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community weblog
Inspiration Achieved
In 19331 a small company on Princess Street started helping Canadians build things. Over the years their catalogue has featured a showcase of customer projects and as of now a 110 are online. The perfect place to see a double decker bus restaurant, CarCamel2 auto transporter, replica Penny Farthing, fire breathing lawn ornament, Star Trek style pneumatic doors, a solar powered houseplant turn table, or Heavy Metal Guitar. But it's Canada so of course there are also dual track snow machines, a half track snow machine, a propeller-driven snowmobile, a ultra-light snowmobile, a snow motorbike, a snow groomer, and a couple zambonis for the backyard indoor rink.
[1] Technically correct (the best kind) though the surplus and tool sales that are now their main focus ramped up in the post war period.
[2] A camel reference in CamelCase
posted by Mitheral on Oct 25, 2026 at 10:21 AM
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The guitar appears to have its own sawtooth-distortion effect built in.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:04 PM
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It gives a new meaning to the term "thrash" metal...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:05 PM
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Princess Auto is often dismissed as the Canadian version of Harbour Freight. I like to look at it as Canadian Tire on acid.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 12:45 PM
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Way over in the shallow end of the pool I fashioned a pretty good flag pole by drilling two holes in a hockey stick. Two carabiners and Gord's yer uncle, and just in time for union convention
posted by runsrealgood at 4:00 PM
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Don't forget that in Winnipeg, you can drink a beer as you walk around the store. (CBC video)
posted by ?! at 4:53 PM
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I want a picture of the fire breathing dragon!!!
posted by BlueHorse at 6:15 PM
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Who doesn't want a Zamboni? I mean, after seeing Deadpool that is.
posted by snapsmack at 6:21 PM
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One opened up the road from me last fall and I checked it out. Definitely not my bag but I salute the Red Green wannabees for whom it is.
posted by Quindar Beep at 4:15 AM
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These are so friggin cool. Sometimes I wish took more pleasure in actually doing these kinds of projects -- those pneumatic doors! -- but I fear for what my house would look like.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:05 AM
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I lived in Winnipeg for a couple of years but had never seen or heard of Princess Auto while I was there. My current office in Toronto has a Princess Auto downstairs so I end up dropping by fairly often. The general odds and ends they have at the back of the store is always fun to look at although it can be hard to determine if something there is actually useful or just junk. Well until you need something they've got there I guess.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:05 PM
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They're the last big player in surplus in Canada. They can track down deals like no-one else.
They also have a Foundation, which does good work in education. They also do surprisingly good social initiatives, but usually very quietly.
Their coffee is legendary. For me, it's more like "is it coffee, or is it molyslip?"
posted by scruss at 5:51 PM
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