Alberta border crossing in the "ugly van"

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piyeguyo
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 9:55 am
Vehicle: 1991 Super Exceed
Location: Calgary, AB

Alberta border crossing in the "ugly van"

Post by piyeguyo »

This past long weekend I had to go to Montana to meet somebody and did my first border crossing driving the Deli. Going to the US was easy and quiet and the guy told me he's seen vans like mine in Saudi Arabia when he was with the army.

Lots of head turning, people waving and smiling in Montana, but I think they'd still prefer a big ol' Ford truck down there.

One thing I didn't like were the very strong winds in the highways. I thought the van was going to roll, specially when big trucks were coming the other way; but I found out that if I dropped the speed to 100 kms or less just before a big truck would come, then it'd be fine. A little scary anyway...

On the way back to Canada the guard at the border was not very nice but I guess it's due to the fact that it's a busy border and a lot of people import cars from the US, and he thought I was importing the van from the US and he asked and asked questions about what he called, that "ugly van"... :x

No sir, I am not importing this van from the US. No modifications, no work done and I bought the van in Calgary. The only new thing on the van are those spots you see right there from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that mi kids were eating earlier today... (It's actually "Goober", something we always get in the US, because we can't get it in Calgary) :-)
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mararmeisto
Posts: 3276
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:00 am
Vehicle: 2018 Ram EcoDiesel
Location: Dartmouth, NS

Re: Alberta border crossing in the "ugly van"

Post by mararmeisto »

Weird how the Canadian crossing guards tend to be more surly than the American ones.

I too have found the highway buffeting to be a bit much at speed. I'm used to it though because I used to drive a... I know, it's humiliating... a Pontiac Firefly (oh, that almost hurt to admit that), and it was the same thing (only in a much smaller car).

And that border guard obviously hasn't seen some of the offerings by Citroen, or Morris, or Lada. Or how about this three-wheel jobbie?
Lane-Auto-Museum-04.jpg
Lane-Auto-Museum-04.jpg (166.2 KiB) Viewed 26781 times
Now that's was an ugly van! Unique, but ugly.
JPL
I still miss my '94 Pajero!
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Jester
Posts: 267
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:37 pm
Vehicle: Delica

Re: Alberta border crossing in the "ugly van"

Post by Jester »

mararmeisto wrote: Now that's was an ugly van! Unique, but ugly.




I'd drive it...
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The Pinkfingers
Posts: 483
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:55 pm
Member's Photo Album: http://www.delica.ca/Photos/
Vehicle: '94 Exceed
Location: North Van, BC

Re: Alberta border crossing in the "ugly van"

Post by The Pinkfingers »

Jester wrote:
mararmeisto wrote: Now that's was an ugly van! Unique, but ugly.




I'd drive it...
Me too! That would be a head turner for sure. My kids would love it.
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