This month I'm proud to feature this stunning 1966 Beaumont Sport Deluxe convertible owned by Jack Brochu. Jacks story on how he managed to obtain this car has to be one of the most interesting I've read in a long time. Take it away Jack. The history of my 1966 Pontiac Beaumont Sport Deluxe Convertible.
My Beaumonts story started in 1978. It was during a lunch discussion with some of my staff that I mentioned that I was thinking of getting a convertible to rebuild during the winter. The only criteria I had was that it had to have a back seat because my first daughter was recently born and I wanted to make sure I could put a baby car seat in it. A couple of weeks later I was approached by one of my staff members who said by the way if you are still looking for a convertible to fix you should come and look at my neighbors car, it has been sitting in his front yard for ten years. I asked him what kind of car it was but he had no idea what it was only that it had not moved since 1968. I did not bother to go see the car. A week later he approached me again and said by the way if you are interested at looking at my neighbors car I better come and have a look at it because they are going to take the current owner of the car to an institution because he was unfit to live by himself. What I did not know was that he had been living with his mother who had recently passed away. My coworker advised me that if I do go and see the car I should be careful not to go on the owners property because he believed he was mentally unstable. He suggested that I stay in his driveway and look at the car from over the hedges.
I finally decided to go and see the car that night. I drove to David Street in St. Catharines Ontario turned the corner and saw the car parked in the front yard. He was not kidding the car was parked in the front yard. Vines had grown around most of it and a beehive was embedded in the side of the convertible top. You could tell that it had been parked in the same east to west position for all this time because the sun had faded the hood, dried the convertible top and faded the trunk, but the sides were still perfect. It was sitting on a stone driveway that had been completely over grown with weeds. I stayed off of the owners property but I could see that the car exterior except for the weeds all around it was a perfectly straight car with no rust, dents or parts missing. That is as much as I could tell about the car. Finally the curiosity got the best of me and I went on to the owners property and lifted the hood to see what engine in had. I could tell it was a 283 with so many weeds around it that I could not see anything else. I quickly closed the hood and proceeded to return to my coworkers property. While walking past it I could see that it was an automatic with bucket seats and that is all I could tell because the windows were so dirty that you could not see inside. I decided that I would try and purchase the car. I asked my coworker why the car had not moved in all of these years and he proceeded to tell me the history of the as car. He said the owner was a Korean War veteran, around 45 years old who had purchased the car new in 1966. In 1967 his son had joined the American marines and was sent to Vietnam. Several months later his son was killed while performing his duties and when the owners wife told him about their sons death he never accepted it and went into a major depreciation and never drove the car or worked again. He had promised the car to his son when he returned home from the war. His wife eventually left him and his mother moved into his home to take care of her son, until her death in 1978. The car never moved again because the owner refused to believe that his son had passed away and was waiting for him to come home. In 1968 his brother purchased license plates hoping he might get his brother to come out of the house and drive his car. The owner of the car refused and the plates were left on the carpet. Still in the brown wax paper they use to come in. My coworker gave me the name and phone number of the owners brother. I proceeded to contact him. Since I had not had an opportunity to closely look at the car I told him that it was difficult to make an offer because I had no way of knowing if the engine was damaged or the transmission was seized. He proceeded to tell me that he was a mechanic and that back in 1968 he had personally drained the radiator and filled it with antifreeze so the engine would not freeze during the winter. Once again he asked me what I was prepared to offer. He told me that over the years many people had approached his brother to purchase the car, even offering him the full price of the car but he had refused to entertain any offers. Now he would have no choice but to accept something because he was being forced to move to an institution. I offered him $500.00 dollars. One hour later I received a phone call stating that to his surprise his brother had agreed to sell me the car for $500.00. I immediately went to the bank, got the money and called a local towing company. I went to the owner of the cars house to meet with the owners brother and gave him the money for his brother. I still had never met or seen the owner. I kept thinking something is going to go wrong and stop the sale. He proceeded to go in the house to give the money to his brother and 10 minutes later returned with a signed ownership, a bill of sale and the keys. Meanwhile the tow truck was coming up the street. Just as the tow truck was ready to leave with the car the owner opened the door to watch the car get towed away. It was the first and only time I saw him. He was a big man that appeared to have not had a shave or haircut for at least 10 years. I had it towed to Welland Ontario about a 30 minute drive. When I got the car home for the first time I was able to have a close look at what I had purchased. This was August 28, 1978.
The car was solid except it was faded but in great condition except for the interior which was faded and dried out from the sun. The original spare was still in the trunk. The original bill of sale was still in the glove compartment and the brand knew set of 1968 license plates still in the paper wrapper was still on the floor of the back seat. The sun had faded the carpet all around the 1968 license plates and the odometer read 12,278 miles. The first thing I did was remove all of the long grass and vines that had worked themselves into every part of the frame, motor, body and washed the car. It looked great, nothing missing, no dents and no rust to talk about. Not having any extra cash I decided that I would do just what was required to get it back on the road and make it look good. I went to Canadian tire purchased 3 gallons of Poly paint stripper and many bags of steel wool. For 6 months I proceeded to strip the paint by hand to take the body back to its original state. The swirls that appear on the body in the pictures are not from me using a grinder on the body but exactly as it was when it came off the assembly line.
