Good morning from Australia. A question that I hope the forum may be able to answer for me. I am looking at purchasing a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. It is reported to be factory RHD, however the brake master cylinder and booster is still located on the left hand side of the engine firewall. While the dash does not look like it has been cut and swapped, the location of the master cylinder booster on the left hand side of the firewall makes me think that this is a non factory conversion. Can anyone shed any light on whether the factory relocated the master cylinder and vacuum booster to the right hand side of the firewall on the RHD conversions.
I have been reading on the internet and can't find any information on factory US built RHD Pontiacs.
I found the following on Wikipedia about the Canadian Pontiacs
"The Canadian model line nameplates were never sold in the U. S. They were built for the Canadian market and for export from Canada as disassembled "crate" or "kit" cars. The one exception came when the Parisienne became an American Pontiac offering beginning in mid-1983 through 1986, although by this time the U.S. and Canadian offerings were identical. As the only remaining full-size Pontiac model available at the time, the Canadian Parisienne had been coveted by US dealerships as a flagship model to fill that market segment and compete with the Caprice offered by Chevrolet dealers. The existing name was deemed suitable for the purpose and production was simply extended to cover both countries.
A number were assembled from CKD kits by GM Holden in Australia and more - SKD assembly this time - in neighbouring New Zealand. As well, these kits were assembled at GM plants in the Netherlands and South Africa. Canadian Pontiacs were used in part because, as a fellow Commonwealth country, there were advantages with import duties. But largely due first to the economies of part sourcing two separate GM lines from the same parts bin. Second, with higher gasoline prices and lower discretionary spending than in the US, Canadian Pontiacs like Chevrolets were more affordable, hence more marketable overseas. Thirdly, without the bulk and weight of American Pontiacs, their Canadian counterparts were better adapted where space can be limited, as in Europe and in a British RHD environment where an overly large full-size car has overly large disadvantages.
These RHD cars had the same dashboards whether Chevrolet (Impalas and Bel Airs also made it to Australia; NZ took just Impalas) or Pontiac and only one dash design per bodyshell run so the 61-64 models had the one dash (a RHD version of the 1961 Pontiac layout) even though it changed annually in Canada and the 65-68s all had a 'transposed' version of the '65 Chevrolet dash. The RHD cars also had antiquated, short, 'clap-hands' wipers that almost met in the middle of the windshield rather than the parallel wipers of the LHD Canadian cars. Local radios, upholstery and two-speed heater/demisters were fitted - some Australian cars had local Frigidaire air conditioning."
In the interior picture shows a large cover over the passenger door power window switch and a single switch in there now. Not to say that it didn't have a replacement door panel from a left door from a LHD car but thought it was worth mentioning
Thanks for increasing the size of the photos. The angle of the brake pedal arm as well as the position of the accelerator pedal more towards the centre of the footwell did seem unusual to me too. I find it hard to believe this is how a factory conversion was done even in 1963. Australia did have a reputation for some shonky conversions in the 1970's, and I am wondering if this may be an example of such a conversion. The car still has a lot of appeal, and may just need the effort to get it converted correctly. Thanks again for everyone's interest in my question.
I'm no expert but I don't think any RHD Bonnevilles were produced - only Parisiennes. This has to be an aftermarket conversion - unless Oracle knows different.
In Australia dealers, usually around four, imported US and Canadian cars direct and then used either (latter) factory rhd parts to convert them or cut-and-shut the dashs and perhaps ran a chain drive from the right to connect to the cut-down lhd steering column.
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Automotive Historian, Author and Journalist Deputy Editor, VINTAGE ROADSCENE Southampton, England
