Our December Feature Car is this beautiful 1966 Pontiac Grand Parisienne that belongs to Dan Wells. Dan had known the Pontiac for 13 years and finally had a chance to purchase it this year. Here's the story as told by Dan:

My story begins before I recently purchased my 1966 Pontiac Grande Parisienne Sport Coupe, even before I first encountered it 13 years ago. It starts with my friend’s example in 1976. I was 16 at the time, as was my friend Mark Stinson, who lived down the street from me in St Albert, just north of Edmonton, Alberta. In the summer of 1976, Mark bought his first car (two years before I bought my first). It was Cypress Green with a matching coloured interior, powered by a 327 topped with a four barrel.

I was almost excited as he was about it, being that he was my first friend to get a car, and riding shotgun in it was the biggest motor thrill until I bought my own car. We aimlessly cruised around St. Albert and nearby Edmonton, listening to the AM radio. He’d occasionally tromp the gas pedal, but generally drove it respectfully.

In the fall of that year, Mark’s family moved out of town. He visited a couple of times with the car, but didn’t keep it for long, and I didn’t see him much after that.

Moving way ahead in my timeline, to 2011, I did a story about an original owner 1966 Grande Parisienne for the Driving section of the Edmonton Journal newspaper. It sure brought back memories of Mark’s car, yet I appreciated the styling even more so than back when I was a teen.

                                          Dennis and Sylvia Huculak

Dennis Huculak bought it from Hugh McColl’s South Park Motors of Edmonton in the fall of 1966, shortly before the 1967 models arrived. The list price was $4,985 but the sale price was $3,730. Dennis is a true Pontiac guy, having previously owned a 1956 Pontiac four door sedan and a 1957 Pontiac Laurentian two door hardtop, and later to own a new 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix.

The ’66 was black with white upholstery, and had the 283 with Powerglide, power steering and brakes, AM radio with rear speaker, tinted glass and seat belts. With wife Sylvia in the passenger bucket seat, the car was the regular driver for many years, including holiday trips to British Columbia, Oregon and Montana. It would later be the second car as newer ones were purchased. 

In 1988, with 143,000 miles on it, the car’s engine and body had seen much better days. Dennis still liked it, and chose to keep it and have it restored. The engine and transmission were rebuilt, and and required components and service to the brakes, steering and suspension were administered. In 1990, body and frame were separated. There was rust-through on the rear quarters, trunk floor and portions of the frame, so all steel was stripped, reworked and repainted. The original interior was near perfect, so it was merely cleaned and reinstalled.

The new-again Grande Parisienne was subsequently used as an occasional pleasure car. By 2011, another 3,000 miles had been logged. In 2016, as photographer for Don Wheaton GM, I featured Dennis’s Pontiac in one of the regular Friday social media posts of vintage General Motors cars & trucks. South Park Motors was being demolished, so I photographed Dennis’s car at the foot of the three story tall dealership neon sign. In 2017, the Iron Indians Pontiac Club held its annual show at the Don Wheaton dealership, and I invited Dennis to show his car: It was the only show he ever entered it into!

In the summer of 2024, after more than ten years without a collector car, I decided to re-enter the hobby. I contacted Dennis at the right time, as he hadn’t been driving the car much for three years, and was considering letting it go. We came to an agreement, and I’m so grateful to Dennis for trusting me with his motoring marvel.

                                       Dennis and me

I flew to Edmonton (from Vancouver) in early August to become the lucky second owner. Dennis had some service work done so that it would have no trouble while I drove it home to New Westminster (it didn’t), and to pass the out of province vehicle inspection (it did).

He had a new battery and all four wheel cylinders installed, the carburetor rebuilt, and the fuel tank removed and drained of stale fuel.

Once the car was mine (!!!), I had the same repair shop drain & refill the coolant, and install a new thermostat and radiator cap. In the week I had before driving home, I wandered about 400 miles in and around Edmonton to visit friends and family. It was a good shakedown to test the car and make sure nothing would go wrong on the highway to the west coast.

I had chosen my time in Edmonton to coincide with the biggest car show of the year in the area, Rock N’ August in St. Albert. I wanted to exhibit the Pontiac to the public before it left the province. I participated in the Friday Night Street Cruise the day before the show, a motorcade/parade of about 600 cars cruising around and through St. Albert and ending downtown with an evening “pre-show” show. I followed a 1958 Parisienne hardtop, the first year for the model.

The Show & Shine was on Saturday, August 10, with around 1,100 vehicles in Lions Park, and I was thrilled to have been invited to park my car with other Pontiacs in the Iron Indians Pontiac Club display. As rare as my car is (5,147 made), I knew there was at least another in Alberta, but was certain I’d have the only one at the show. I was wrong. There was another, and black as well! I was half disappointed and half excited. The cars were separated by the Sturgeon River, so at least I had the only one on the south side of the river! I met with it’s owner, Tom, after the show and we took photos of the two cars side-by-side: an event as rare as viewing Halley’s Comet!

One day, I eagle-eyed a 1966 Parisienne convertible in a back alley, so I pulled up and spoke with the owner for an hour or so. Another day, I performed a recreation photo: back in 1976, I photographed my friend Mark’s car in the driveway of my family home, so I posed and shot mine in the same spot and converted the photo to black & white.

During the drive home, the car performed wonderfully, a testament to the car’s restoration, and Dennis’s maintenance, storage and carefully limited usage. Highway 16 through Jasper National Park had reopened only days before, after having been closed since the wildfires. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get any good listening on the radio, so I enjoyed a fine selection of songs on my wireless speaker from two playlists I created, one of songs from 1966, and the other of car and driving songs.

At the end of the first day back, I stayed at a motel in Valemount. On the second day, I stopped in Kamloops to visit with Chris and see his restored 1966 Parisienne Sport Coupe. We noted differences between the two cars, I got some good advice and tips from Chris, and we got photos of the cars together. And then the final stretch home.

It was great to have the car relocated to a new home, safe and secure in its underground parking space. I’ve replaced the antenna with an original-style reproduction, mounted a new trunk mat, installed a new starter (I was surprised with two non-starts which required some tapping to get it to crank), performed some under-hood detailing and bought a new car cover. I’m going to get the non-working clock repaired and replace the speedometer cable which occasionally “ticks.”

On September 7th, my “Grande Poncho” was introduced to a new public in the Vancouver area’s biggest car show of the season, The Langley Good Times Cruise In. By coincidence, as I joined the intake line-up, three Pontiacs followed me in, so we all parked together (1965 Parisienne Custom Sport, 1967 GTO, 1966 Beaumont Sport Deluxe).

And also as in the St. Albert show, I had a phenomenal response to the car, its condition and history. It was amazing how many people had memories of Parisiennes from the late 1950s and 1960s, either theirs or others.