my wagon is a one owner original paint unmolested car. it was in the news paper and only caught my eye because it it had a 454. the original owner parked it in a barn in 1980 , he passed away two years ago so the son was selling stuff off. he said he had good memories of the car when he was younger, like his dad would be pulling a little trailer and his dad would race people from light to light and blow there doors off! the 390 hp LS5 worked quite well.
I bought in October 2008, from the original owner a 86 year old gentleman, one 1969 Pontiac 2+2 with 33144 miles. Garage kept its entire life, and still is. Car is a true survior. I consider myself very lucky to have found this car.
When I bought my 66 Grande Parisienne 396 (later a 427) factory 4 speed, it had been in the same family since new.It had all original paint except one front fender. He told me he had been on some ice, light turned red and he avoided the car in front of him but buckled the fender on a tree or pole or snowbank or something.
I had to cough up $2500 for it in the summer of 1981. It drove like a dream.
Oh, how did I find it? Saw it sitting parked on a main artery in Winnipeg one night. Looked in, saw the stick and factory tach. Left a note. He never called. Almost 2 years later I saw him going the other way on a city street. Cranked around and chased him into the gas station where he went to fill up. Found out it was a factory big block stick! Made a deal a couple of days later for the $2500 and enjoyed it for about 8 years until I sold it to raise money to purchase a nice big church organ for our home (my wife plays organ)
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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 (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Rarechev, Carnut, Carl Stevenson that's what I'm looking for/ talking about, great Pontiac car finds like that ! Didn't Hillar and CNDRoundPort find their rare cars unmolested ? So some ways would be looking in every papers there is, estate sales, garage sales, around back alleys and everywhere else... more ways needed and great lucky stories please... I have one for you : When I was in Courtenay BC ie. Vancouver Island, I found a 1970 Pontiac Transam for sale in a driveway not even looking for a car that day, I went and looked at it, asked the owner how much she wanted (divorce sale) The car was rusty and rough, it had the wrong engine ie. Pontiac 350 in it, 12 bolt was there, interior was trash and the price was too high. I told myself the hell with it, It can't be a Ram Air IV Pontiac 400 car anyway, WRONG I WAS !!! A guy I knew bought it the following month and brought his book to check the #s turned out to be one of one sold in Canada, I'm still Kicking myself over that one, he ended up selling it to a collector, state residents for alot more than he paid for, too bad the engine was missing.
The 65 Canso I have now I spotted behind a gas station in Wpg in 1979. Got owner's number, called, not for sale. Called often until 1986 when it blew a head gasket and bought it off the original owner for 2 grand, 43,000 miles.
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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 (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Persistence is the answer for you Carl, you are telling me I should keep asking this guy I asked about his 1970 GTO Judge Black on black 400 Ram Air III, 4 speed, 10 bolt posi 4.33 ratio that I found in The Brandon area, he owned it for about 25 years he said, I found that one over a year ago driving around too, not for sale, he told me then.
my old truck sat behinds my Dads place for 15 years while i was gallivanting around the world (with the military). He finally put it in the car port and covered it with junk because he had people asking him every week if it was for sale. Including his wife telling him to get rid of that eye sore.
My car is not a first owner, but it did make it from it's first owner (a law firm in Sherbrooke Quebec ... the law firm doesn't exist anymore, it's old location is an Indian food restuarant : ) ), down to Freeport, Maine. I've brought it back to it's country of origin. I purchased it from a dealer on consignment from a guy that parked it in 1986. I'm working on the car's history. I sent a letter to the last owner. I've also found out that it's old, original sale dealership location, is now a Francophone bookstore, also in Sherbrooke, Quebec. It is totally un-molested.
-- Edited by Pontiacanada on Friday 22nd of January 2010 09:48:07 AM
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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.
The Best resource?...C'mon, Cp of course! (stolen from Mark)
Look on E-Bay Craigs-list Kijiji Auto Trader etc
My rust free, California sold, Oregon car (1971 Ventura II) was found on e-bay I am the 4th owner.. The orig. owner was 76 in 1971, when she bought the car new!.. She died in 1988, and her Pastor bought it for a second car.. 1993 car was bought by seller, and over the years restored to present condition... Car has 20,000 original miles on it....
-- Edited by 427carl on Friday 22nd of January 2010 11:31:38 AM
Here is a way. I personally know this car from our 2008 All Pontiac Street Show in Puyallup, WA. This is a nice car. Never has seen the rain. Never seen snow or salty roads. No restoration needed. One of 270. No Moleste! This car is listed on Craig's List- Seattle
1962 PONTIAC TEMPEST LEMANS CONVERTIBLE
THE CAR:
-Almost completely unrestored original car, 43,000 actual miles.
