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Post Info TOPIC: August 2018 Feature Car


A Poncho Legend!

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August 2018 Feature Car


Some of you may know about John Hall's love for American built 1969 Pontiac's. John (a.k.a "North") has a fantastic collection of '69's that covers just about every model Pontiac released in the US that year. What he didn't have was a Canadian built Pontiac. I think the first Canadian built '69 John chose was a great choice. This 2+2 is an excellent example and with a little bit of John's attention to detail, it's that much better! John tells us more:

History:

 

 

 

I don’t know too much about the early history other than the original dealer was in Drayton Valley west of Edmonton and it was shipped in December 68 from Oshawa (built late November).  However the first owner bought it new in Hussar which is East of Calgary in May of 1969 and the Protecto-plate shows him as the first owner.  Perhaps it was a demo or it just was traded between dealers.  Regardless he and his son kept the car for over 45 years.  I’m the third owner with the second owner being a fellow near Calgary who owned it for a short time.

 

 

 

Options:

 

 

 

The 2+2 was more like a mid-70’s package than a 60’s performance package in that a 2+2 didn’t have any performance content, just an appearance package;  bucket seats and console, stickered striping, deleted rocker and side moldings, fake air vents on the ¼’s and a specific hubcap one notch up from the dogdish.  There were no changes to drivetrain or suspension as compared to the Parisienne it was derived from.

 

 

 

This car has an unusual option mix in that it has the typical “on the lot” options but also a bunch of small detail options not typically seen but no “high end” options like big block, AC etc. 

 

 

 

The color scheme includes the two tone option with Burgundy as the lower color and Palladium Silver as the upper color.

 

The car has the L-48 350 4bbl 300 horse (instead of the base 250 horse version) along with a TH350 automatic and 2.73 posi but oddly not dual exhaust.   Typical options include power (drum) brakes, power steering, AM radio, rear speaker, white wall tires, block heater, clock, tinted glass all around etc.  Some unusual options include F40 heavy duty suspension (as opposed to F41 ride and handling) which was basically station wagon springs to get the car higher, especially in back.  The car also has the speed warning buzzer, lamp monitor system, lamp group (rear view mirror map light, extra warning lights, under-hood and trumk lamps) and a rear mount manual antenna.

Condition:

Apart from some rust at the back corners of the front fenders the car was amazingly clean for a Canadian car.  The trunk pan is like new with original speckle paint and the undercarriage looks more like Arizona than Alberta.  I thought when buying it that the car was mostly original paint but closer inspection revealed that 90% of the car had been painted at some point but never a full paint job.  There was no rust repair anywhere, just 70’s era panel repaints due to fading, scratches are minor fender benders.  Last year I decided to repaint the car completely but only the outer panels.  The door, hood and trunk jams are all original paint.

We found remnants of the original two tone stripes in the door jams and combined with careful study of the assembly manual, brochure images and vintage photos we had new stripes made.  The remnants gave us the precise widths, colors and positions of each stripe segment but the front and rear tapering down of the stripes is our best estimation from old pictures.

The interior is 100% original down to the rug and apart from a bit of cracking in the driver’s seat upholstery everything is still very nice and everything including the radio works perfect.   

 

 

 

Apart from some light brake work, rad re-core and a new stock single exhaust the car needed no mechanical work.  It runs beautifully and our best guess is that the engine, tranny and diff have never been opened up.  The car drives as you’d expect for a non performance 60’s car.  Strong and torquey engine but not fast, smooth quiet ride but easily overcome by fast turns or rough roads, a real “boat”.  

 

 



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Todd
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Guru

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WOW !

That is a cool car.

 

Regards, Scott (LandShark ...)



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A Poncho Legend!

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Stunning!

The colours are perfect for that car.

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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



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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She's a beauty!!!

