• This is the story of a 1958 Pontiac Pathfinder still in use in Saskatchewan.
• The car still belongs to its original owner, Russell Yasinowksi.
• He bought it at the age of 22 in 1958 so he could take his parents on vacations... and he still drives it today!
There are folks who keep their vehicles for a long time, and then there are those who never part with their first one. That's the case of Saskatchewan man Russell Yasinowski, still driving his Pontiac Pathfinder bought new in 1958, 64 years ago.
This incredible story was recently related by Sasktoday.ca, and we couldn't pass up sharing it with you.
The youngest of 11 children, Russell Yasinowski had a dream as a kid: to save his money to buy a car and use it to take his parents on a vacation, something they’d never had the chance to do.
By 1958, at the age of 22, he had saved up enough money to buy this Pontiac Pathfinder.
“I found a car I liked at Stern Motors in Wynyard,” he recalled to Sasktoday. “It was this 1958 four-door Pontiac Pathfinder. I took my money there in a sock that I had saved it in. I dumped it on John Stroziuk's desk, who was the salesman at Stern Motors in Wynyard at that time. He counted my money, wrote up a bill, and gave me the keys. The car was mine!”
Russell bought the car in the spring and then used it over the summer and fall before heading out on vacation with his parents. He explained that “We went to the United States, including Chicago, and also Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. We were on our way to Toronto, where my sister, brother-in-law and family lived. The next stop was Sudbury, where my brother and his family lived. We hadn't seen him since the 1940s.”
Russell Yasinowski and his parents made the return trip through the Sandilands area, east of Winnipeg, where his parents had first settled and where they married.
“Mom's sister's family and her brother's family were in Sandilands. We then went to Winnipeg where my dad's sister and brother lived with their families. I hadn't met all those cousins, and now I know a lot of cousins, aunts and uncles. Mom and Dad enjoyed the holiday and so did I. My dream came true!”
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A beautiful story in itself. However, what makes it so extraordinary and why we're telling it to you today is that Russell Yasinowski kept the car. And kept it, and kept it. One of the reasons he chose this one was because he thought it was a sturdy car. Imagine that!
This past summer, Russell showed his Pontiac at the Cruisers Car Club Show as part of the Canora Live & Play Street Festival.
Russell Yasinowski and his wife Anne were married in 1959, the year after they bought the car. He says that “It's like a member of the family now. We've had it for dating, our wedding, and our 25th, 50th, 55th and 60th anniversaries."
The car has been well maintained over the years and is still driven regularly. It has a 3-speed automatic transmission and the original 223-hp engine has been rebuilt. The Pontiac has been repainted, respecting the original colours.
Truly, a story like we like ‘em!