Tyler Lindberg of Waldo BC, bought the 1935 Maple Leaf truck in Fernie.  He and his wife, Ida, went on their honeymoon in this truck.

• In the 1930s Tyler got paid 1 cent for each Christmas tree.  He cut them in the bush around Waldo and delivered them to Cranbrook.

• Trucks like this sold for approx $1250 new

• Bob Nairn restored most of the cab and B.C.I.T. did all the motor and driveline.

• The Canadian Division of General Motors, la Compagnie General Motors du Canada, was founded in 1918 and recently had a annual revenue of $31.675 billion and employed 10,000 workers.

•  Here is what a print ad for the Maple Leaf said about the 1935 2 Ton model:

• 1 Improved Front End Appearance

• 2 More Powerful Special Tuck Engine

• 3 Truck-Type Hydraulic Brakes

• 4 Improvced Truck Clutch and 4 speed Transmission

• 5 Bigger and Wider Truck Bodies

• 6 Heavier Frames with Alligator-Jaw Cross Members.

• 7 Longer Wheelbases for Better Load Distribution and Greater Payload Capacity.

• 8 Improved Full-Floating Rear Axle-Rugged Auxillary Springs.

• It also claims Here is the most economical solution to more than 80% of Heavy Duty hauling problems! The Improved maple Leaf Heavy Duty Chassis is conservatively rated at 2 tons; with the addition of the GMC TT-218 Semi-Trailer, it offers a complete, dependable unit for hauling loads up to 5 ton at the very lowest ton-mile cost.

• The 1935 Maple Leaf Trucks have been completely redesigned; Wheelbase have been increased to 141″ and 164″;Lockheed Hydraulic truck brakes are offered on all models.

• Investigate the New Owner Service Policy and GMAC terms before you buy any heavy duty truck.

Specs for the 1935 Maple Leaf Truck Job S Model 16-48:

2-ton capacity

165” wheel base

Carburetor – Tillotson YR2 Made in Toledo

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Specs for the 1935 Maple Leaf Truck Job S Model 16-48:

2-ton capacity

165” wheel base

Starter – Allison

Generator – Delco Remy

Carburetor – Tillotson YR2 Made in Toledo

Other models for 1935:

EB ½ TON COMMERCIAL CHASSIS 112

QA 1½ TON CHASSIS SINGLE WHEELS 131

QB 1½ TON CHASSIS DUAL WHEELS 131

QC 1½ TON CHASSIS SINGLE WHEELS 157

QD 1½ TON CHASSIS DUAL WHEELS 157

It’s genesis is with the McLaughlin Motor Car Company, started by Samuel McLaughlin and William C. Durant in 1907. An initial 15 year contract was signed for Durant’s Buick to provide power trains for  McLaughlin. McLaughlin was a long running carriage maker in Canada and was putting the drivetrains into his carriages, adding bodies and selling the cars as McLaughlin’s for the duration of the contract. They then became McLaughlin-Buick from 1923 to 1942.

In the mid 1800’s a young farmer, Robert McLaughlin lived on a farm in Tyrone, Ontario. He had cleared the land himself with an axe that was made with a handle McLaughlin made himself. He went on to sell axe handles in Bowmanville  but decided to build a horse-drawn sleigh like the one he saw in an old carriage cataloque.  Relying on the philosophy that “One Grade Only And That The Best” McLaughlin soon had a farm wagon workshop,  then a carriage plant in Oshawa and then branches across the country.

One of McLauglins sons was a chemist who started the Canada Dry Company while the other two sons became partners with their father. With the new century just starting, the company bookkeeper took the sons for a ride in his automobile and they started persuading their Father to build a horseless carriage.

The senior McLaughlin wanted nothing to do with these new fangled devices so the two sons looked into it on their own. By 1905 the Buick was choosen to be the car built by the McLaughlins. Financially they could not do it without their father’s backing, but the Senior McLaughlin consented and the McLaughlin Motor Car Company was started.

Their engineered got seriously ill right when production was to start, and eventually  Durant waas contacted to send an engineer to help out. By 1908, 154 cars were built with Buick running gear and called McLaughlins.

In a mutually beneficial stock swap the General Motors Holding Company was formed when Durant swapped $500,000 of Buick stock for the same amount of McLaughlin Motor Co. stock. McLaughlin then swapped his Buick stock for the newly formed General Motors and then in 1910 was on the board of General Motors in Detroit.

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McLaughlin started the Chevrolet Car Company of Canada in 1915 which built Canadian Chevys with Chevrolet Engines and McLaughlin bodies. He merged his company with the Canadian Chevrolet company to form General Motors of Canada Limited in 1918.

Then Robert McLaughlin was given GM Stocks and GM took over the Canadian company. General Motors of Canada had their first offices on Richmond Street in Oshawa and all McLaughlin plants were taken over by GM.

A Financial Post story of September 23, 1933 reported McLaughlin was to get $10,000,000 and build a Chevrolet Maple Leaf truck in Canada for sale in Canada as a rebadged Chevrolet with minor trim changes. They also were to manufacture McLaughlin Buick and other GM based vehicles for Canada and export internationally.

An interesting bit of “Madmen” antics is that after Buick won the First race at the Indianapolis Speedway, McLaughlin’s advertising men wanted to change the name to cash in on the fame of Buick. Soon sales declined so the car was re named McLaughlin-Buick.

Canadians liked the quality machines and when GM decided to build Chevrolets in Toronto, McLaughlin was worried about the competition. Some of the large US stock holders also had faith in the McLaughlins so they were given the Chevrolet to build. Part of this deal was for the McLaughlin Carriage business to be given to GM and the elder McLaughlin reluctantly agreed because he did not think the carriage business was over yet.

The “Canadian Chevys” had a certain flair with Sam McLaughlin’s designed bodies and were finished with superior paints and materials than the US built Chevys. Strangely in 1918 with all this success, the two sons George and Sam had no interest in carrying on in the automotive business and after a 5 minute meeting with GM Brass it was decided GM would by the McLaughlins out.

In an other odd twist, the one condition GM wanted was the two brothers stay on to manage the company. Sam remained was president until 1945.

Some other minor things to note on the Maple Leaf trucks, many were exported to Australia and other commonwealth countries, some as TKD, total knock downs and reassembled at their destination country. Some years a 170″ wheelbase was offered on Maple Leafs and not Chevys. Maple Leafs were sold at Pontiac dealers, similar to the later Acadians and Beaumonts .

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Canada

http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/corporate/about/ourhistory/detail

http://hotrod.gregwapling.com/chevrolet/1931to1938.html

http://www.gregwapling.com/hotrod/chev-trucks-47-55/canadian-chev.html