Never realized that an SD-396 came standard with bench seat and column shift. I had assumed that the SD package automatically added buckets. Interesting!
Great info, but a curious decision by GM. I suppose they knew the writing was on the wall and were making room for GTO? Was GTO available as a regular (as opposed to special order) Pontiac model in Canada for 1969?
Deluxe was the low level line with Custom being the higher trim line. To me it makes sense, a Sport Deluxe is an option on the low line Deluxe which was a bench seat car reflecting the low level of trim and price. GTO was available in 1969 in the regular dealer stream in Canada as well.
What I was getting at, was that earlier on (1966 shown below), the SD was considered the 'sports option', which included bucket seats and console. It seemed odd to me, that by 1969, the 'sports option' on a Deluxe wouldn't include sporty stuff like bucket seats and console. But makes sense when you consider that by then the Beaumont was pretty much dead, and the Tempest/Lemans/GTO was sliding in to take its place, with all those fancy options available on them. Why promote a product that you are replacing with a 'nicer' one...
Yeah, so many unanswered questions... I suppose that after the '65 auto pact the writing was on the wall, but then that doesn't explain the availability of Laurentians and Parisiennes right up into the seventies and eighties.
Yeah, so many unanswered questions... I suppose that after the '65 auto pact the writing was on the wall, but then that doesn't explain the availability of Laurentians and Parisiennes right up into the seventies and eighties.
Canadian Pontiac dealers needed equivalent cars to those Chevy dealers sold.
Laurentian and especially Parisienne were well established names, Parisienne out sold Impala some years.
American Pontiac B body chassis were unique up to 1970, same as Chevy, Buick and Olds from 1971.
By 1981 Pontiac's V8 was gone, eventually even US Pontiacs became "Canadian" Pontiacs.
In 1985 even the US sold Parisiennes, the Bonneville became a LeMans.
Yeah, so many unanswered questions... I suppose that after the '65 auto pact the writing was on the wall, but then that doesn't explain the availability of Laurentians and Parisiennes right up into the seventies and eighties.
Canadian Pontiac dealers needed equivalent cars to those Chevy dealers sold.
Laurentian and especially Parisienne were well established names, Parisienne out sold Impala some years.
American Pontiac B body chassis were unique up to 1970, same as Chevy, Buick and Olds from 1971.
By 1981 Pontiac's V8 was gone, eventually even US Pontiacs became "Canadian" Pontiacs.
In 1985 even the US sold Parisiennes, the Bonneville became a LeMans.
US Pontiacs became "Canadian" Pontiacs
Thanks
Randy
Yeah, my main curiosity was the '71 thru early '80s years, when the main body of the Pontiacs were almost identical, but with, in some cases, Chevy powertrains, but Pontiac in others. This was before the whole GM corporate powertrain move which started in the late seventies, I believe.
It seems odd that they would offer Bonneville, Parisienne, Catalina, and Laurentian side by side... unless they were worried that the Canadian customer would shy away from 'new' Pontiac brands.
I understand what happened in the 1980s. During that time, GM was intending to transform Pontiac into the sporty, more European inspired brand, so for '82 they dropped the full size Bonneville in the US and turned the Lemans into the Bonneville (with some styling changes and rebadging). Meanwhile, GM of Canada wanted to keep a full size Pontiac in thelr lineup due to the differences in market and dealer network, so they took an Impala/Caprice and added Pontiac-ish grille and taillights, and Parisienne badges - way different than the Pontiac body it replaced.
After losing their full size Pontiacs in the US, customers complained to dealers and dealers complained to GM. GM, in their haste to get a full size Pontiac back into the mix, brought in the Chevy based Parisienne that was already being produced. They already had downgraded the Bonneville to mid size cars, so they introduced the Chevy-bodied Parisienne to the US market for 1984.
For 1985, the Parisienne continued, but with the full-size Pontiac body returned to the line, but apparently (from appearance) still with the modified Chevy front clip.
I'd love to know if there was ever a 1970 Beaumont concept on the drawing boards.
I think they knew long before the 69 Beaumont went into production the line was dead. How sweet would an LS6 Beaumont have been ?
-- Edited by 70 SS ACADIAN on Tuesday 11th of June 2019 12:52:33 PM
Would be cool to create a concept drawing, if a person had a little time on their hands (and some talent...). I suspect it would have been difficult to maintain that General Motors of Canada (Pontiac...shhhhh) split grille theme on the '70 Chevelle body.
I'd love to know if there was ever a 1970 Beaumont concept on the drawing boards.
I think they knew long before the 69 Beaumont went into production the line was dead. How sweet would an LS6 Beaumont have been ?
-- Edited by 70 SS ACADIAN on Tuesday 11th of June 2019 12:52:33 PM
Would be cool to create a concept drawing, if a person had a little time on their hands (and some talent...). I suspect it would have been difficult to maintain that General Motors of Canada (Pontiac...shhhhh) split grille theme on the '70 Chevelle body.
By 1969 the GTO was now being brought into Canada. It was a big "image" musclecar. It was also relatively expensive with upscale trim. The '69 Beaumont SD-396 was only offered on the base "Deluxe" series. I figure it was Pontiac's answer to the low-cost Road Runner & Super Bee.
As for the LeMans, they started building them in Canada for 1970, and in many cases with the orange Chevrolet V8 in the Canadian tradition.
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In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
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By 1969 the GTO was now being brought into Canada. It was a big "image" musclecar. It was also relatively expensive with upscale trim. The '69 Beaumont SD-396 was only offered on the base "Deluxe" series. I figure it was Pontiac's answer to the low-cost Road Runner & Super Bee.
As for the LeMans, they started building them in Canada for 1970, and in many cases with the orange Chevrolet V8 in the Canadian tradition.
Great info. Thanks!
As a kid with a father who was a Pontiac salesman from the mid sixties through 1970, and again from 1975 or 6 through the 1980s (with Datsun and Plymouth/Chrysler mixed in as the dealership owner switched brands, then dad switched dealerships), I recall being impressed when I first started seeing GTOs... particularly orange ones for some reason... but since I was only around 5 years old at the time I couldn't remember if it was in '69 or '70 when I first saw them...
Either way, the Beaumont explanation is plausible in that Canadian buyers might have shunned away from the more-expensive GTO, so leaving a base model performance Beaumont in the mix made total sense from a marketing point of view. Then IIRC, for '70 you could order a 400 4bbl and 4-speed in a Lemans Sport or base Tempest, so it should have still been covered, I would think.
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