1925 Star Special Sedan

Owned by Gerald Eckland of North Central British Columbia, Canada

Let me tell the story of my Star

A lady in Burns Lake B.C. by the name of Mrs. Lister apparently bought this car new. She was a widow with a boyfriend by the name of Charles Wilson. They were to be married and just before the wedding was to take place, Mrs. Lister apparently got cold feet and left town, but before she did she sold the Star to my father M.H. Eckland. Charles Wilson was heart broken and began trying to buy the Star as it was the only thing that he knew of that was left to provide him with a memory of his lost love. My father kept the car and drove it for several years. In 1946 he finally relented to Charlie’s constant pleadings and sold the Star to him for $55.00 Charlie took the car home and parked in a shed. Every year he would go out and turn it over to make sure it did not seize up.

Over the years as people found out that he had the car, he had many offers to buy it at some fairly handsome prices, but he always refused as he had promised my Dad that if he ever decided to sell it, he would give him the first chance to buy it. In 1965, 2 weeks before Charlie died, we got a letter from him in the mail. It said ” Helmer, if you want to buy the Star back, you had better come and get it “. I was the one who wanted the Star as I was 17 years old at the time and as most young boys, very interested in old cars. My Dad and I went visit Charlie and the negotiations began. Charlie said, ” Well Helmer, you sold me the Star in 1946 for $55.00, so considering the wear and tear and depreciation over the years, I will have to have $45.00 for it now. He also made us promise that we would never sell it to anyone out of the area. We made the promise, paid the man and took the Star home.

It did not take me long to get it running. The roof and the upholstery were in perfect shape, but it needed a little body work and a paint job. I drove the Star in the 1967 Canada Centennial parade. I never did the body work or the paint job. My job as a Machinist took me away from home for several years. I had the car in a shed, but while I was gone, someone took it out of the shed and piled boards on top of it. When I next saw the Star several years later, the roof had rotted and the upholstery was mice eaten and rotten.

I have taken it with me from that point forward and always had the intentions of restoring it. I am now semi-retired and have a nice little machine shop at home, so I have finally decided to start the restoration 40 years after I bought the car. I have quite a project on my hand, but the time and a lot of TLC it can and will be done.

Yours truly,
Gerald H. Eckland