Hi from Great Britain......

64PARCONUK · Addicted!

RE: Hi from Great Britain......

66 Grande guy · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Well they have duals in airplanes and that seems to work pretty well as long as everyone understands who the captain is....

Must have been fun in Portugal though. I guess the person with the most upper body strength got to steer.

As for the RHD drive cars being autos only I wouldn't know. Seems kind of foreign to the European stick shift preference though. Would have been easier to engineer for sure.

Oracle · Addicted!

No definitely not all auto, though that really holds only to 1959. I have a funny feeling now that after 1959 it was very much an enphasis on Powerglide trans. It is possible that after 1964 say to 1959 it was auto trans only.

Check out the episode of Bewitched to see a created (by GM) dual-control 1965/1966 Chevy Impala that was used as a driving school car.

68sd · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

our 67 Buick had two Brake pedal one on each side (driving school car)

pixidogg · Member

I never thought id start so much chat!!! Mines not auto, 3 speed manual withstick on the steering column. Gonna take a look at gearbox tomorrow, to see where clutch fork comes out, and let you know. Also gonna photograph original Ceylon registation book, as its quite amusing to see. I took a look on the engine casings to find the date numbers, the engine number is WR 51367, this is the original engine according to the log book, i also found these two sets of numbers........E 25 6 and 3837012. Any use??
TIM......

66 Grande guy · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I'm a little sketchy on this but it seems to me that the casting numbers broke down first by month: A being January, etc., the second number being the day of the month and the third the year.

If I'm wrong some one will correct me. Its a tough crowd.

So your engine would have been made on May 25 1956. That makes it older than me! I hope its in better shape!

pixidogg · Member

Hi Ken
That is how i figured it to be, with them using a letter prefix for months of the year. According to Oracle, you should allow approx one month from casting date to date of instelation of engine in car on assemble line. This would mean my car rolls out of factory somewhere around the end of June 56. Acording to the log book, it was first registard in October 56 in Ceylon.
TIM....

68sd · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

being that late the body number 17 must mean its the 17th exported RHD Laurentian 4door sedan?,as it would be a much higher# at that point if it was all ?

66 Grande guy · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

That sounds like it adds up. Boy those would be few and far between now. I hope you have all the special RHD parts because you'll probably never find any more. Lots of stuff available for the rest of the running gear though. Body trim might be a little harder to find but this is the right place for that!

Oracle · Addicted!

Please don't assume that it's an indication of the 17th export body. We know from experience with GM of Canada and also (cough) Ford of Canada that early bodies were often export style and used-up in due course on later chassis and sent off overseas..no-one being the wiser! A '65 Galaxie 500XL convertible was found in the UK ... a model never actually available. A sheet in the car stated that that it was to dropped on to the line and placed on chassis # 1019.

Here's another:

PATHFINDER DELUXE 6 WAGON
# 62062F606646
Paint 2409
Engine W37,142
Trim 918
Body 6

Here's a more interesting example from the next year:
Diplomatic order 57 6-cylinder Sedan registered January 1957 in NZ
STYLE 1019 RD DOM
BODY NO. 1 ! PAINT 1007 TRIM 654

The other plate has GENERAL MOTORS OF CANADA etc
MODEL SERIAL 71019610080!
ENG. R209,374

This would appear to disprove my suggestion that early bodies were always exported!

Oracle · Addicted!

# 3837012 is the 1955-57 261 cu in block casting number by the way!

I just cannot get my teeth around, having thought about it, having a car assembled in late May or even June 1956 having a body numbered 17 if it was other than a case of again a body hanign around for testing purposes etc that was then recycled to get rid of it. However, I may well be totally wrong and Oshawa delayed export production for so many months.

68sd · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

thats a good idea that a bunch would be made up all together and they would be used as needed,makes sense to do a bunch at once other than make them as ordered?

-- Edited by 68sd on Wednesday 9th of June 2010 09:27:10 AM

davelacourse · Poncho Master!

Your original 261 should have WR51367 stamped on it.

Style code 2019D = 4-door sedan, Deluxe (Laurentian)

EX RD = Export, Right-hand Drive

Paint code 2605 = 2-tone, India Ivory and Pinecrest Green

Trim code 904 = Yellow and Charcoal Gray (probably - I cannot be sure of this one)

Hope this helps.

