Our June feature car belongs to a member who resides in Switzerland. Roman (aka Laurent63) is the new caretaker to this rare 1963 Pontiac Laurentian. He has a good solid base to start with and minimal restoration is needed. Roman and his wife are excited to find out more about the history of this Laurentian and to get their hands dirty learning how to work on a classic car. Congratulations to both of them on their purchase and I'm sure our great members will be more than helpful with any questions or parts they may need going forward. Now here's Roman with more details:

"This is my Pontiac Laurentian 2 door sedan. The dream to own a car like this came true for me and my wife. We always wanted to cruise the Swiss country roads in a classic car and let our minds wander.

We have been fascinated by US classic cars for many years.

In our area there is a classic car club called "Friday Night Cruisers" which organizes a big meeting once a year.

Since we know a few of the members personally, it is only logical that one of these members made us aware of the Pontiac Laurentian.

The advertisement he showed us didn't say very much about the Laurentian:

- 1963 Pontiac Laurentian

- V8

- Inspection of the road traffic office passed two weeks ago

- inexpensive

+ a few pictures

I was immediately fascinated by this car but I had never heard of a Pontiac named Laurentian.

I found out very quickly that it is a Canadian model. Now I really wanted to see this car!

I showed the ad to my wife and on the same day I contacted the seller to arrange a viewing.

Before the viewing we had a week to find out about these Canadian Pontiacs. I was mainly looking for technical data on the Laurentian models. I was interested in engines, equipment and options. My wife was looking for general information on Canadian Pontiacs and pictures of other Laurentians.

We also got a lot of valuable tips from the colleague who showed us the ad eg: What to look for when viewing.

We were well prepared!

When we saw the car live for the first time it was already clear to me that I wanted it if we didn't find any serious defects.

My wife was skeptical at the beginning but after the viewing she felt the same as me. All we found were mostly age-related blemishes.

The one bump on the side of the rear and the almost certainly non-original paintwork are manageable for us.

After the test drive that followed there was no longer any reason not to buy the car.

We didn't pick it up until a week later because it rained every day.

We used these rainy days again to collect information, but this time only information that pertained to our model.

We also had to look for a garage so the Laurentian didn't have to be outside.

I tried to decode the VIN somehow but all attempts at online decoders failed. A little frustrated I kept looking and found the crucial hint here in the forum that you should contact GM Vintage Vehicle Service or Heritage Center to decode the VIN.

I contacted VVS and the GM Heritage Center at the same time. I was a bit surprised at the response from GM. They referred me to VVS with my concern.

I ordered the data from VVS by post and email and couldn't wait to read it.

The day of departure was approaching and according to the weather report the sun should shine on this day finally after two weeks of rain!

Fortunately we also found a garage space.

The weather was beautiful when we picked up the Laurentian.

Unfortunately I had to drive my wife there by car. So only one of us could cruise home in the Pontiac.

I left this honor to my wife. The journey took a little over an hour. Our Pontiac Laurentian was driven to it's new home without any problems.

We are very proud of our Canadian pearl.

Here is some information about the car:

- Model: 7611 Pontiac Laurentian V8 2 door sedan

- Engine: 8cyl 283cui 195HP

- Transmission: Automatic Two-Speed ​​Powerglide

- Color: P Azure Aqua Metallic

- Trim: 909 - Med. Aqua Cloth & Med. / Light Aqua Vinyl

- Production location: Oshawa, Ontario

- Production date: May 16, 1963

- Delivery date: May 16, 1963

- First dealer: Rumble Pontiac Ltd. , Toronto, Ontario

- Production number: 1063

We don't know very much about the history of our Pontiac.

- 1963 to 2017: unknown

- 2017: import to Great Britain

- 2018: import to Switzerland

- 2018 to today: 4 different owners

We will certainly try to fill the big gap beween 1963 and 2017.

Since we are completely new to the restoration of cars and we still have too little knowledge of automotive technology our Pontiac Laurention is also a project to further educate us.

We want to do as much as possible ourselves i.e. learning by doing with the support of many nice people who are familiar with it.

For example adjusting the carburetor yourself or removing small rust spots in the paint yourself are something new for us that we want to learn.

The car is currently the way we bought it.

But we have already started the "seat covers" project. We've been looking for covers, and getting offers from car upholstery, etc. Soon we will also renew the battery cables, carefully polish the paint and try to adjust the carburetor better.

The car will never look perfect. Our goal is for it to stay on the road for many years to come so that we can cruise with it for as long as possible and not lose a piece of automotive history.

We are also becoming more and more aware that thanks to a little luck we were able to get hold of an apparently rare vehicle that we want to take care of.

Finally we would like to thank our colleague from the bottom of our hearts who showed us the ad and who is of great help to us with his advice.

And we would like to thank you dear Canadian Ponchos for your help and the honorable nomination for the Feature Car for the month of June."