We're ending 2021 with Tony Decorte's beautiful 1966 Beaumont Sport Deluxe convertible. If you have never seen one in person it's not surprising since only 565 were ever built. How many survive? Tony tells us how he found this rare machine:
I live near Grand Bend Ontario and have wanted an old ride as long as I can remember. Both of my parents died roughly two months apart late in 2018 and early 2019. In memory of them I decided to treat myself ....as i'm sure they would approve.
I have always kept a close eye on listings for classics in local publications for things that interest me. What I wanted was pretty broad actually. It needed to be a GM product and (weird quirk of mine) it couldn't have headrests so I mainly looked for vehicles from '65 to '67. Late one night in October or November of 2019 I searched any 1960-1970 cars on Auto-trader which I rarely went on because there wasn't usually much on there.
There was a listing for an Acadian but the pictures looked somewhat like a 66 Beaumont. I called and got a little bit of info on it but still wasn't sure I was ready to take the plunge. I kept a close eye on the ad which sat until March without any change. Then one day right when Covid was sitting in the media the ad showed a $5k drop. I told myself that this was a sign. My wife and I went down to London and looked at the car. My wife said "Going to look at an old car is likely like looking at a puppy. You're coming home with it" which I did.
I am the third owner of the car. The second owner removed the body and replaced both the floors and the frame.
Interesting story; The gentleman I bought the car from had bought it in the mid 70's. When he got home with it the elderly neighbour came out and asked where he bought the car. It turned out he bought the car from the same person he bought his house from 6 years prior. So until I purchased the car it had spent its entire life (other than 6 years) in the same garage and driveway.
I didn't do too much to the car other than dress up the original 283 engine, and cleaned and freshened up a few things.
I absolutely love my car!! I bought the car to drive... and boy do I ever! I worked out that on average for the life of the car prior to when I bought it 200 miles per year were put on. Just this summer I put 4000 miles on it!
Sweet! Been to Grand Bend for the drags, with the '62 Impala I'm now selling, back in '12-'13-'14. With a 3.36 open diff, we didn't set the world on fire. I love that colour, and the history. Congratulations!
You have an absolutely stunning car. It's not going to be hard to see that at the top of this page for a month. Congratulations and it's great to hear how much you cherish the car.
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That is a beauty, and a nice story. Looks to have been built a week prior to my 66 SD convertible. (Whats the deal on a rear speaker in a convertible?)
-- Edited by 66 327 sd on Saturday 4th of December 2021 09:53:23 PM
Thank you all for the compliments!! :)
As for the rear speaker I really don't know, maybe someone else knows on here. I have had the rear seat out and don't see where one would have been mounted. There is a rear speaker switch on the dash as well as being mentioned on the vehicle info sheet.
