It’s common for old-car owners to scour flea markets and find original sales brochures for their vehicles, but Les Graham went beyond that. He owns both the brochure and the car that’s in it.

Graham’s 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire station wagon was originally built for the Canadian auto show circuit, and was used in the photography for brochures and dealer posters.

“I have several postcards and the pamphlet for the new car, and also the dealer poster,” said Graham, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario. “The pictures for the dealer posters were taken at the Botanical Gardens in Burlington [Ontario].”

Having the name Graham made a Studebaker the only choice, he said. His grandfather, Roy Graham, owned Graham’s Garage, a Studebaker dealership in Haydon, Ontario. It remained a repair shop when Studebaker closed its doors in 1966, and when Roy retired, his son Ian Graham — Les’ father — took it over. Ian owns a 1937 Coupe Express and 1961 Hawk, and is building a 1948 convertible; while Les’ brother Darren owns a 1946 Champion Double Dater coupe, so named because it has a back seat.

Les (left) and Anthia (right) with their 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire. Clayton Seams , Driving

Les and Anthia Graham's 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire Clayton Seams , Driving

Les and Anthia Graham's 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire Clayton Seams , Driving

Les and Anthia Graham's 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire Clayton Seams , Driving

Les and Anthia Graham's 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire Clayton Seams , Driving

Les and Anthia Graham's 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire Clayton Seams , Driving

Les' Wagonaire was actually used by Studebaker in their 1966 brochures. Clayton Seams , Driving

Les has all the 1965 auto show press material and brochures of his Wagonaire. Clayton Seams , Driving

Graham wanted a station wagon because “I play upright bass, and I wanted something I could use for my equipment.” The Wagonaire’s most noticeable feature is a sliding roof section over the cargo compartment, which can be opened to carry taller items when required.

Graham put an ad on Kijiji in May of 2015 and got a response from an owner in Kincardine, some 200 kilometres northwest. “Dad and I went up to have a look at the car,” he said. “The guy rolled it out, and with one look at it, Dad leaned over and said, ‘We’re taking this car home.’ It was in near-mint condition. It had been licensed in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where there’s no salt on the roads there, and it only had 43,000 miles on it.”

The car had been restored and the engine rebuilt, and after Graham brought it home in a car hauler, it was a simple matter of mostly just putting a license plate and insurance on it. Like all 1966 Studebakers, this Wagonaire was made in Hamilton, as the company had closed its plant in South Bend, Indiana in December of 1963. The car carries its original Chevrolet 283-cubic-inch V8 engine, with a Borg-Warner three-speed automatic. The Canadian factory didn’t have an engine assembly line, and for the final years, Studebaker had to source its engines elsewhere.

The clues to this Wagonaire’s unusual history started with its build sheet and with a tag on the cowl marked “CNE.” That stands for Canadian National Exhibition, the annual late-summer fair in Toronto that, up to 1967, included an auto show. “This car was specifically built to be in the Auto Show at the CNE in 1965,” Graham said. “The build sheet also said CNE on it.”

The 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire was featured at shows and in brochures. Jil McIntosh , Driving

Les and Anthia Graham with their 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire was featured at shows and in brochures. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire was featured at shows and in brochures. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The Wagonaire's most noticeable feature is its sliding rear roof. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire was featured at shows and in brochures. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The 1966 Studebaker Wagonaire was featured at shows and in brochures. Jil McIntosh , Driving

In its final years, Studebaker bought its engines from Chevrolet, as the Canadian factory didn't manufacture them. Jil McIntosh , Driving

A woodgrain dash panel used on 1966 models is missing from this car, which was originally a 1965 model. Jil McIntosh , Driving

There were few changes from 1965 to 1966 Studebakers, other than trim. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The build sheet listed the car's upholstery as "Experimental Vinyl." Jil McIntosh , Driving

The rear seat folds down for extra cargo space. Jil McIntosh , Driving

The car has two serial numbers. “What we ended up finding out is that it was built as a 1965 and it has the 1965 serial number on the build sheet, which matches the (number on the) frame on the car. But on the build sheet, it’s scratched out, and the 1966 serial number is handwritten in, and that’s the number on the door post. The one on the frame and … the door are different. One’s from 1965 and one’s from 1966, but they only registered the 1966 number. The cars didn’t really change. Everything that changed was trim.”

There were more clues as well, including that the car in the brochure photo had a 1965 dash, which lacked the woodgrain panel added for 1966. “We also noticed that in the pictures, there’s no driver’s-side rearview mirror and no antenna,” Graham said. His car had both when he bought it, but they were aftermarket add-ons.

The car was repainted before Graham got it, and it now has a white roof in place of its original all-green body. The build sheet lists its exterior shade as Gulfstream Turquoise, with some extra numbers typed in afterwards and everything outlined in pencil. “That wasn’t available in any of the colour codes from Studebaker,” Graham said. “It originally had a specially-mixed colour on it. When it was repainted, they went to the closest Studebaker colour.”

The rear seat had been recovered, and Graham replaced the worn front upholstery, which was listed as “Experimental Vinyl” on the build sheet. “From what I understand, the only reason they called it ‘experimental’ was that they used 1966 vinyl on this 1965, and they had to name it something different.”

While he isn’t absolutely sure, Graham believes his car was only used for Canadian shows. A picture of a Wagonaire on display at the Chicago Auto Show has woodgrain and different wheels. “I’m not sure if there was a second one that they sent to the U.S.”

Not long after he got the car, Graham took his now-wife Anthia on their first date in it. “It was a really hot day, and I had all the windows and the roof open. It started to rain, and when I pulled over to close them, she jumped out and started helping me do it. So I knew she was the right girl. But it was her first experience with any old car, and it took a little while for her to figure out why people kept waving at her.”

The Wagonaire was part of their wedding, and took them on their honeymoon to Nashville, Memphis, and to Arab, Alabama, a small town founded by Anthia’s great-great-great grandfather. “When we went to Memphis, we went to Sun Records and to Graceland, and then we went to Beale Street and there was a cruise night,” Graham said. “We pulled up to the gate, but normally they don’t let people in unless they have a pass. They let us in because we’d driven a Studebaker all the way from Ontario.”

They take the Wagonaire to shows, often with their reproduction 1961 Shasta trailer in tow, and it won top of its class at the Studebaker International Meet in South Bend in 2017. “I got it as a restored vehicle, but Dad and I did some mechanical stuff,” he said. “I like having the car as an excuse to hang out with my dad.”