We have had a few "B" VIN's in the past with no real answer as to why... never did see an M! I counted 17 in the registry but definitely Canadian built. Have a look at you data tag as per above.
For example....
Nov. 9th 1964 B76437 V8 Y (249 black) Sask. link #710203 Parisienne 2dr hrdtp Crocus Yellow spotted by 67poncho
Nov. 9th 1964 B76437 283ci C (247 turquoise) B.C link 710439 Parisienne 2dr hrdtp M35 Ermine White
Nov.25th 1964 B76437 283ci Y (543 fawn) ontario no pic #719757 Parisienne 2dr hrdtp Crocus yellow spotted by 69Belair
Nov.5th 1964 B76469 V8 V (248 fawn) Sask. link #708590 Parisienne 4dr Cameo Beige spotted 67poncho
-- Edited by 67Poncho on Monday 26th of March 2018 07:14:35 PM
so
5 = year
766 + Parisienne Custom Sport V8
37 = 2 dr hardtop
0 = manufacturing plant = Oshawa
American Pontiacs follow a slightly different format
first digit = 2 = Pontiac division
second and third identify the series ( eg Bonneville = 62 )
fourth and fifth digits = body style ( eg 37 = 2 dr hardtop )
sixth digit = yeaseventh digit = Assembly plant ( eg b = Baltimore )
last 6 digits represent the basic production number.
This is going to take some more investigating. Can you post a pic of both the VIN, with the last digits taped over, and the data plate?
Hutch, can you post a picture of your cowl tag? And maybe your VIN tag too with the last few digits of the vin blocked? I've never seen a letter in that position on a 65-66 Canadian Pontiac before. This is one of those deals where I used to just say "impossible " but I've learned not to use that word very often as I get older!
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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
Hutch, can you post a picture of your cowl tag? And maybe your VIN tag too with the last few digits of the vin blocked? I've never seen a letter in that position on a 65-66 Canadian Pontiac before. This is one of those deals where I used to just say "impossible " but I've learned not to use that word very often as I get older!
Of all the tags I took for Fred and the registry, I never did take a pic of the VIN's... especially of the "B's" I should checked the pics I took and grab a couple of pics of the VIN if I can remember where they are in the vastness out here. There are over 30 '66's in the registry with a "B" on the data tag....
there's a "5" on the door tag so that makes a bit more sense.......it's not on the ownership though. Rest of the numbers match though so i'm not concerned. Still shows to me that it's a baltimore built car but has the "764" designation so it's a parisienne.....
also says that the car was blue i believe but there's no blue on the body ANYWHERE i can find and i have a hard time believing it was stripped bare at some point since there's a couple of crappy paint jobs over it already....EDIT THAT. looks like it was "nocturne mist metallic" which makes sense now.........that colour is still around on the car in some spots but it looks more of a "gunmetal" in the shop light....googled it and it looks like a really nice colour actually......
Thank you to everyone for all of the information and help with this. I know it's not a huge deal but it just confused/surprised me a bit and would like to learn as much about this car as possible. Would like to order the GM vintage docs as well but i don't know if they'd be available as it wasn't built in Canada?
Mark.
-- Edited by hutch400 on Tuesday 27th of March 2018 10:30:33 AM
Well that is quite something. I wasn't expecting to see Canadian style tags but they are both 100% Canadian style except for that B. How on earth did they build a Canadian car there? They would have had to ship a lot of unique parts from Canada to Baltimore. Weird, but cool....!
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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
Still shows to me that it's a baltimore built car but has the "764" designation so it's a parisienne.....
Would like to order the GM vintage docs as well but i don't know if they'd be available as it wasn't built in Canada?
Mark.
With GM Canada stamped on the tag, I would highly doubt that it was built in the States... that would be a very unlikely event, I am sure...
How about Burlington for example or maybe it was a secondary B plant? The only 100% thing to clear all for this up, as stated as there are almost 50 B stamped VIN's in the registry, is to send the VIN to GM and get it documented by them... then we will all know the answer.
Wonder why it wasn't dug into deeper when we posted all these in the registry back then? If it was, I surely don't remember...
-- Edited by 67Poncho on Wednesday 28th of March 2018 10:50:05 AM
I don't have the answer but I can add this: in 1965 the Chevies & full-size Pontiacs were built in Oshawa & Ste. Thérèse, so there were 2 plants they could have come from. For 1966 Ste. Thérèse switched painting procedures from enamel to lacquer and dedicated production to only Chevrolets - models that were available in both Canada & the U.S.. Remember the Auto Pact of 1965? With the free movement of new cars between the borders, here in Canada we were starting to see a trickle of U.S. cars, but in order to keep things in equilibrium they also shipped Canadian-built cars to the U.S. Think about it. A Canadian plant building products to ship to the U.S in order to offset the U.S. products coming into Canada. I have seen 1965 Ste. Thérèse cars sold new in Canada but can't recall a '66 or '67 sold here that was. The Impala SS427 was not available in Canada in '67 yet they were built in Ste. Thérèse (I think they built 40 coupes...). By '68 they were selling the Impala SS427 in Canada and a couple or a dozen stayed in Canada. By 1969 Oshawa switched to lacquer paint with black firewalls & spatter paint in the trunks, and cars were sourced from either side of the border more readily. By 1970 they were building Catalinas in Canada, the Beaumont was gone, the GTO that went mainstream in Canada for 1969 was augmented with all Tempests & Lemans for 1970 and the Beaumonts were history. Meanwhile the Acadians as of the 1968 models all came from the U.S.
The Canadian A-body lines didn't differentiate which plant they came from in Canada since they were only coming from Oshawa through the 1966 models. By 1967, Oshawa products were designated "1", Ste. Thérèse "2" (though Ste. Thérèse was only building U.S.-bound B-body Chevrolets in '67).
Make sense?
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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
Going to be interesting what the GMVVS document says as I observe no options stamped along the bottom of the firewall data plate... not even M35 ( I do assume it is an automatic )
Can anyone make out the build date? Looks like 1-7-0 or 1-7-9 on my screen, can't tell.
Most probably 1-7-9 so 1st shift July 9th.
The 2 rivets are in the 2 bottom positions which is consistent with pics I have of other 65 data tags.
