The car came back, it just couldn’t stay away.
The first car ever registered in Ashcroft rolled back into town recently - a 1911 McLaughlin Buick, owned and driven by Isaac Lehman, who lived in the Hat Creek area.
Current owner Jerry Wallin said he found it in a farmyard in Clearwater about 20 years ago. The owner was sending it to an auction south of the border. Wallin said he couldn’t let the old beauty leave the country so he and wife Vicky bought it and did a little restoration.
The Canadian-built McLaughlin cost $1,500 brand new in 1911 - $1,475 if you didn’t want the doors. The roof and windshield were extras.
One hundred years later, the car is still the talk of the town in Ashcroft.
– Ashcroft/Cache Creek Journal