Here's a interesting ad I came across tonight while wasting time on the internet.
Its clearly a Canadian advertisement yet it shows Bonneville and Catalina as being offered in 1959 and lists Star Chief as well as the regular Canadian nameplates. My apologies as it is hard to read,.
This is the first time I've noticed this. Does anybody have an explanation? This was before the auto pact of 1965 - could you order an American Pontiac through a Canadian dealer at that time?
Good work MC ! I was always under the impression that one could order a US car at the Pontiac dealers, its just that it would be imported and subject o high taxes and a high base price. 1959 was the year the Wide Track Pontiac was coined and even though in the pictures of the Canadian cars you can plainly see they don't have it, perhaps it was a marketing ploy to drive sales. There's no question that parts counter guys always asked you Blue Block ? or Orange Block ? so these US models had to be around.
I know foreignbrochures had both Canuck and US models.
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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.
This ad shows both Canadian models (Pathfinder and Laurentian) and US model (Star Chief) on the same page.
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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.
Resurrecting this old thread, just to mention that these ads were indeed canadian ads in Canadian magazines and the US models were advertised here and available too, alongside the Canadian jobs. I even have a Canadian brochure with the US-models in it too. I will post scans here when i get the time to do it.
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1959 Pontiac Parisienne 2 door hardtop Sport Coupe
1956 Pontiac Star Chief Custom Catalina 4 door hardtop
I agree with Greaser as well. Growing up in this era and being a car guy since the cradle, I can honestly say I never say an American Pontiac until a family friend bought a used 65 Catalina from someone who moved to Cape Breton from the US. He didn't have it long because things started to go, first the water pump, later the fuel pump and he couldn't buy parts for it in Canada. Bear in mind, there was no such thing as Free Trade in those days, bringing things in from the US or anywhere else was a major deal. One publication to fit both markets to reduce costs makes sense.
Resurrecting this old thread, just to mention that these ads were indeed canadian ads in Canadian magazines and the US models were advertised here and available too, alongside the Canadian jobs. I even have a Canadian brochure with the US-models in it too. I will post scans here when i get the time to do it.
Finally got around to taking pictures of that brochure. As I said before, these are truly Canadian ads for the Canadian market. US models were indeed available, albeit more expensive and rarer, but they were sold here alongside the Canadian Ponchos.
« All the Wonders Youve Waited For », by the way, was the Canada only sales slogan for 1959. When you see that phrase, it is solely for the Canadian market, and it was not used in US advertising at all.
here is the brochure:
-- Edited by 59paris on Wednesday 6th of November 2019 08:02:38 AM
