Patrick (Paddy) O'Reilly of Freshwater often publicly claimed that his father, Denis, had the first car in Argentia. That claim, however, is completely untrue. Denis O'Reilly was not even one of the first three car owners in Argentia. The age of the motor vehicle reached Argentia when Father Adrian Dee brought a new 1923 Model T Ford from St. John's in July 1924.

Philip (Long Phil) O'Reilly brought the second car to Argentia in August 1924. Like Father Dee's car, it was a 1923 Model T Ford. Anthony Smith brought the third car to Argentia in July 1925. Smith's car was a 1925 Ford Coupe. In 1926, Frank Cleary brought a 1925 Dodge to Argentia. In 1928, Denis O'Reilly and Joachim Murray both brought 1928 Chryslers to Argentia. Cars were such a high-priced luxury that, by 1941, there were only six of them in Argentia.

Since there was no service station in the community, car owners had 45-gallon steel drums of gasoline, usually two at a time, shipped to Argentia by train from St. John's. They used manual pumps to transfer the gas from the drums to their cars.