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Post Info TOPIC: January 2015 Feature Car


A Poncho Legend!

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January 2015 Feature Car


Our January Feature Car is this sharp 1967 Beaumont SD 396. Bernie Coffey is the proud owner of this car and what makes it unique is that aside from a repaint several years ago and some minor interior work it has never been restored. Bernie tells us all about his unique survivor:

 

We have owned our 67 Beaumont SD (Sport Deluxe) for 25 years.
 
Our Beaumont was one of only 451 produced (model 817) in 1967 as a special edition from
GM Canada with as standard equipment  a big block 396 325hp (L35).....it is equipped with a properly
date coded 4 speed Saginaw today but was originally ordered with a 3 speed (all synchro) manual that
was floor shifted.
The car was assembled on April 5th, 1967 and shipped to London Motor Products on April 7th.
 
 
When first purchased in 1989 this car was my wife's daily driver (4 speed Saginaw) on a daily commute of
about 30 miles return in Toronto but not driven through the winter.
 
Recently we have contacted all previous owners including the first owner's wife as the original owner passed away several
years ago. His wife was very excited to hear the Beaumont was still around and in good condition and being used
regularly. She also told us that in the first several years the car was used year 'round as not many people had a
winter beater back in the 60's. We hope to visit her in the summer.
 
 
The second owner repainted the Beaumont in Imron burgundy from its original Verde Green about 40+ years ago.
He also replaced the original 3 speed manual with the 4 speed Saginaw and then drove the car to Alberta where
it lived for the next 10 years until returning to Breslau, Ont with new owner Ross Clark.
 
 
Ross had the car featured as a cover car (with an article) in Classic Sixties magazine in October 1983.
Ross sold the car to a co-worker with my wife Lynda at Shell Oil in Toronto.
We bought it in April 1989.
 
 
Our Beaumont remains a survivor at 87,000 miles with only a timing chain replacement several years ago.
The heads have never been off the motor and the engine compartment has not been detailed..
The carburetor was rebuilt by Carb Rebuilders in Toronto and the car idles at 450 rpm and runs smooth at
any rpm.
 
 
New carpets and vinyl for the from bench seat and a 35 hour compounding of the paint have been about the only
cosmetics done in 25 years. With the compounding completed all the original emblems needed replacing
and were ordered from Dale's Muscle Car Parts in Bracebridge.
 
 
We have discussed a full body off the frame restoration but have done several on
other cars and decided for now just to enjoy the car as it is.
As it sits today it needs new bumpers and wheel well trim and showed be painted as the paint looks good
from about 25 feet but it still gets a lot of attention at cruises and quite often more so than full resto cars.
 
My son (now 30) learned to drive a stick in this car and we have decided it is now Mike's car and will pass
on to him........he is a manger  at a Porsche dealer in Toronto and will someday drive the Beaumont in to work.
 
 
Hope you enjoy seeing this car as much as we enjoy driving it and hope to for many years to come.
 


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Todd
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Poncho Master!

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Hey nice wheels, congrats !

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68 custom
68 deluxe
67 custom
67 SD convertible (1 of 1)
16 Colorado 4x4 Duramax

Long live the Canadian arrowhead >

 Edmonton,AB



A Poncho Legend!

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Wow, I love it. You are doing the right thing not restoring it. It's beautiful as it is, even though you claim it's not perfect. (It sure LOOKS perfect!)

Love the bench seat too, so unusual.

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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



Addicted!

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Beautiful car !!! Great to see it as original as it is

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Congratatulations and thanks for sharing your story. It is always special for me when I hear the stories when people have been able to keep their cars for many years and especially with yours basically being a survivor. The history of your car is a nice bonus besides. Great looking car.

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Jerel


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nice piece of classic Canadian auto history.....congratulations, well deserved,well preserved.



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Guru

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Congratulations, Very Nice Car and Great Story.

GP

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1967 Beaumont Custom

Canadian Poncho Supporting Member



Poncho Master!

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Very nice! And I also don't think she needs a frame off. Enjoy as is. Love the story behind the car too. And meeting the original owner's wife, that would be cool and some more good stories. 



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'68 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible Matador Red (Resale Red but not for sale).



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jmont64 wrote:

Congratatulations and thanks for sharing your story. It is always special for me when I hear the stories when people have been able to keep their cars for many years and especially with yours basically being a survivor. The history of your car is a nice bonus besides. Great looking car.


Some one said "they are only original once" It's your choice of course, but the hobby benefits by the preservation of original examples as does your wallet! I would be proud to own this example. Congratulations.



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Addicted!

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Beautiful car! Enjoy it as it is.

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chris newport



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Congratulations neighbour      winner.gif  

Nice way to start the year!!   (looking at your car for 30 days)

 

 

Interesting story, with car being a SD 396, with 3 speed and bench seat....  

 

As usual the car, is like its owner(s)    Even nicer in person....nod.gif  

 



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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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sweet !!

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later...rog

AADD supporting member !!
I'm a collector...not a builder!!Located in sunny central Saskatchewan at the lakehead!
NOS


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to a nice guy and a nice car;  way to go !

Dale @ NOS    a poncho supporter



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Guru

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excellent welcome to the top of the month



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Guru

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Congratulations, Bernie. I, too, enjoyed your story. Your SD looks awesome!smile



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--Pritch--

'76 Cougar XR7 (original owner); '52 Mercury Monterey 2 dr HT (Future Project)

2013 Mustang

2010 Ford Ranger

'93 MX5

'64 Custom Sport Ragtop (Factory M20)



Poncho Master!

