The Car that Wouldn't Float

Seniors Choice January 2007 - Joel Rickard - In order to begin my January tale of the missing McLaughlin Buick we need to go back to 1928. That year the good people of Vernon decided to hold an Ice Carnival, as that was one of the years that the Lake froze. Now I know the story is true because a teacher, who was a witness, told an RCMP skin diver, who told a gold miner named Barry, who told me! That year a car salesman had ordered in a brand new McLaughlin Buick for a very well off local lumber baron. The salesman had made all the arrangements to have the car shipped from the factory to Vernon. Accordingly, the car was off loaded from the S.S. Sicamous on her last trip of the season to the Vernon docks. The brand new car, a beautiful convertible, was there awaiting its new owner but alas, the very angry logger informed the embarrassed salesman that he had ordered a RED McLaughlin, and NOT a YELLOW ONE! No matter how hard the salesman tried to appease the buyer with offers of discounts and paint, the man remained firm. The answer was simply NO! Giving up on the stubborn lumber baron, the salesman then tried to sell the car locally, but no one else had the money to buy it. What to do? Upon hearing of the Ice Carnival, the resourceful salesman got the bright idea to drive it out on the ice and hopefully get the attention of anyone with enough ready funds to be interested in buying this beautiful car. It all began well, and certainly everyone at the Carnival was delighted with the opportunity to enjoy looking at such an exotic luxury car. The salesman enjoyed himself driving back and forth along the edge of the crowd and then the unthinkable happened. Slowly, slowly the ice under the wheels began to crack. The salesman had only enough time to jump to safety and then he, the crowd and the teacher watched as the wonderful yellow car disappeared beneath the ice. There was no way, in 1928, to retrieve such a heavy vehicle, even in the springtime when the water was low. The car salesman, it seems, gave up and left town. The people who had witnessed the sinking thought no more about it, and gradually it was forgotten. Then, one day, the teacher told the skin diver, who was only mildly interested. However, when the teacher passed away the diver realized he might well be the only one who knew the story. Now he was curious enough to follow it up and, according to my friend, he went out and he found the car. According to the diver it was 'about 35 feet further out than the milfoil grew and just adjacent to one of the docks on the east side of the Lake. He described it as being snuggled up to a large fallen tree, which explained why it could not be seen from the surface. It seems it is now all covered in silt, but still showing 74 miles on the odometer. My friend Barry, the gold prospector, was always very secretive about the locations of any mineral deposits, but he just found the story of the sunken Buick amusing. That treasure he was willing to share. He also mentioned that the R.C.M.P. skin diver had passed away later on that year and never did go back to retrieve any parts of the car. So, there you go. A brand new yellow McLaughlin Buick with 74 original miles on it is sitting about 68 feet (as milfoil usually grows out to 32-36 feet deep) out from shore close to Vernon on the east arm of Okanagan Lake. It lies beside a very large sunken tree just out from one of the old landings the S.S Sicamous docked at. Many of the parts were made out of wood like the tire rims and spokes and the dash so it may be a tad the worse for wear but, how many people do you know who own a 1928 McLaughlin Buick Convertible? Now the next time you go for a drive...or a boat ride, remember this story. There is a lot more in our Okanagan Lake than Ogopogo. Let me wish you all a very Happy New Year - and good treasure hunting!

 

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