I never used any mechanical tools to remove the old paint. The body was is perfect shape. I primered the car in my garage and than trailered it to a professional paint shop to have it painted in its original Marina Bleu Metallic colour. Before I trailered it to get painted I removed the intake manifold and heads to make sure nothing was rusted before I tried to start the car. I sprayed some liquid wrench into each cylinder to insure everything was free, changed the oil and started the car. It ran just like the day it came from the factory.
While the car was getting painted I had the seats and the door panels professionally redone.
When I got the car back from the painter I proceeded to put all of the chrome back on, had a new top put on it and started to drive the car.
One month later I entered it in a Buffalo New York Car Show and won best 60s original convertible.
That brings me to today. The car now has 17,456 original miles. The original spare is still in the trunk with the blue coating still on the white wall and the brakes are still original. There were only 565 1966 Beaumont Custom Convertibles built and of the 565 built only 53 were Pontiac Beaumont Sport Deluxe Convertibles. Since owning mine I have not met anyone or seen another 1966 Sport Deluxe Convertible. I have seen a picture of one. Thanks for letting me share my story with you.
I was born in 68 and can atest to being a beaumont fan as long as I can remember (owned my first one in 1982 at the age of 14) this car of Jack's I first seen in either the summer of 79 or 1980 (I was 12 years old !) -everyone seemed to know the storey at the time-this car was sitting at the Beaver gas bar in Welland on Main Street-it was the same color as the 66 Malibu SS my Dad had years earlier on my first day of school ! and this was a beaumont and was a convertible !
So for years later nobody seen it-Jack musta been working hard and raising his family-people forgot about this car but not me-it wasn't until 02 or 03 maybe 04 that Jack Plante (Jack's brother Dennis' friend) said Jack's beaumont is here at the show in Knoll park-I raced around to see it-legends usually grow in the garage and then disappoint as they are never as good as remembered-not this one ! it was way better than I could ever imagine-someone quoted an appraised value and that Jack was surprised - I said I'd buy it in a second-I waited and waited and never met Jack - I had no camera either-so I continued to go to the show each year and didn't see the car again for a few years-then there it was-I finished a film on it and killed the batteries in my digital ! while my wife was calling to get me home to get one of the kids to the hospital for something ! I barely spoke with Jack ! The next year sadly his brother Norm passed away-I confused the names and was scared Jack had died-that year I met Jack several times with the car and was amazed each time. I bragged the car up as much as possible to him-but I wasn't sure he was that high on it--I'm really glad to see and hear that Jack is out enjoying and showing this car.
I am an interprovinicially licensed autobody and collision damage repairer, a P.A.V.E. licensed appraiser and genuine beaumont enthusist-I will go as far as to say and hopefully not offend anyone else that this car of Jack's is quite possibly the best surviving 1966 Beaumont SD ragtop on the planet-these pictures don't do it justice-yes he took it apart painted it/replaced the top and interior but if you could stand there and look at the rest of the originality-the trunk pan wears its original paint !!!
Jack go out there and cruise with it ! enjoy the car ! its great to see it saved through the years-
I moved last friday-I'm now at 115 Pearson Road-I think your brother Dennis lives a few doors down.
67's were always my favorite but this is one hell of a great condition and great looking 66 I love it and I hope my opinion adds to Jack's great storey.
Ken
P.S. I think I found your old MGA locally-I'll tell you about it when I see you
That was an enjoyable and interesting read. A uniquely Candian car is a wonderful choice for July and Canada Day! Just a remarkable car, basically factory new.
I am an interprovinicially licensed autobody and collision damage
repairer, a P.A.V.E. licensed appraiser and genuine beaumont enthusist-
I will go as far as to say and hopefully not offend anyone else that this
car of Jack's is quite possibly the best surviving 1966 Beaumont SD ragtop on the planet car !
I moved last friday-I'm now at 115 Pearson Road-I think your brother Dennis lives a few doors down.
67's were always my favorite but this is one hell of a great condition and great looking 66 I love it and I hope my opinion adds to Jack's great storey.
I have to admit when Jack emailed me the photos and after I read the story on this car I was awestruck! I'd really like to see your car in person some day!
Yes it came from Slessor Motors in Grimsby, Ontario. It is one of the dealers that received notice that they were going to loose their GM franchise, but they are fighting it. http://www.slessor.com/index.htm
An excellent car and an excellent history. Enjoy it for many, many more years!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Very cool story, thanks for sharing! From one '66 SD convertible to another, and to everyone else on this great site...Have a great, safe and happy Canada Day!!!
"So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think... The good outnumber you, and we always will." Patton Oswalt
1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod
