http://www.impalass427.com/67engine.htm



Just another chapter in 67HEAVEN. :D

 

 

Should have bought five Biscaynes. :cry

 

Back in the late '60s, I rode around in (as passenger) and raced against (a couple of times) a very nice '66 L-72 in a car that most of you will find hard to believe.

1966 Pontiac Parisienne Convertible, silver, black interior, bench seat, 4-speed, FACTORY L-72.......built in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and sold locally.

Sweet ride in a b-i-g convertible. :yesnod: (Equivalent to the Catalina.....but built on a Chevy chassis and drivetrain).

Yep, Canadian Pontiac with a factory L-72. :cheers:




[Modified by 67HEAVEN, 10:18 PM 9/4/2002]

 

Solidlifters,

The '68 sounds great... Regardless of how it started life.

I can appreciate your position. I've been looking for a nice '69 L-72 Biscayne (four speed) for many years now and think that I've discovered perhaps five in all the time that I've been looking. The car that I mentioned in my previous post was a real disappointment; I had spoken to the previous owner on several occasions and he assured me that I would be the first person he called if and when it was sold. I was more than a bit surprised (and disappointed) when I saw the car and its new owner at a recent show. Pretty much puts me back to square one at this point.

I also know what you mean about parts. Finding parts for the big Chevys after 1966 or so is next to impossible. Corvette and Camaro owners don't know how good they have it with the extensive parts aftermarket that's available. You're pretty much forced to purchase parts cars and strip them of the items that you need. That still doesn't deter me from finding one... Apparently it didn't slow you down either!

67HEAVEN,

The L-72 Parisienne (Catalina) wouldn't surprise me... You Canadian guys always like to do things a bit differently! ;)

Bumped into a guy about three or four years ago that had a thing for Beaumonts... I'm sure that you know what a Beaumont is, but for the non-Canadians here, it's basically a Canadian built and marketed Chevelle. Very different in many ways from the US versions... Pontiac interiors... Odd trim pieces... High performance models referred to as "SD 396" rather than "SS 396"... And so it goes. I seem to remember that the Beaumont was sold as a Pontiac... Is that correct, or am I off base on that one?

I also recall the Acadian (Nova), but I don't recall ever seeing or hearing about a high performance model.

A factory built L-72 Pontiac... Pretty interesting stuff.

Regards,

 

We did have some unusual cars built just for this market. You're correct. The Beaumont SD396 was the "twin of the Chevelle SS396. And, the high performance model of the Acadian (Nova) was the Canso Sport Deluxe. Just like the Nova, they could be ordered with the L-79 327/350hp in 1966.

Here's a brief history lesson on Canadian Pontiacs. For some reason, General Motors decided not to export American Pontiacs to Canada in the 1950s and 1960s. Instead, GM took Chevrolet vehicles and re-badged (and in the case of the full-sized cars re-fendered) them to be sold through the Pontiac dealers in Canada.

Due to our smaller population (1/10th of U.S.) GM dealers were generally divided into two categories, with some exceptions. Category 1: The dealer would sell Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Cadillac cars and Chevrolet trucks. Category 2: The dealer would sell the Pontiac, Buick cars and GMC trucks.

I guess GM figured that since some people were happy to buy Chevy trucks rebadged as GMC (or vice-versa for you GMC hounds :D ), they might also be happy to buy Chevrolet cars rebadged as Pontiacs.

What remains a secret (from me at least) is why they didn't just bring the American Pontiac line into Canada. I'm trying to imagine how engineering and manufacturing all that additional Canadian Pontiac trim, grills, tailights, dashes, etc. could generate cost savings. But, at least in the Acadian (Nova) and Beaumont (Chevelle) lines, the body was the same.

In the case of the full-sized cars, they tried to duplicate the appearance of the American models, but on a Chevy chassis. Therefore, without the Pontiac widetrack chassis, they had to re-engineer body panels to fit too!!!!!! How was this a cost savings?

Then there was all the additional shop manuals, parts inventory, printed material, advertising, etc. :crazy:

Who knows the answer? Why did GM not just sell the full-sized American Pontiac line in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s?

You couldn't buy a Star Chief, Catalina, Ventura, Bonneville or Grand Prix in Canada in those days. What you could buy were Strato Chief, Laurentian, Parisienne and Grande Parisienne.

By the way, Ford did it too........


Look at that grill on the '56 "FORD".......not! It's a Meteor. http://www.canadianclassics.ca/notes.shtml

Sorry if I've bored you guys with this stuff. :blueangel:





[Modified by 67HEAVEN, 10:04 AM 9/5/2002]