Our February Feature Car is this sharp survivor 1967 Beaumont Custom four door hardtop belonging to Kim Connors. Kim purchased the car from the son of the original owner. The car was in long term storage and as a result needed some love to get it back to roadworthy status. Kim give us the details on what he had to do to get the car back to tip-top shape and with the help of the previous owner gives us some details on the history of this rare Beaumont:
Shortly after I purchased my 65 Beaumont in September of 2017 one of my neighbours mentioned that another neighbour in our complex also owned a Beaumont. Finally in 2020 I saw the 67 Beaumont 4-door, yellow with black top parked in our guest parking lot.
Over the winter I got to know the owner, my neighbour Roy, and started to learn the interesting history of his 67.
His father retired from Air Canada in 1967 and bought himself the new 1967 Beaumont as a retirement gift. He closed the deal on March 31st, just a day before the new provincial sales tax was introduced on April 1st of 1967. Roy remembers his dad in deep negotiations to close the deal on March 31st.
As with all humans our memories play tricks on what we remember, but below is Roy’s recollection of the history.
Roy thought his dad ordered the car but according to the Vintage Vehicle Report the car was delivered to the dealer on October 11, 1966. When his dad picked up the car it had a spatter or speckled roof which appears to have been added by the dealer considering the car left the factory with a yellow roof. Roy remembered his dad delivering the car to Ziebart on April 1st before bringing it home, but the Ziebart receipt is dated August 8th.
Sadly in 1972 Roy’s dad passed away from a battle with cancer and Roy’s mom kept the car locked in her garage for the next 26 years until her passing in 1998.
When Roy inherited the car in 1998 he was faced with a few repairs to ensure it was road worthy.
I have Roy’s permission to share this story: As a natural reaction to mourning, Roy’s mom felt anger which led her to take a tire iron to the eyebrow on the front left fender. Roy replaced both eyebrows at the same time.
Both front fenders had rust at the bottom which he had repaired plus he removed the spattered roof and had the car painted its original yellow, He also changed the roof to black.
Over the years Roy had other minor repairs done to the car including replacing the original radiator with an ugly aluminum one, replaced both bumpers, and a few other small things.
In 2021 while taking photos of our two Beaumonts together I happened to mention to Roy that if he ever considered selling his car I’d be interested. I never dreamed he’d consider selling the family car and honestly I wasn’t overly interested in it (other than the one-family aspect of the story).
*Ed note: VVS is aware the model # is incorrect and is sending Kim a replacement copy of these docs
In the Spring of 2022 while picking up the mail I met Roy at the mailbox where he asked me if I was still interested in his Beaumont. I replied that yes, I was. It took most of the summer for him to get the car (and possibly himself) ready for sale but finally in the September of 2022 I took ownership.
Upon taking ownership a couple of things stood out:
The heater box was full of mice nests making the winter drive between Winnipeg and Morris very cold with no heat. The carburetor and entire fuel system were shot requiring replacement from the tank to the carb. Brakes needed replacing as well as the water pump. I also chose to replace the ugly radiator with period-correct appearing rad.
The car had an aftermarket Delco radio which I replaced with a Beaumont year-specific radio that Poncho member Robert from Everything Electronic Services modified with hidden modern components. Robert also had the clock rebuilt for me.
Thankfully Carl (4SPEED427 from this site) was fully retired by then and performed all the upgrades for me, of which I am ever thankful.
What stands out most to me is the condition of the interior. You can tell it hasn’t seen a much use or been exposed to damaging sun. The odometer shows just under 43,000 miles.
Between a busy job and slowly relocating to the east coast I haven’t had a lot of time to enjoy the car, but I am hoping the summer of 2024 is different and I can add some miles.
She's a beauty! Quite a poignant story too. Production numbers must have been very low that year too. I would love to get the chance to park mine next to it some day. That would be a very cool lineup!
Nice 67 and nice colour, congrats on being top of the page.
Don
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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
It's an interesting mistake on the VVS document. I've seen them with wrong year, wrong interior colour but never wrong model number before.
Re: Kim's note in the story about the heater box being full because of mice. When I went to check to see why the heater didn't work, neither cable would move. I assumed the cables were seized. When I undid them from the flapper doors on the heater box, both cables moved fine. The box was so full of mouse nest material neither door in the box could move, they were packed full.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Such a beautiful car, and a seldom seen body style.
It is interesting to see how light it was on the options, and yet that seemed to be very typical for Canadian GM and the typical Canadian buyer.
Only 5 options, as P57 was the base 7.35-14 black-wall rayon tire. Monotone with the D99 2-tone mouldings show up occasionally. One wonders if the plan was for a special accent colour or vinyl top, or even a Mod Top.
The K05 block heater seems to be in every documented one of these that was destined for the prairies, from what I've gathered.
I have documentation that I received for my '67 that shows a window of 50 consecutive build cars. There is only one 136397 Chevelle Sport Sedan on the list (almost the same car as the Feature Car) and it too is light on options: Powerglide, wheel covers, radio. Nothing else.
Years ago I was contacted by a guy Nunavut who owns an original '67 Chevelle Malibu SS coupe in that very same paint combination: Butternut Yellow with Tuxedo Black 2-toned roof from the factory. It was just a 283 Powerglide as most seemed to be.
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
True, most Canucks were pretty frugal back then but I think that if you optioned one of these Custom sport sedans just right it right you could have had a really nice zippy intermediate luxury cruiser. The ideal for me would have been the 327 with Powerglide (sorry Carl) with power windows, power brakes, power steering, shaded glass, the F41 handling package, disc brakes (in 67) and shoulder harnesses (in 67) That would be a car I'd still be driving! (Have to admit a 4 speed instead would have been a very Euro car way ahead of its time.) Mine is a 283 car that had some of these options but I have added a correct tilt, (from a Tempest) a 4GC four barrel setup and a floor mounted GM track player as well as the rear sway bar. I must say it is a very comfy maneuverable and quite zippy smaller car. As long as it doesn't rust away I plan to keep her going!
-- Edited by 66 Grande guy on Sunday 4th of February 2024 12:17:23 AM
Look at me. I got rid of the big yellow barge and kept the Beaumont. They do grow on you, especially the sport sedans, as few as there are that remain!
