I've waited patiently for over three years for our veteran member Carl Stevenson to finish his Acadian so that we could feature it. Although it's not completely finished, I couldn't wait any further!

  In all seriousness when Carl asked me if I would feature the Acadian for October to celebrate 25 years of ownership, I was more than happy to oblige. Carl has done an outstanding job restoring his rare Canso SD. I had the privilege of meeting Carl in person earlier this year and I could see that he still has the same level of enthusiasm for this car that he had 25 years ago! Carl is a great person and an asset to Canadian Poncho. There is no person more deserving of a car like this than Carl. Happy 25th!

And now, Carl tells us the story behind the car:

 In September I approached Todd to ask about the possibility of featuring my 65 Acadian to celebrate the 25th anniversary of me purchasing it, October 3rd, 1986. Here is my story!  

   Less than month after getting my license in 1974 I bought a 1965 Acadian Canso Sport Deluxe. It was a 194 Powerglide, turquoise inside and out. As all Sport Deluxe cars have, it had buckets, console and a factory gauge package. From that day on, Canadian Pontiacs have alsways been special to me.

It has always been fun for me pointing out to people the differences between the Canadian Pontiacs and the similar but not the same US cars. Over the next year and a half after buying it I did the usual 16 year old stuff--- V8, TH350, 3.73 gears, tach, wheels etc. However, I was young and easily influenced. Only about a year and a half later I fell in love with a 66 Grande Parisienne and traded my SD for it. Although I really enjoyed the GP, I still wished I had my SD. (Sound familiar to anyone???!!!)

    Over the next few years I looked for another SD to no avail.  In 1978 I did find one pretty rough one which I bought and made into a bracket racer. I raced it until one day the driveshaft split resulting in a destroyed transmission and rearend. I had no money to rebuild it so I turned it back into a street car and sold it to a friend. It was stolen shortly after and has never been recovered. This was about 30 years ago. I still watch for it in hope...

     My search continued. In April 1979 my hometown was in danger of flooding and we were evacuated to Winnipeg, about 45 miles away. While there, I drove by a service station one day and happened to see a familiar set of tailights.

We stopped to check it out. It was a white 65 Canso SD with black buckets. The interior was perfect and the odometer showed 38,000 miles. The attendant was kind enough to give me the owner's #. In no time, I was talking to a 67 year old lady who was the original owner of the car. She said she was not interested in selling and that every time she parked it somewhere there was another note under the windshield wiper asking if she would sell her car! I asked her to take my name and number. I knew I had an advantage over other suitors because each time I called her over the next several years, she told me my name was at the top of the growing list of requests. I usually called her about twice a year. In late Sept 86 I made my annual fall request. Again she said the car was fine and she was still going to keep it.

However, about 4 days later when I got to work there was a note on my desk to call Mrs Kroft at a number I knew off by heart! I called and she gave me the bad (good) news that it had major engine trouble and the repair estimate was quite high. I arranged to go see the car that night. I knew where she lived and had driven by many many times over those years, seldom ever seeing it out of the garage. When I arrived, it looked almost as good as it had 7 and 1/2 years previous. It now had 43,000 miles and the oil and antifreeze were mixed together in both the oil pan and the radiator which suited me just fine! She gave me the impression family members wanted the car but to avoid conflict she would sell it outside the family. We quickly made a deal and I returned the next night. On October 3, 1986 I  drove it home trouble free which was somewhat surprising considering the engine.

     The winter of 86-87 was a lot of fun. My girlfriend (now my  wife) and I were secretly planning our wedding and I was working on MY 65 SD. I felt 17 again!

     I enjoy big blocks and wanted one in this car. However, I vowed I would not cut it up in case I wanted to ever make it more original again. I made a set of tubular manifolds and put in a 427, no cutting! Over the next couple of winters, I added a factory underdash air unit, tinted glass, cruise control, power trunk, 1/4 mile timer, GTO Rally I wheels and a GM accessory tach. I also made a set of power windows to fit the car. This was never an option on Acadians. I used the correct vintage switches in the interest of keeping it looking as original, and maybe fooling a few people into thinking it was built with them, which it has!

     In the winter of 89-90, I stripped the paint off and had it repainted. It came home from the paint shop in May 1990, just in time to install all the trim and interior for a trip to Kansas City and the POCI convention. 

     I drove the car in this form until after the 1996 POCI convention. At that time I parked it, only driving it once I think in 1998 or 1999, I forget. I was gathering parts with the intention of changing it in to an original looking 327 4 speed SD. Not that I was sick of the big block but sick of not having that 3rd pedal! I finally collected enough pieces to make it a "factory" 327 4 speed car, including an original 65 Acadian 4 speed console. I have never seen another one, and bought it by fluke. I thought it was a Nova 4 speed console (same except the Acadian unit has no emblem) but when I got it home I realized it was an actual Acadian unit. There's a number of 66-67 Acadian 4 speed consoles out there but this truly is a "hen's tooth". 

     The car is currently almost "done", if a car can ever actually be done..... I still have a number of changes in mind for down the road somewhere.  Disc brakes, 12 bolt rear, repaint inside the trunk and door jambs and lots of detail work. It's only driver condition, but that suits me fine. I had to replace the floor pans a few years ago, and I put new fenders on it in 1990 when it was painted. All other panels are the pieces the car was built with.

   Documentation recieved with the car included the original bill of sale for $3366.00. Options were tinted windshield, heavy duty suspension, block heater, Powerglide and 6.95 X 14" whitewall tires. Oddly enough, as shown on the documents, the car was built with power steering and power brakes. Mrs Kroft had the dealer swap them onto another 65 Acadian 2 door hardtop that was on the lot (as shown on the paperwork, including the VIN of the other car). Also, as shown, she had the dealer install RED accessory floor mats???!!! The car is a radio delete car and I still have the original delete plate. It has never had a radio installed. Currently my 80's  vintage 1/4 mile timer occupies that hole in the dash. I got the original Winnipeg Motor Products key chain with the car as well as the original keys. The shipping date, appropriately enough is 4-27-65!

     I enjoy this car partly because it's unusual to see a 65 SD but more because it reminds me of when I was 16. In about 37 years of looking out for 65 Canso SD's, I've likely not seen or heard of more than 15-20. I have owned 3 of them. I believe total production was a bit over 900.

     The car currently has a bit over 52,000 miles. Plans are to add a few more miles in the coming years. I have promised each of our two children a classic car when they turn 21 if they are living a good lifestyle, free of alchohol, drugs, tobacco etc.  (currently they are 14 and 16) Our daughter is excited about the prospect of getting this car in 7 years. It will be hard to give up but easily worth it.   Cars are a ton of fun but family is still much more precious.