Acadian was a make of automobile produced by General Motors of Canada from 1962 to 1971. The Acadian was introduced so that Canadian Pontiac-Buick dealers would have a compact model to sell, since the Pontiac Tempest was not available in Canada. Plans originally called for the Acadian to be based on the Chevrolet Corvair, which was produced at GM's Oshawa plant; however, the concept was moved to the Chevy II platform to be introduced for 1962.
Initially, Acadians were retrimmed Chevy IIs, offered as a base model, mid-priced Invader and top-line Beaumont. While the car used Pontiac styling cues such as a split grille, Acadian was considered a separate make, not a Pontiac model.
As with the concurrent Chevy II, Acadians were offered with 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder and V8 engines. There was a choice of transmission, depending upon the model and engine installed, 3 and 4 speed manual gearboxes or the 2-speed Powerglide automatic.
For 1964 and 1965, the Beaumont name was moved to a retrimmed version of the intermediate Chevrolet Chevelle, at which time the name Canso was applied to the top-line compact model.
1966-69 Beaumonts continued to use the Chevrolet Chevelle body with minor styling revisions, including different taillights and a Pontiac-style split grille, but dropped the Acadian name as Beaumont became its own separate make. The interior used the instrument panel from the American Pontiac Tempest/LeMans/GTO series. All Acadians and Beaumonts used Chevrolet powerplants. The Beaumont was dropped after 1969, after which Canadian dealers sold the Pontiac LeMans.
During the late 1960s, the Beaumont was also available in Puerto Rico. There was actually a Beaumont Cafeteria that was co-located with the local Beaumont dealer in San Juan. Acadian Beaumonts were also made in Arica, Chile.
The Acadian continued using the Chevy II/Nova body through mid-1971, after which it was replaced by the Pontiac Ventura II.
Yes! I always thought Acadians and Beaumonts were Pontiacs, since they were produced by GM, and were so close to Chevy II and Chevelles and Nova. I would have bet, that they were Pontiac on the ownership! I was surprised at the response on the site, by so many claiming they weren't Pontiac..
Yes! I always thought Acadians and Beaumonts were Pontiacs, .... I was surprised at the response on the site, by so many claiming they weren't Pontiac..
I edited my first Post so it will be easier for you to understand.
Yes! I always thought Acadians and Beaumonts were Pontiacs, .... I was surprised at the response on the site, by so many claiming they weren't Pontiac..
I edited my first Post so it will be easier for you to understand.
Thank you! now I understand .. It was a separate Make, not a Pontiac model. Sorry to be so slow, but I am getting old Carl2
Not disagreeing, just saying that some owners think it is a Pontiac as evidenced by this display at Performance World 2008 in the attached photo this owner clearly calls his car a Pontiac Beaumont SD.
Once again I am not disagreeing, just saying that Wikipedia is full of good information but the fact of the matter is it can best be described as a coloquial base of knowledge and edited by anyone who knows how. My 18 yr.old son regularily contributes and edits articles on there, he does have a very high IQ and even though he thinks he knows everything, he doesn't.
I was raised mostly on Pontiacs during the exact Acadian/Beaumont era, mom had a 63 Acadian that we went to school in, dad had the 61 Strato Chief, 65 Laurentian and horrors a 70 Tempest the Beaumont replacement car. We considered ourselves a Pontiac family. I know the word Pontiac does not appear on those cars but I always considered them part of the Pontiac family. I'm kind of disappointed to see the Pontiac name so vehemently opposed. What happened to cause this family split ? Everything was going along so well here on Canadian Poncho. Can't we be friends? Just my .
Yes! I always thought Acadians and Beaumonts were Pontiacs, since they were produced by GM, and were so close to Chevy II and Chevelles and Nova. I would have bet, that they were Pontiac on the ownership! I was surprised at the response on the site, by so many claiming they weren't Pontiac..
as much as the canadian pontiac guys get a hard time from the americans with the chevy drivetrain, try owning an early acadian beaumont, i get it from both ends (i think rodney dasngerfield said it best " I can't get no respect").
as much as the canadian pontiac guys get a hard time from the americans with the chevy drivetrain, try owning an early acadian beaumont, i get it from both ends (i think rodney dasngerfield said it best " I can't get no respect").