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70 2+2 convertible
70 2+2 hardtop
70 Parisienne hardtop
72 GMC Sierra

 

 



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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I always thought the 69's had a look of high style, even more so than many cars that were more expensive of that era. That is one sweet looking time machine with an interesting collection of options and amazing condition. I have to wonder why the original purchaser never ordered dual exhaust. I never knew that the 300 hp 350 came with a single exhaust, i always thought it was a given that it came with dual's. I love your 69 and continued good luck with that fine machine. Cheers. 



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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six

1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Loving the colour combination and condition of this car along with a whole bunch more.
Looking forward to seeing it every day in August.

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Uber Guru

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Nice. Same thing that's been said before, L48 with single exhaust ?

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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I LOVE that car. The colour combo is unusual as well. The L48 was a popular option on the 2+2 because it was rated at 300 horses. Yes they came standard with a single exhaust system. Only in 73 - 74 were duals included with the L48 (Corvettes always came with dual however).

 

I had seen another Canadian GM in that Burgundy & Silver combo, but the main & accent colours were reversed. It was on a 1969 Biscayne 2-door in the early 70s. Below is a quick likeness of that car:

 69CortezSilver-Burgundy-p.jpg



-- Edited by CdnGMfan on Thursday 2nd of August 2018 02:28:45 PM

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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



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Very nice car and all those options. A 300HP 69 350 is a real nice motor.

Don

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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC.
1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada

Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic



A Poncho Legend!

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Very nice car!



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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.



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Thanks guys, Id love to know exactly why the car was ordered the way it was, given that the original dealer who delivered the car wasnt the dealer who ordered it Id think it wasnt ordered by an actual buyer for himself but instead ordered for dealer inventory.

The only 69 Pontiac engine that came standard with duals was the 390 horse 427. An interesting bit of trivia is that the 250 horse 350 could not be ordered with duals for some reason. For this car not having duals all I can figure is one of two possible reasons; I doubt it was cost, duals only cost $30 something dollars and there are plenty of useless options on this car that cost over $30. Perhaps it was just an error by the ordering dealer or a factory mistake. My dad was a loyal GM buyer in that era and he never got a car exactly as ordered. The other possibility is that many thrifty Canadians avoided dual exhaust because it rusted out faster because it ran cooler and it cost twice as much to replace when it did rust out.

The color scheme is unusual in that those two colors are not available together according to the factory two-tone color compatibility charts. I guess they werent strict about enforcing them.



-- Edited by North on Wednesday 1st of August 2018 07:01:37 AM

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John

Montreal 

26 1969 American Pontiacs

and a 1969 Canadian 2+2 Hardtop



Poncho Master!

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Beautiful car. You learn something new every day. This is the first L48 350-300 with single exhaust that I have ever seen. I owned 3 of these cars over the years and all had the L 48 350 -300 where the engines were used for other projects . All 3 cars were very rusted when I received them and were used as daily drivers until the frames literally broke. The is also the first 2+2 with front drum bakes that I have seen. I am curious to know if the exhaust hangers are installed from the factory for the dual system or if sometime in this cars life the duals were replaced by a thrifty owner to single exhaust.


Love the colour combination with no vinyl top. The L48 350-300 is a great engine and in my opinion the best small block  GM ever built.



Al



-- Edited by Taylor55 on Wednesday 1st of August 2018 07:04:24 AM

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Poncho Master!

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Congratulations on being the August feature car. First time I have seen this great colour combination.
Brian

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I'm still in talks with a body shop on my car.

What an inspiration !

Everything looks awesome.

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Great looking car and thanks for taking the time to share the story with us.

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Jerel


Poncho Master!

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Sweet ride. Love the background story as well.

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Eric - Regina, SK

The Projects:

1935 Chev 3 Window Std Coupe

1957 Chev 2dr 

1967 Mustang Convertible

1969 Firebird 350HO Convertible

1969 Camaro X11-V8

1969 2+2 was a 396

1969 2+2 427

1980 Harley FXWG

1982 Chevy Silverado

1986 CJ7 Jeep

 



Addicted!

