I have asked in the past so to speak about thd Pontiacs in the Tri-years. It seems that lhd cars up to 1957 were pulled-off the line at Pontiac, MI plant and then taken to a small building where they were converted. I can imagine that this was also done with low-volume special models such as diplomatic orders which required flag mounts on fenders, etc. I have wondered if cars could have been alrgely built but minus dashboards and then had them added-in later? The 1955 rhd US Pontiacs had the '55 lhd dash transposed and the '56 and '57 cars the '56 dash transposed.
Can I please scotch the suggestion/rumour that cars were duty-free between Comonwealth countries? As a consequence of the 1932 British Empire Conference, it was agreed that duties would be reduced by 1/3rd beteen countries under the 'Imperial Preference'. The problem was that even with 2/3rds of a tariff the US factories could still sometimes offer export prices that meant that the landed price was not much more than that of Canadian cars. Ecoinomies of scale and all that!
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Automotive Historian, Author and Journalist Deputy Editor, VINTAGE ROADSCENE Southampton, England
David, i stand to be corrected on the commonwealth duties situation. I did know for a fact that RHD 1957 Chevrolets that were built in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada had 1955/1956 dashes. Obviously it was an easier conversion with that dash as opposed to to proper 1957 dash. I find all this neat stuff so much fun to know. I have a photo of a 1957 Belair four door hardtop (Sport Sedan) being built on the Oshawa, Ontario line that was a RHD. In this photo it looks like these men are about to crate the car. I wonder if it was Australia or New Zealand bound? Thank you for the info David. Cheers. George.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
I would love to, it is just knowing exactly where it is. I have countless and countless car stuff that i have been collecting for the last 40 years. Too much to even really think about. It even boggles my mind, all the car stuff i have collected over the years. Mostly General Motors, especially Chevrolet and Pontiac. But i even have a ton of stuff on Ford, Mopar and independents like Studabaker. I will make an effort to try to dig up that picture and post it here. Please give me time. Thank you for the interest. Cheers. George.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