But we Canadian Poncho boys and girls want you, we will respect you!
Not disagreeing, just saying that some owners think it is a Pontiac as evidenced by this display at Performance World 2008 in the attached photo this owner clearly calls his car a Pontiac Beaumont SD.
I that owner does not know what he is talking about does not change the fact. If I call my white dog "Blackie" it does not change the fact that it is white.
69 Laurentian wrote Remember, this site is here to be your online Canadian built Pontiac (COMMA) Acadian (COMMA) and Beaumont resource.. I know that this is your online Canadian built Pontiac (COMMA) Acadian (COMMA) and Beaumont resource.. And I thank you for providing this Forum for us. But, Your comment totally misses the point of this whole conversation. We are dicussing the fact that Acadian are not and never were Pontiacs.
Before you ban me from this Site, could you answer one or two questions for me. I know this whole Acadian is not a Pontiac is a non issue to most of you. So, my question is, why do we even have this 'Canadian Pontiac' Site? Why can't we just let Pontiacs be Pontiacs? I know the answer to that question, and it is because they are different in certain aspects including the fact that they are (from what I have been told) not the same length as the American version. Why can't people on this Site except the fact that Acadian were differnt from Pontiac.
I thought that we were all here to learn from each other. I want to learn about what makes your Pontiac differnt from other Pontiacs. All I am asking that you give me the same respect and decency. Than than we can all be friends as somebody already suggested.
I think that one thing is pretty clear, GM Canada made a decision to build Pontiacs, Acadians and Beaumonts based on Chevrolets and marketed through Pontiac dealers using different and distinctive levels of trim and models. I hope we can agree on this commonality. I've always considered the cars to be part of the same family and I think GM Canada does too, if you look at my attached photos you will see what I mean. I think that owner of the butternut cream SD does too.
I would like to suggest that we focus on our commonality. In many respepcts our cars are the same in that they are not Chevrolets but rather a distinctly Canadian vehicle. That's what makes them so great. We can learn from one another, find out the differences but feed off the common ground. I have gotten over long ago buying parts for a Chevelle when my car is really a Canadian LeMans so really no different than you.
The thing I have found about this forum is that it is so unlike a lot of US forums I go to because it is so Canadian and accepting. I for one appreciate your knowledge on your car, we are all historians and this is a cyber museum. Often it is tough changing 60 years of history, I know an Acadian was not really a Pontiac but we had one because we were a Pontiac family. I'd like to think that Acadian and Beaumont owners feel like part of the family.
No one is going to be banned by expressing their opinion (or schooling us on the facts) as long as it isn't hurtful to others (and I haven't seen anything that even comes close to that)! I accept that the Acadian is distinct from Pontiac. For those that don't, there's nothing wrong with some healthy debating! Todd
The Acadian and Beaumont guys are most certainly part of the family, regardless of the Pontiac name being absent on their cars. Agreed, they are two more feathers in the cap of the fun, unique Canadian cars.
Granted, Mercury trucks and such are unique to, but we sure are not considering them part of this forum...
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Well I'm copying this wonderful 1970 Pontiac full line brochure for a couple of the members here and I have come accross a puzzling matter. This brochure is a GM Canada Sales Brochure printed in 1969. The front cover clearly says PONTIAC 1970. When you open it it has two pages devoted to each 1970 Pontiac Model all titled as Grand Prix, 2+2, Parisienne, Laurentian, Strato Chief, Bonneville, Executive, Catalina, GTO, Tempest, Lemans, Acadian, Safari Wagons, Bonneville Station Wagon, Lemans Safari Wagon.
Ooops, was that Acadian sandwiched in between Lemans and Safari Wagons? Indeed right there on pages 16 & 17 of a 20 page brochure titled PONTIAC 1970. Not sure what to make of that. Why would the Acadian be included in a publication titled PONTIAC 1970 if it wasn't ? Maybe it was just 1970 that it was a Pontiac, any other ideas?