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Nice 69 2 + 2. and a good story. Congratulations on being the caretaker of a nice Canadian Pontiac and deservedly being the feature car for August.

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Addicted!

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Love it, great looking ride! A question though, Were the turn signal indicators on the fenders an option for '69 (Part of the lamp monitor system) ? Never seen them but one of those styling / options (like hide-a ways) that I think is very cool and would consider adding on my '68.

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No Bike Mike

1968 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible

1984 Correct Craft Southwind

1994 Cruisers Aria

2005 GMC K1500 



A Poncho Legend!

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Those indicators are part of the lamp monitoring system.

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Todd
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Sweet machine!

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Now appearing as "68 Grande" 



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I've seen many of John's cars over the years and the B-bodies are my favorite. This one is another beauty which unfortunately I haven't seen in person but knowing the way John takes care of his cars and the knowledge he has, it certainly found a great home. And john, finally, a Canadian one for you!!!!

Leo

 



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"Dad, which car are we taking?"                      "The Pontiac!"

"Which one?"                                                    "The red one!"

'67 Parisienne 2+2 - red

'01 Montana            - red

'06 Buick Allure

'12    Japanese minivan



Guru

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Taylor55 wrote:

Beautiful car. You learn something new every day. This is the first L48 350-300 with single exhaust that I have ever seen. I owned 3 of these cars over the years and all had the L 48 350 -300 where the engines were used for other projects . All 3 cars were very rusted when I received them and were used as daily drivers until the frames literally broke. The is also the first 2+2 with front drum bakes that I have seen. I am curious to know if the exhaust hangers are installed from the factory for the dual system or if sometime in this cars life the duals were replaced by a thrifty owner to single exhaust.


Love the colour combination with no vinyl top. The L48 350-300 is a great engine and in my opinion the best small block  GM ever built.



Al


-- Edited by Taylor55 on Wednesday 1st of August 2018 07:04:24 AM


 The headpiece (crossover) was original and the holes in the frame for the tailpipe hangers have never had a screw tapped into them.  As I mentioned the 350-2bbl wasnt even available with duals (i cant imagine why) and the 350-4bbl came with single but was offered with duals at extra cost.  As for disc brakes they were included in the 70 2+2 package but not the 69.

If you want to see all the options and restriction rules etc for the 69s I posted the factory option booklet here, I think the thread is stickyd somewhere on this site.



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John

Montreal 

26 1969 American Pontiacs

and a 1969 Canadian 2+2 Hardtop



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Gasonmiles wrote:

Love it, great looking ride! A question though, Were the turn signal indicators on the fenders an option for '69 (Part of the lamp monitor system) ? Never seen them but one of those styling / options (like hide-a ways) that I think is very cool and would consider adding on my '68.


 I believe 69 was the first year for the lamp monitoring option.  Its really a Chevy option, it wasnt offered on any American Pontiacs in 69.

 

It was also offered on the Chevelle and Camaro (as well as the full-size chevies as well).  The Camaro version was different because of the single headlights.  Apart from the fender and back window displays the housings for the parking, tail and tag lights are unique in that they have a punched out hole to receive the fiber optic cable.  The plastic plugs for each headlight also have a special extra opening to receive the fiber optics.



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John

Montreal 

26 1969 American Pontiacs

and a 1969 Canadian 2+2 Hardtop



Addicted!

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Yet another fine example of the beautiful Canadian Pontiacs out there. Congrats on being top of the page for the month. Great story and its cool that you have knowledge of the cars history.

Ive had a thing for the full size 69s since my teens. One of my favourite cars of all time was my dads cousins car. He lived in suburban Chicago and at that time drove a 1969 Bonneville 455 Convertible. I had an opportunity to take it for a spin - What a bomb that car was!



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72 Nova SS,   66 Beaumont Sport Deluxe,   09 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe



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Wow! She's a beauty. Congrats!

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