...some pics of my own car - just going through the pictures you guys have up, really good stuff. I've had the car only 4 months, the first month and change I spent working on the stuff that I wanted to do to it to get it the way I wanted it both mechanically and cosmetically. ( It had about 15 "little things" wrong with it when I got it ). Some of you guys are running some real gems - mine isn't one of those but it "is" what I wanted - and so I drove over 160 k ( 100 miles ) to view the car and then I bought it. I flat-decked it home a few days later. The thing I like best about this car is the fact that it's one of the few cars of its model that survived being thrown away or parted out...because it was just a "Grand Dad's" 4-door six automatic. Also, the patina is there inside and out ( love it ), the drivetrain is excellent, and it's a treat to drive. I have the stock wheel covers but opted to put 1955 Chev caps and trim rings on it. The first pic also shows the custom "bear claws" I had made up recently and added to the tips of the stock rear door moldings. My first attempt at posting pics here, so hope it works. ~1965 Acadian Beaumont~ ( Last year that Beaumont was an Acadian )
Welcome and thanks for sharing the pictures. One thing I will guarantee you and that is no matter how fancy or expensive your car is or isn't you will enjoy it every bit as much as the guy who has big bucks tied up in theirs. Did your car happen to come out of Duncan?
Thanks, Jerel. Very nice '64 rag by the way ( ) ... Yes, I've been through 'big bucks cars' in the old days myself. ( See photo below from 30 years ago : my own 8-year $$$ project finally finished ). Not like "today's" big bucks cars of course...some guys are now dumping almost half the cost of a small home into the restoration and building of an old car ( ) - but - just as it always was, they'll never see that money again on sale. Just that now you don't lose hundreds, you lose thousands. I'm pushing 60 now, so I didn't want anything more than a good, solid, rolling reminder of my past. As well, for me nowadays, patina rules. I found all that with this car. To your question : no, the car didn't come out of Duncan...at least not when I bought it. It may have earlier, I don't have a history. I found it farther north at Qualicum Beach, and it had been off the road for about 2 years when I bought it.
i bought two 57 chevys from duncan, one a belair 283 power pack car the other a 283 two barrel 210 both two door hard tops, the belair a rust free California car the 210 a rust bucket, theres some good cars on vancouver island still
True, cheetah - there are a number of decent old cars still running around ( or sitting around ) on the Island. The prices keep creeping up, but that's to be expected I guess...they don't make them anymore !
timbuck - which town did you recall seeing it in ? Thanks on the 'bear claws' - it was an idea I came up with
(along with the mid-1950s wheel cover combo) in an attempt to more closely tie the car back to its design roots, just for fun. ( In my opinion, GM cars up until 1965 still had hints of their evolution from the mid to late 50s body designs - in '66 they started moving ahead a little more aggressively toward the future ).
I was actually looking for a car more like yours - an Invader/ early Beaumont or a Chevy II. This came up, and I just couldn't let it go to someone else.
" I see it has the elusive chrome trim on the lower rear quarter area behind the rear wheels. Was that stock on all models in 65? "
No it wasn't. In '65, the 4 Acadian Beaumont models were (from base to top) : Beaumont ( Plain Jane - the "company car" so to speak ) ; Beaumont Deluxe ( still dog-dish caps but with a full straight-line molding through the entire central body side );
Beaumont Custom (my car - upper rear body line capped in trim, full wheel covers and the lower body bright trim that you refer to ); and Beaumont Sport Deluxe ( 2 door hardtop or ragtop, custom wheel covers with pseudo-knockoff spinners, side quarter "gills", and same lower body bright trim ).
Story I got was in fact, the car had not been driven much. Had some money spent on it just the same...there are some newer parts under the hood, a newer exhaust system, a recent battery and new tires on it. He told me he bought it in late 2012 or early 2013 from a mechanic, but he didn't say where. He rarely drove it in the 2 years he had it himself - he doesn't have a lot of free time.