John English is a member of the Order of Canada, a university professor and a former MP who is $25,000 richer after winning the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing.
He took the top literary prize in March for Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau Vol 2. But he's not spending his winnings on a new car; he's satisfied with his daily driver - a 2008 Acura RL sedan.
"The RL had 4WD and there was one at the local Acura dealer that was discounted. It was a demonstrator - it had 20,000 km on it. The list price was $47,000 and they were offering zero per cent financing. It was the time of the financial crisis so I bargained. The last bonus I got was an extra $2,500 for anyone who had a Mercedes and switches to Acura. They cut $12,000 from what was originally asked, which was already $17,000 off the list price. I took advantage of the financial crisis," says English who is the general editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
English's last car was a Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic - he took over the lease from his wife, when she passed away in 2006. And he gave his other car, a Toyota Camry Hybrid, to his son. He loved the four-wheel-drive system on the Benz and insisted on a new vehicle with a similar system.
"The reason I need 4WD is because I drive a lot back and forth to Toronto. I found it a tremendous advantage on the 401 in the wintertime."
Compared to the Mercedes, he says, the Acura has a nicer ride. "It's a very smooth, even ride, but it is a performance car - it's got a lot of pep to it," says the 65-year-old, who was a Liberal MP for Kitchener, Ont., in the 1990s.
"The Mercedes E350 4WD was a heavy drive. The Acura RL is a Japanese car, but they're copying the German cars and adding even more catches than the Mercedes had."
On the downside, he finds it too busy inside. "It does have a lot of controls and gadgets that quite honestly I haven't used or figured out yet. My son when he drives it likes the cruise control because it judges the distance and slows you down automatically. I've tried it. He uses it effectively, but I haven't caught on how to use it," he laughs.
"Another negative - it's over 300 hp, about 310, and combined with the 4WD the fuel economy on it is not too good."
Aside from the technology and dismal fuel economy, the Acura suits his personality. "It's probably an appropriate car given my age group. When I was in my 40s and I had my mid-life crisis I was driving around in a sports car. I suppose it shows I'm no longer going through a mid-life crisis."
English's first car was a Ford Falcon. "I went to Harvard and had no money at all. There was a Falcon for $200 so I bought it and sold it for $280 two years later to another student. I felt extremely guilty. I was terrified I'd run into him in one of my classes because I was sure it wasn't going to last that much longer. But I made money on my very first car."
Even though the car was a lemon. "Driving home on a larger hill I'd always have to get out. It would overheat and I'd have to put water in it. It was a pretty primitive car," he says.
"The second car I bought was a Volkswagen in 1969 at the factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. I toured Europe during the summer and I paid $1,350 and brought it into the U.S. and didn't pay duty because I was a foreign student so I was proud of myself. There was a loophole in the law.
"I brought it into Canada and didn't pay duty when I came back into Canada. I got lucky with that car," says English who completed his PhD at Harvard University in 1968. He's now a professor of history at the University of Waterloo.
Over the years, he has owned a Honda CR-X, a Nissan 240SX , and several Chrysler vehicles.
"We had a Chrysler in the '80s. We drove to Florida along the I-75 and all of a sudden there was a flash right across the dashboard - the accelerator, the generator, the battery - the entire electrical system went and over the next 20 months it was in the garage at least once a month. Of course, the warranty ran out.
"Finally I said to the dealer, 'I just can't drive this any more. It's bankrupting me!' And he took it back and made a deal for a Chrysler LeBaron. The second one was fine."
English had a clean driving record until recently. "I was driving home on the 401 from Toronto and I slowed down because there were two police cars pulled over on the side of the road. I didn't realize on the multiple lane roads you have to change lanes to the left if you can do so safely and the cop pulled me over and gave me a ticket, which surprised me." The ticket was $400.
"You have to pull to the left - it's in the Highway Traffic Act. When I took my driver's test many years ago there weren't enough four lane roads to even worry about it. I haven't had a ticket in 20 years."
At the moment, English won't part with his Acura. But if he won another award he might consider buying his dream car. "I'd go for a Lamborghini because everyone has a fantasy of having one of those. But I'd probably sell it after six months."
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