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The Kelowna Museums Society is trying to find a new home for a 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood sedan that served as a chauffeured vehicle for former British Columbia Premier WAC Bennett during his final term in office.

The museum said in a social media post that it would like to transfer or donate the low-slung black sedan, which is still in good condition, to another public institution in British Columbia because the association can no longer afford to store it.

“The Cadillac was used by then-Prime Minister Bennett for his official business throughout the province,” the museum said. “Some British Columbians expressed anger at the purchase of the car, even though it became recognizable and associated with the Prime Minister and the scene of many meetings and transactions.”

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“The Prime Minister did not like flying and this was his main means of transport.”

After Bennett lost to NDP Prime Minister Dave Barrett in 1972, the Cadillac remained in government ownership for several years before being purchased by the BC Museum of Transportation, Science and Industry in New Westminster in the 1980s.

The limousine then went to the Royal BC Museum for a while and was then handed over to the Kelowna Centennial Museum (now Kelowna Museums Society) in the early 1990s.

Jillian Povarchook, executive director of Kelowna Museums, said the Cadillac has exactly 98,653 miles on the clock, with the sedan having clocked up some miles when the museum loaned it to Bennett’s family for special occasions.

Newspaper reports from the time of “Wacky” Bennett’s purchase in 1968 suggest that it was somewhat controversial, or at least that politicians have always taken their opponents to task over every dollar spent by the government.

“Prime Minister WAC Bennett will have a new car on opening day of the legislative session, Jan. 25, he told reporters today,” said a Vancouver Sun article in January 1968. “He said the BC Purchasing Commission replaces the premier’s official car every five years.”

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“This year,” he said, “he’ll be giving up his 1962 Lincoln and getting a 1968 Cadillac. It will be black, like the Lincoln, and not a convertible.”

“I’m not a swinger,” joked Bennett, who didn’t know the exact price but said it was “around $7,500.”

Bennett told the Victoria Daily Times (now the Times Colonist) that the Cadillac actually saved the province money. He said the purchasing committee “had bids with the trade-in vehicle and this year the lowest price came from Cadillac.”

Bennett turned around and was “outraged” when the new Prime Minister Barrett, who still had access to the limousine, purchased a new Chevrolet for his personal use in 1972.

Meanwhile, the chauffeur of the Social Credit Prime Minister, Ed Dunk, has been transferred to the NDP government as a security guard.

Any institution interested in the Cadillac may contact Povarchook at [email protected] or curator Amanda Snyder at [email protected].

With files from Carolyn Soltau

[email protected]

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