J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal/ Ford Custom/ Renault 10




Says something  that most of the police organizations in Canada are "service" not "department". Of course, service doesn't alway happen, but...
Aidan O'Neill found these photos. The Renault 10 was the police car used for youth outreach. Friendlier than a Ford, maybe.  These Renault--the 8 and the 10-- were prolific in Montreal in the Sixties though they all fell apart before long and you don't see many around.We posted one for sale at Motorland a while back.
For similar, sometimes quasi-nationaliste solidarity reasons the Renault Cinq was big in Montreal in the late Seventies.
The Custom was big Ford's base model, Interesting that it's a 2-door. Where do you stash the perps, in the trunk? A watch commander's car, peut-etre.

I remember the big switch (1963?) when Mo ray al cop cars went from all-black with a tiny city crest on the door and tiny white lettering "police"--to the same bright blue and white that's on Quebec's flag.
      Below? That's rue de la Montage in the Sixties, which used to be Mountain Street, and was actually named after Bishop Mountain, so the name change really made little sense, except in political terms. Cafe Martin was maybe the best restaurant of the era--from the 1930s through the 1970s. The critic Edmund "Bunny" Wilson loved it, one of the few things Bunny enjoyed about Montreal. Just around the corner from the Ritz-Carlton. A favorite hangout of mes parents.

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