While on the subject, here is one that is truly Canadian with 250 straight six (American Catalinas had V6s as the base engine). Not my car, just a random ad on kijiji.
78 Parisienne for sale. 250 c.i. 6 cyl, auto. Car is licensed and registered as an antique. An original survivor with 82,000 Kms that is driven regularly. A car you can drive and enjoy as you restore or modify her.
The rarest that I remember was a base model 1971 Chevy wagon with a six and three on the tree! It was probably a one year only with a manual trans but I remember 1972 Bel Air taxis with a six. And yes they werent too peppy. An awful heavy car with a six.
There was a fleet of courier delivery cars based in Toronto around that time - BDG? BDC? - with four door Biscaynes in a drab green colour, that were 6-cyl automatics, in the early '70s. I remember fleet dispersal auctions in the mid-70s. Probably taxi-spec cars. I would imagine they were pretty well thrashed by the time they came up for sale, can't imagine there are many surviving even in wrecking yards, now.
I had a 70 Biscayne with a 6 and PG. It wasn't THAT bad ...once you got up to speed.
I've never driven a downsize ('77-up) with a six, but I did learn to drive on a downsize Parisienne with a 267 V8. It seemed to have adequate power to me, but then at 16 everything seemed fast. Today it would probably seem pretty slow.
I think perception of slowness partially has to do with the times we are in now. In the late seventies through the 1980s, cars were generally underpowered having been quickly changed (in vehicle development terms) to optimize for fuel economy and reduced emissions, so we all looked back at the muscle car years like they were the high point for performance and it never would get any better - it was pretty depressing overall. IMHO one of these cars with a six would be pretty slow, but so would an automatic Chevette, so the bar was pretty low for what was acceptable in traffic.
Nowadays it would probably feel like a total slug, with the average FWD family sedan having similar quarter mile times to the average muscle car of the sixties. Traffic in general moves faster and drivers are more aggressive, less attentive, and less patient (IMHO). This car would probably be fine meandering along a back road in the countryside, but would not be much fun in the city or accelerating onto a highway on-ramp... but it's kinda neat for it's uniqueness (but only for Canadian Pontiac geeks like myself).
While on the subject, here is one that is truly Canadian with 250 straight six (American Catalinas had V6s as the base engine). Not my car, just a random ad on kijiji.
78 Parisienne for sale. 250 c.i. 6 cyl, auto. Car is licensed and registered as an antique. An original survivor with 82,000 Kms that is driven regularly. A car you can drive and enjoy as you restore or modify her.
Great old-man's derby 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.
While on the subject, here is one that is truly Canadian with 250 straight six (American Catalinas had V6s as the base engine). Not my car, just a random ad on kijiji.
78 Parisienne for sale. 250 c.i. 6 cyl, auto. Car is licensed and registered as an antique. An original survivor with 82,000 Kms that is driven regularly. A car you can drive and enjoy as you restore or modify her.
Great old-man's derby car.
Needs a small block Chevy, automatic and exhaust through the hood!
Carl, that car needs an Acadian Isuzu and a 5 speed. Be glad it wouldnt have an od automatic, it would never stay in od long.
-- Edited by DonSSDD on Friday 2nd of July 2021 03:53:33 PM
__________________
63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