Dave

Oracle · Addicted!

EX RD = Export Right hand drive (check!)
DOM RD = Diplomatic order rhd (through GM Diplomatic Sales in Oshawa and NYC)
DOM = Diplomatic lhd

I don't think there was a pure 'EX' code for export...not seen one anyway!

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I love this. The more i dig into this wonderful site, the more i love it. What a joy to see your 56 in the U.K. sir. Your car looks really solid, judging by the photos. What a prize and worth restoring for sure. It is amazing where our Canadian Pontiacs end up. Who would of thought that our cars would end up in certain parts of the world, like where you found your 56. How did you end up getting your car in Britain, when it was actually sold in that other country. Sir if you can find the time, please let us know how you got such a prize in this kind of condition. Do you know of any other Canadian Pontiac owners in the U.K. We know that there are shows in Britain that cater to American based automobiles and that these cars are worshiped and treasured there. Have you run into other Canadian Pontiac owners since you got your 56. Cheers. George.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Regarding Body number 17. Oshawa workers went on strike on September 19, 1955 and did not settle the strike until February 1956. It would be my suggestion that this might explain the delay in production of this car.

68sd · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

right on Ray smile

Jughead · Veteran Member

Welcome aboard, it's nice to see cars like that in the U.K.. It's a shame I never saw any when I lived there, or in New Zealand for that matter. They must be as rare as hen's teeth. Keep the pictures coming during your build.

pixidogg · Member

Hi all.
Not been logged in here for a while, so i didnt see the later replys to my listing, sorry. Thanks to everybody for your comments and answers to some questions and problems i had. In answer to Long Strokes import question, i did not bring the car into England. I purchased it via Ebay from a chap in London, who told me that he had bought it from a breakers yard!!!! Apparently they had picked it up from a woman who called them in to remove it after her husband had died. From the paperwork that i recieved with the car, i believe this man to be the origenal importer of the car, which came into England in 1989. The chap that imported it, had bought it in Sri Lanker (Ceylon) two years earlier, and bought it home with him apon his return. Some work had been done to the car, but i dont believe it has ever been on the road over here yet. It has really spurned me on to work on the car, after reading about how interested you guys are in my car, and the rarity of a RHD model. I am not restoring the car to a concoarse condition, just a reliable and tidy car, as i want to use it regularly and not worry about paint chips, rain, car park dents, etc.
TIM....

69-Tin Indian · Guru

Hey Tim, I too am of the opinion that a door-slammer driver special is the best way to go with an old automobile. Save the concourse stuff for the extremely limited special edition automobiles!
Nice just to have a driver that if you get a nick or a dent, it doesn't cost $3,000.00 just to blend in the heavy metallic imron paint job to fix a blemish! Look forward to seeing more pics as you git er
done.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Tim it is so nice to see, that you are keeping that wonderful trusty workhorse 261 inliner in the car. As it should be in my opinion. It is a fabulous engine and the power will surprise you. Have you contacted George Zapora at GM Canada Vintage Services yet. For a minor fee they will give you a wealth of information on your car. This service is only for Canadian built GM cars. If you send them your V.I.N. information that is off your cowl tag. They will tell you when your car was built as well as a ton of other useful information. If you require more info please let me know. Continued success with your resto mate. Cheers. George.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

ORACLE are you still out there. I am just wondering if our mate from over the pond is still out there. Sir do you still have your Canadian built right hand drive 1956 Pontiac Laurentian sedan? If so, are there any updates on the restoration of your 56? Photos would be appreciated by the Pontiac brotherhood here. Cheers mate. George.

firstdancebridalcars · Addicted!

On the right hand drive cars the clutch fork came out of the right side of the bellhousing. The gear change was still on the left side of the transmission so the gearchange rods had to go under the transmission from right to left which over the years made for some very sloppy gear changes.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

firstdancebridalcars wrote:
On the right hand drive cars the clutch fork came out of the right side of the bellhousing. The gear change was still on the left side of the transmission so the gearchange rods had to go under the transmission from right to left which over the years made for some very sloppy gear changes.

That makes sense. Cheers mate.

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

Long time since first posted in 2010 but he was on site in Oct 31 hope he brings us a update