Jim Carniato's 1961 Pontiac Parisienne "Bubbletop" is the first race car featured on Canadian Pontiac. Jim's expert execution of transfering this car from a worn out street car to a 10 second racer is nothing short of incredible! We're proud to showcase Jim's talents. And now Jim will fill us in on the details:
61 Pontiac "Spirit of 61"
My friend and I are big on 409 engines. We're partners on a 55 Chevy Gasser style drag car and we wanted to get a second car to race. We could have gone with a 58 to 65 Chevy but we thought it would be cool to have a Canadian Pontiac.
One night I came across this 61 Parisenne that looked like a good candidate. Only problem was that we're in Barrie Ontario and the car was located in Winnipeg. After talking to the owner and getting an accurate description of the car's condition we figured there was a good chance we might be able to drive the car back to Ontario.
So, we bought the car sight unseen and flew out to Winnipeg to pick it up. We went ahead and put some new tires on and away we went. The car ran great except for a small problem with the driveshaft hanger bearing. We were able to fix that up with the tools we had on hand and it made the rest of the trip with no problems.
The body on this car looked pretty good from a distance but once we got it off the frame and sandblasted it had plenty of rust holes. That wasn't much of a surprise, it was pretty much what we expected when we bought the car.
The original plan was to build a street-strip car that would run in the high ten second range but we later decided to just go ahead and build it as a race only car. So, we built an eight point roll cage into the car that is legal for times as quick as 8.50 seconds in the 1/4 mile. We'll probably never run that quick but we'd like to run in the mid nines eventually.
We tried to keep the weight down as much as possible while we were building this car. Right now it weighs about 3,200 lbs with a driver and a full fuel cell. The engine is a stroked (476ci) 409 with factory iron heads, but were patiently waiting for one of the new aluminum 409 blocks. That, along with aluminum heads and a lighter transmission should get us pretty close to 3,000 lbs.
The engine that's in the car now was originally built for street use so we weren't expecting to go all that quick the first year. We were happy to have it run mid tens with a best time of 10.37 @ 128 mph.
This is absolutely a fantasic car. I saw it prominently in the latest edition of Performance Improvements magazine as well as Jim's 55. I still have to vist Jim's shop.
1960 Pontiac Strato Chief Safari 1960 Laurentian Safari 1960 Laurentian 4door(scrapped) 2001 Grand Am Traded on a '96 Suburban 2WD 2002 Hyundai Accent(SOLD) 1968 Grand Parisienne Scrapped and SOLD
Just to update things a bit I should add that we finally have the new aluminum 409 block we've been waiting for.
This is the first block that Bob Walla has delivered, here he is carrying it. As you might guess, it's a lot lighter than the iron blocks.
We were hoping for about 540 cubic inches from this engine but I think the liners will be a bit thin if we bore it that far so I think we'll probably go for about 520ci. Bob is also making iron blocks. They'll go out to 540ci no problem.
The cylinder heads will be the limiting factor in the horsepower department. I think the heads we have now should support at least 750 hp but we may get another set and modify them so that we can go up over 800hp. Either way, we'd like to keep the revs down below 7,000rpm to keep the engine somewhat reliable.
It'll take some time to get this engine together so I don't think it'll be ready to go until next spring. We're hoping to be running in the mid nine second range with the new engine.
By the way, here's another thing you don't see every day. Bob cast a few sets of aluminum 409 exhaust manifolds. We're going to try a set on a street car with a stock 409. I think we may get the insides ceramic coated just to help their chances of surviving. I think they'll be OK because the car is mainly a cruiser and it's well tuned, but only time will tell.
Car still looks awesome Jim perfect choice for feature car,hope to see you at grand bend.Great looking aluminum block and if I win the lottery maybe you can build a street version for me.
Super nice car Jim! I have followed your build thread since day one! Great car!
__________________
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.
Sweet Car especially the 409, need the link for the 409 block, some 409 enthusiast here that would love to see or buy a block etc Nothing like a Canadian Pontiac