I mentioned I had this brochure in another thread and C2 asked me to post it so here it is. It is a flyer for Canadian Pontiac Buick dealers, maybe a newspaper insert, from some time during the 1969 model year showing all of the performance oriented models, and the Viva! (don't know how that slipped in there).
I agree, I never imagined that the GTO in standard form was the weakest muscle car in the showroom with a standard engine at 265 HP, not terrible but consider that the others in the showroon, the Beaumont SD had 325 standard, Acadian SS had 300 standard, even the Buick GS 350 had 280 HP standard.
Try posting this on one of those US Pontiac and GTO forums........look out!
I was looking at that too and I think that may be a copy writing error by the Canadian advertising people. In 67 and 68, a 2 bbl low compression 400 was an option on the GTO for people who wanted the image but were stingy and wanted to use regular gas. I'm not so sure this option was even available in 69, I'll have to check my 69 American brochures when I get home tonight. This was brought out partly to counter Oldsmobile's "Turnpike Cruiser" option on the Cutlass which amounted to the same set-up, but it was strictly a down grade type of option, like deleting the endura front end for a chrome Lemans bumper. For John Delorean, it was very important for the GTO's image that the 'standard' engine have at least 350 hp which is what the standard 400 4bbl was rated at. Then you got into the insurance game where you didn't want to have "too much hp". The RAIII added different heads, a lopier cam, re-jetted Q-jet and factory cast iron exhaust headers to the standard 400; hard to believe all that only bumped the horsepower by 16. The biggest joke was the RAIV, big round port heads, aluminum intake, a completely different Q-jet and an even wilder cam that required a 3.90 rear end as the minimum axle ratio, no A/C available and all this only added 4 hp over the RAIII?
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Hillar
1970 LS4 (eventually an LS5) Laurentian 2dr hdtp -and a bunch of other muscle cars...
Let us know what you find out Hillar. As far as HP ratings go I am sure those figures for Ram Air are correct, I mean the engine probably made the published HP at the associated RPM they published BUT they never said it was the maximum HP it made! LOL
I have a newspaper from GM Canada that we are trying to figure out how to post, its newspaper size. "Canadian Trend '65, a nationwide publication of GM". in it each quarter page, sometimes full page ads showing the "nimble sized Acadian", Viva economy, new Beaumont steps up power, wide track Pontiacs, new GMC trucks, Buick, Cadillac, Oldmobile, Impalas, Biscaynes, Chevelle , Nova and Corvair is all in there. Have never seen another like it, Im sure they are out there.
(don't know how that slipped in there).
