Here is my current project. She is a 1972 Firebird Formula 455HO that was ordered and sold new at London Motor Products in Ontario back in 1972. It was originally leased by a lawyer and then he bought it when the lease was up in 1975. The lawyer sold it in the mid 1980's to a gentleman out in British Columbia where it remained until I purchased it in 2012 from the man who bought from the prior owner's widow in 2011. It has 90,000 miles, documented by a ton of original paperwork. (Though, I am trying to get the original Canadian window sticker reproduced so I posted on that thread as well)
The entire drivetrain is original to the car. The born-with engine, transmission and rear are still present and it has more options than I have ever seen on a second generation Firebird.
I have two concurrent restoration threads running on this car at two different sites:
That sale invoice was from 1975 when it was three years off lease. It was sold cheaply because the lawyer that had leased it for the three prior years bought it outright when the lease ended. And he traded in that super valuable 1972 Vega toward it. The $4,000 sale price was still pretty hefty for a three year old used car.
BTW, here is the thread on my Gandmother's 75 Eprit that she bought new and we still have. My ten year old son rebuilt the engine last year as a Spring project:
Very nice car Steve ... welcome from Canada's east coast. I'm going to check out your build threads.
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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.
Yes, Black it was. If you go to my restoration thread you can see the original black overspray on the undersides and in the passenger compartment.
That is one of the reasons the car is so rare. Only 276 455HO Formulas were produced. Of the 276 cars only two are known to have been painted black at the factory. One for the US and one for Canada. The US car still exists and is restored and living in Kansas, the last I knew.
Of the 276 total 455HO Formulas, only 10 were sold new in Canada.
Here's some underside photos after I hot water pressure washed the underside to get all the rust proofing gunk and undercoating off.
-- Edited by NJSteve on Sunday 29th of July 2012 02:14:39 PM
-- Edited by NJSteve on Sunday 29th of July 2012 08:02:38 PM
-- Edited by NJSteve on Sunday 29th of July 2012 08:03:12 PM
Very cool car with the right stuff as well. 1972 was a low production year for Camaros & Firebirds due to a 186 day long strike so these cars were in short supply. I see that in your picture that it is currently black. I notice that your documentation doesn't show what colour the car was when new; the funny thing is 1972 was the only year they didn't offer black on these cars!
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
Very cool car with the right stuff as well. 1972 was a low production year for Camaros & Firebirds due to a 186 day long strike so these cars were in short supply. I see that in your picture that it is currently black. I notice that your documentation doesn't show what colour the car was when new; the funny thing is 1972 was the only year they didn't offer black on these cars!
I had to look carefully to find it but it says W51 black exterior in his documents.
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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