-About 80% original paint, excellent condition
-100% untouched original interior, nearly perfect
-Trunk, untouched, jack never moved, spare never moved (has the factory yellow stenciled number still on the tread).Nearly perfect
-Engine compartment; all original to the car except hoses (plug wires, battery cables, coil, distributor cap, took out the original spark plugs points/condenser all engine parts are factory original).Engine has some touch ups on the paint but a good amount of original paint is left. Carburetor has factory tag still in place. Engine compartment itself, mostly untouched. Engine is the 194.5 cid 4 cylinder. One heater hose is aftermarket, other hoses are NOS factory correct (very rare) I HAVE THE FACTORY DELCO BATTERY FOR THIS CAR THAT DEPENDING ON SALE PRICE MAY GO WITH THE CAR.INSIANLY RARE, FROM THE SAME CITY WHERE THE CAR CAME FROM!COMES WITH THE BOX.COST OVER $400 ON EBAY.OVER THE TOP FOR SHOWS (DRY CELL). VERY SPECIFIC TO THE CAR, MAY BE ONLY ONE LEFT.
-Glass; all original and absolutely perfect with the exception of the windshield (took a rock, had to be replaced, before me, must have been a bad day!)
-Original windshield wipers to the car, reportedly never saw a rain drop.
-Chrome original, NEAR PERFECT
-Original front spiral shocks, rear NOS correct factory spiral shocks
-All original exhaust hangers/clamps to the car.CAR HAS THE CORRECT FACTORY MUFFLER (SPECIFIC TO THIS CAR ONLY) AND FACTORY EXHAUST PIPE, AGAIN INSAINLY RARE!!
-Undercarriage; excellent condition, all original
-All original paperwork including fully filled out warrantee manual (protecto plate of the day)
-Original dealership decal on trunk (near perfect)
-Original owner: Perry G. Chilton
-Dealership:Carson Pontiac, Kirkwood MO. (gone in 1972)
-Salesman: Carter Hampton, business card stapled to the back cover of the owners manual
-Dealership pen, key chain, clear plastic rain hat and eye glass cleaner cloth in Carson Pontiac plastic covers with the car.Original key. I have a postcard from the dealership showing the business.
PHS stats that 15,559 1962 Pontiac LeMans convertibles were built, 246 remain.In 1961 the Tempest was Motor Trends Car of the Year.This car was the FIRST automatic rear transaxle car ever made IN THE WORLD!Second USA car made with a 4 cylinder (I believe this is correct, but not 100% absolute).DeLorian designed the driveline; making the 194.5 cid big 4 (literally ½ of a 389).The drivers side cylinder bank was removed.This car had the unique, extremely expensive to make, rope drive drive shaft: no universals, .65 in diameter and bent 3 along its length. If you completed this arch, the circle would have a diameter of 73! This shaft was forged steel and ran inside a torque tube that had 2 donut ball bearing housings. This torque tube connected the engine to the rear end, ANOTHER FIRST! This design was made because DeLorian wanted a compact car that could seat six, handle well, have perfect weight distribution and have performance.The curved drive shaft and rear transaxle were developed to eliminate the transmission tunnel. The engine is tilted slightly downward. The car was advertised with perfect weight distribution between the front and rear tires. Tires were 15.The engine was mounted on large soft rubber motor mounts to help absorb the vibrations that were put out by the unusual engine. This car was made to compete with the Corvair.It was part of the BOP (Buick, Olds, Pontiac) trio that went after this new compact market.Buick had the Special, Olds the F-85
The car was originally bought as a gift from the original owners wife.Evidently he wanted a convertible to drive on sunny days.After he died the car was sold and was kept in a private collection for many years.What is truly amazing about the car is it came from the land of salt and very bad winters.It is very obvious that this car never saw anything but the sun and dry roads.
I found the car, believe it or not on ebay.I am an originality fanatic.The car needed a fair amount of cleaning and extreme detailing (dentil picks, and small brushes, swabs to clean every screw, nut and bolt.Original finishes, patina, and imperfections are left to ensure as close to perfect originality as possible, any missing original parts are being replaced with correct NOS, or preferred, original used parts in excellent unrestored condition.
CNDRoundport, how about you, how did you find all these super rare Round Port 455 HO-SD, 400 RA IV cars ? I have a 1988 Old car Trader that might have your 1974 455SD Transam for sale in Eastern Ontario in it, he was asking 2500$ at the time, If only I knew what I know now back then ... I was living and working in Trenton Ont. at the time.
Of course there's the car that started this site. My Laurentian pretty much sat since 1978. It came out once in the mid 80's. I wouldn't call it unmolested though as it was stripped and painted back in the 70's.