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Beautiful car, and the history really adds to the package. Interesting item you mentioned was that when people bought these cars new and they lived in a province that had snow they were winter driven. {I have pics. of my 67 with snows}. The survived because the owners loved them, trusted the drum brakes to stop and had fun.
Brian

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Thanks for sharing your story Bernie Coffhy and to Todd for a sweet monthly pick (as always)...fabulous way to start the new year.
So that's were that nice S/D went:

I remember Ross Clarke very well and drove to his home in Breslau, Ont a few times (to buy stuff) in the early-mid 1980's. One day he called me up and I bought his AZ S/S hoods...I sure appreciated that phone call.

Swell guy (we became friends) and he really knew his Beaumont's. Like a kid in a candy store, I enjoyed touring his basement parts stash and the inside of his yellow school bus (parked at the rear of his property)...such a rush, 3 decades ago. On the drive to his place, wife and I stop to buy a dozen lemon meringue tarts at a local bakery, we ate 2 treats and left the other 10 on the back seat floor of our daily driver, a 1967 Beaumont Custom (green, 6 cylinder hardtop). After a hour of dealing, walk back from the school bus and start to drive home. Feeling a little hungry, looked for the home made tarts, all gone...WTH.  Turns out, our Doberman Tanya had ate all 10 tarts (when Dad was preoccupied buying '67 parts). While the smart dog had hid all the wrapping paper trace evidence, under my drivers front bench seat track...clever girl, all we could do is LOL.

Magazines:

- I got that Classic Sixties magazine, bought it off the news strand, just for the Beaumont color photos and write-up
- your car was also featured around Oct or Nov/1983 or '84 in the monthly issue of NCOA, another great article

I remember him wanting to switch transmission, or something - remove 4 speed, as wife preferred an automatic (but finally decided to sell muscle car instead)...just going off memory here.

- I knew he was selling it and saw it probably at 1987 Fall Barrie Flea Market, wearing a For Sale sign on the windshield...but out of my $$ league.
- that night, instead of passed him on the 401, heading home...I followed him into a truck stop...he was okay, limping the S/D home with exhaust problems (brew muffler, broken tail pipe or clamp?)
 
Ross's main reason for selling his 1967 S/D, back in the late 1980's - he didn't have a 3 car heated garage / he sure loved that original big block Beaumont, but one car needed to find a new home:

He had special ordered and took delivery of a brand new, fully loaded 1987 Buick Grand National GNX (1 of 547 ever produced), V6 would be easy to drive & have A/C, for family outings with modern creature comforts.

Last time I visited Ross, his 1987 GNX was parked in his geo-thermal heated garage (owner designed & installed home heating system), as the house basement partial end wall corner was left open at the inside steps to the garage floor, providing practically free heat inside garage. He also taught night school at Conestoga College in heat exchangers or land surveying (?), a technically smart man of many talents...and fun to chat with, about the car hobby and 1966-67 Beaumont's in general.
- I forget exactly if this '67 S/D was parked beside the GNX that last day (I visited) or his yellow 1970 Olds 442 W31 ram air (really rare/mint convertible)...but one car, was in the driveway, I guessing the Beaumont.

Congrats Bernie, for preserving it and enjoying for decades...much to nice for ever needing a frame-off, from what I recall...your son is one lucky man.

1 of 451 Beaumont S/D - there is a good reason, very few 1967 good ones come up for sale...most every owner has a real life-long passion, for them.


BTW - my Marina blue (original paint) 1967 Custom, 283-V8 with strato buckets/console...also came from LMP in London, ON.
- London Motor Products (Richmond St. area, if I recall) and East Town Chev/Olds (on Dundas St. across from Ponderosa Steak House) sold a lot of muscle cars, in their day

 



-- Edited by Beaumont67SD on Friday 2nd of January 2015 07:11:28 AM

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owned ten 1967 Beaumonts, over 3 decades


A Poncho Legend!

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Beautiful car BJBurnout! Love it!



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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.



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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I love it! Great colour, great wheels, and a great story behind it. It is funny that it was ordered so stripped, I mean bench seat, standard HD 3-speed, standard small hubcaps, but it came with power conventional drum brakes. I have heard of several other Canadian 67 Chevelles ordered in such a way.

 

It was originally Verde Green, a Canada-only colour. My Oshawa-built 67 Chevelle is also in that J-code Verde Green.

 

I hope your son can resist planting the throttle on that car because a Saginaw will not hold up with that kind of torque. Being a manual trans L35 car means it would have come with a 3.31 rear axle.

 

Yet another great monthly feature car. smile

 



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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.

In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...

Cam, Toronto.


I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton



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Beautiful car, I really like those red line tires.



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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Great story and great car. Love the survivors.

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Guru

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.....That is one great ride. I always liked the 67 SD. When I worked in the machine shop in Acklands Saskatoon back in 73, one of the countermen ,Dennis Bateman drove everyday his 67 SD396, red with black roof and interior, turbo 400. That was a sharp looking car and never forgot it. Last I heard he is in Alberta and still has the car. Bernie's 396, black interior, stick, redlines and nice wheels etc make this a super Feature car.

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Guru

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Beautiful time capsule survivor 67SD! Those era correct mags and redlines really do it for me!

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"you can't burn out, if your not on fire" -Jim Morrison


Guru

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THAT IS NICE AND RARE TO SAY THE LEAST.

A FRIEND OF MINE HAS THE SAME THING IN A 67 CHEVELLE WITH THE SAME POWER TRAIN,

ORIGINAL 396 , 3 SPEED STD ON THE FLOOR. OWNED IT SINCE 1970.

 



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Uber Guru

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Awesome car... awesome story. Easily the nicest Feature car of 2015 so far!

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"So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think... The good outnumber you, and we always will."  Patton Oswalt

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