MCI seeks Zoltok's first

Do you ever wonder what happened to your first car? Whether your first set of wheels was a '57 Chevy or an '84 Corolla, chances are, you probably hold out some hope that your first wheeled love is tucked away in a warm garage, patiently awaiting a set of "classic" plates. MCI's no different. We know that Harry Zoltok's first coach was sold in 1933 to the Clark Transportation Company of Dauphin, Manitoba, and it is believed to have served admirably all over Manitoba. And that's where the trail grows cold.

Dayna Toth, customer support specialist, has been trying to track down that elusive first coach. She has sniffed out leads, plotted trips, placed ads in small-town newspapers and tapped the knowledge of antique-auto experts. Some of the leads have been nothing less than tantalizing.

One of Toth's first revelations came in the form of James Pearsall, a Packard expert who examined photos of what is assumed to be Zoltok's first coach. He concluded that the coach was specifically built using a second-hand 1929 Sixth Series Standard Eight Packard body, based on the position of a door hinge and details on a rear window. In an e-mail, he called the first and future MCI coach a very well designed bus.

He added, "Whomever designed and built the bus did a magnificent job of blending the body and integrating it with Packard factory styling. This close following of the vehicle's original design is something not seen in other similar commercial vehicles that I have seen photos of, where the primary purpose was to produce something to haul people, and styling was not given too much thought.  Your bus was a truly noteworthy piece of work."

Museum pieces
Toth has also been looking into reported sightings in Manitoba of very old buses that might or might not be the elusive first MCI. One of her earliest leads came from a museum in Austin, Manitoba, of a coach that's approximately the right vintage, but its maker is unknown even to curators. A road trip is in the works, and Toth's team will be walking in with lots of valuable identification tips provided by Pearsall.

Toth's latest tips have been from ads she placed in the Dauphin Herald and the Neepawa Banner. One call came from Fred Winters, son of Earle Winters, a driver for Clark Transportation in the 1930s. He e-mailed some photos of his father with some of the company's earliest coaches, which both Toth and he hoped might include MCI's first coach. One photo is marked "1933." So far, no one has been able to definitively identify the vehicles, much less what happened to them over time, but Toth and her experts are working on it.

More pictures from the past
Toth even heard from Evelyn and Gerald Clark, whose great uncle was Clark Transportation founder Thomas J. Clark. They sent photos as well and are querying other family members about the possible whereabouts of that first coach.

Toth has also heard from some locals that there's an old coach, one that appears to be an old Packard, sitting under a bush somewhere out in the countryside. "They think maybe it's a later model, a six-door," says Toth. "They're not positive, so they're going out to the bush to check."

The search goes on.

The FYI from MCI editorial staff values your feedback. If you have any information that might help MCI in its search for its first coach, or know anyone who might be able to help, please email us at fyi@mcicoach.com.