The Kelowna Museums Society is trying to find a new home for a 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood limousine that served as former B.C. premier W.A.C. Bennett’s chauffeured vehicle during his final term in office.
The museum said in a social media post it is hoping to transfer or donate the low-slung black limo, which remains in good condition, to another public institution in B.C. because the society can no longer afford to store it.
“The Cadillac was used by [then] premier Bennett as he conducted official business across the province,” said the museum. “Some B.C. residents expressed upset over the purchase of the car, though it became recognizable and associated with the premier, and the site of many meetings and transactions.
“The premier didn’t like to fly and this was his main mode of transportation.”
After Bennett lost to NDP premier Dave Barrett in 1972, the Cadillac stayed in government hands for several years before it was bought by the B.C. Museum of Transportation, Science and Industry in New Westminster in the 1980s.
The limo went to the Royal B.C. Museum for a time, then was given to the Kelowna Centennial Museum (now Kelowna Museums Society) in the early 1990s.
Jillian Povarchook, the executive director of Kelowna Museums, said the Cadillac has precisely 98,653 miles on the odometer, a few of them put on when the museum lent it to Bennett’s family for special occasions.
Newspaper reports at the time of “Wacky” Bennett’s 1968 purchase indicate it was mildly controversial, or at least that politicians have always called out opponents over every dollar spent by governments.
“Premier W.A.C. Bennett will have a new car on the opening day of the legislature, Jan. 25, he told reporters today,” read a Vancouver Sun story in January 1968. “He said the B.C. Purchasing Commission trades in the premier’s official car once every five years.
“This year, he said, his 1962 Lincoln will be turned in and he will get a 1968 Cadillac. It will be black, as was the Lincoln, and will not be a convertible.”
“I’m not a swinger,” Bennett quipped, who said he didn’t know the exact price but that it was “about $7,500.”
Bennett told the Victoria Daily Times that the Cadillac was actually saving the province money. He said the purchasing commission “called for bids with the trade-in and this year the lowest price was from Cadillac.”
Bennett turned around and became “indignant” when new premier Barrett, who still had access to the limo, bought a new Chevrolet for his personal use in 1972.
Meanwhile, the Social Credit premier’s chauffeur, Ed Dunk, was reassigned as a security officer with the NDP government.
Any institutions interested in the Cadillac can contact Povarchook at [email protected] or curator Amanda Snyder at [email protected].
— With files from Carolyn Soltau
