal and smoke. The engine and transmission grunt and groan. Lisson jams the brake pedal on, and we shoot to an abrupt halt. He floors the gas pedal and we take off. The mighty Crown Victoria is pushed to its limits.

These cars are used to being pushed. The Police Interceptor version of the Crown Victoria differs from the civilian version. It has a better cooling system, a higher-compression engine, higher top speed, more ground clearance and heavy-duty shock absorbers.

Cpl. Lisson is in complete control of the car.

He weaves the big, powerful Crown Vic around pylons, over hills and through hairpin turns at high speeds as if it were a two-seater sportscar. “There are only three ways you can control a car: gas, brakes or steering. We teach the basics of smooth acceleration, smooth braking and smooth steering.”

Lisson demonstrates how to make quick turns safely, how to back into a garage or narrow alley, how to drive safely through a red light at an intersection if you must, which entails driving into the on-coming lane.

He has obviously done this many times over. He shifts smoothly into reverse, then carefully, and extremely quickly, backs through sets of pylons. The orange cones seem to be moving faster and faster and getting closer and closer. Miraculously, he doesn’t touch a single cone.

Meanwhile, Lisson is explaining what new recruits go through. They fill out a form indicating how much driving experience they have, what kinds of vehicles they drive, and how they assess their own driving. In the first 12 weeks of their training, they’re out on the test track three times.

“We don’t teach people how to drive. We try to convert them from a civilian driver, where you go from point A to point B, to a police driver, where you have to drive from point A to point B, but you have to be observant because you’re doing policing duties.

“There are lots of tasks inside the car, like talking on the police radio, and operating the lights and siren. There may be a prisoner in the back seat. Officers may have to be thinking about what to do when they get to the location of the call, and how they’re going to coordinate with other emergency vehicles that’ll be there.”

Recruits must drive through the circuit on each of the three tracks within a certain time, without crossing painted lines or knocking over pylons. Or they need more coaching and practice until they can do it with complete success.

Despite their intense driver training, RCMP officers do get in accidents.

“The biggest reason why police officers get in trouble is because they get distracted. which is the same as for everyone. Police officers have more distractions in their cars and they have to learn to deal with them. Police officers get into collisions for the same reasons as anyone; it’s inattentive driving and poor decision-making.

“We can’t teach common sense.” [reviews-news-gallery id=1]

Dale Johnson

Articles by Dale Johnson

Arnold O’Donnell, A long life in the fast lane

Like father, like son for dealers

Mounties quick to adopt horseless carriage

Cop-car collector celebrates his nostalgia

Driving RCMP recruits to be better behind the wheel