[blubomber]

[I'm no fan of 68 big Pontiac styling but I always had a soft spot for the wood grain treatment on the front fenders.]

For some reason the wagon edition looks less ponderous than the 2 or 4dr editions. Weird. The 'woody" does look good. No turn signal indicators on this car. Was that a
'69 feature?

[perryka]

68 big car styling has grown on me in recent years, to the point that I bought one. That blue 68 Executive is a stunner. I've run across pics of that car searching around for stuff. Would love to see it in person.

In 68, front turn signal indicators are down on the corners of the valance panel. It's a wrap-around lens.

What year did antennas get integrated into the windshield?

67 and 68 doors are the same, and 69/70 doors are the same. 68 and 69 doors are different. Interesting that the 69 press photo shows vent windows, and the production cars did not have those.

Alan

[north]

I didn't cath the vent windows on that 69, now that I've looked closer I think it has a 68 dash. The 69 has a bulge around the steering wheel that should be noticeable. Probably a 68 that they hung 69 sheet metal on.

The windshield antenna kicked in in 70 except for the GP that got it in 69. It replaced both manual and power antennas. They were fine in the city but reception in the countryside was lousy, especially when you were heading away from the radio station. They died out in the early 80's but are making a comeback recently.

I owned a 68 GP but never could develop a liking for them. I always preferred the clean 63-64 and even more the swoopy 65-66. I found the 67-68 body side to be too busy and the front had an Edsel feel to it and the back was weak. The GP had a nicer tail end but the hideaways was garish.

The 69-70's have a very clean but bland a bit bodyside, the 69 had a nice front end but the 70 is awful in front (no offense). However the 67-68 dashes were beautiful and the 69-70's were awful like every fullsize GM in those years. The other great loss in 69 was the end of the 8 lugs!

Question maybe someone could answer... Factory literature states that all these 65-70 Wagons were not available with fender skirts. Is the quarter different or is it a clearance issue on wagons that had bigger wheels or tires?

[perryka]

That's a good question. At least on the 67/68s, the rear wheel well mouldings fit across all the models, so I would think there's no difference in the quarters.

Alan

[north]

Maybe a combination of bigger tires and the potential for a lot of weight in back could increase the amount of side deflection of the rear axles urging cornering. I know that on my 69 brougham I have the stock 15x6 RII's and a radial that is the same size as the tires the car was ordered with and there is barely room to reach the latch to remove the skirt.

[goatless]

Originally Posted by north

I know that this is supposed to be about your own cars but found a few interesting wagon shots lately.

Here is one that's a copy of a I dream of Jeannie car right down to the NASA plate

That '68 is local to me, the picture above was taken at the Dairy Queen cruise night in Monroe, CT. It's an extremely nice low mile, time warp car. It's absolutely stunning.!

[north]

I will blame all of you who have been posting pics of your wagons lately... Because of this I started poking around on line looking for wagon pics. Next thing I know I own a 69 Catalina (Ventura) wagon! I'll tell my future ex wife its all your fault ;-)

Car is a bit of an odd ball in terms of options but it is in exceptional condition, 29,000 original miles, one owner and with the exception of tires and half the exhaust it's untouched including paint.

[barrierblue66]

Excellent John! Welcome to the Longroof club also as I see that was needed on your list. I had been following on ePay. Oh, you can stay as long as we see you at the Pontiac Nationals in Norwalk OH

[BonnevilleRobban]

Nice wagon John!!
What is the options?

[north]

Car is from central Oregon, just up from California. Funny co-incidence is that the car was only 10 miles from where I bought my 69 Bonneville.

She won a new 69 Firebird in a contest but they let her change it for any Pontiac up to a given value.

Car is equipped with Auto, AC (and tinted glass), PS and power drum brakes. It has the Ventura interior upgrade but not the decor group which explains the lack of bright side window framing, dog dish and the cheapo 2 spoke steering wheel.

It also has AM radio, a roof rack, wind deflector, power tailgate window and light group (cornering lamps, reel up hood light and extra warning lights in the cluster). Lastly was 915x15 whitewalls.

[north]

Won't actually get the car till after the holidays. Eager to see it.

[north]

I have been looking for a LeMans Safari for 10 years but only seen one which was too rough.

A Bonneville or woody Executive would have been neater but this car was too clean to pass up.

The odd optioning may be related to the contest, maybe they had a $5k limit because the delivered price on the window sticker is $4,998.

[north]

Based on the VIN and my Bonneville I would say it's an Early November 68 car

Interesting that it has rocker moldings, according to factory literature that is part of the decor group. Maybe it's a typo in the Accessorizer or a mistake on the line.

I usually like adding option but this car seems too virgin to monkey too much with.

But maybe a few bolt on items like duals, woodwheel etc.

One item I'd love to add is the bright window trim. It looks like a government service vechicule with the painted frames and dogdish. It looks like the trim on the door frames goes over the steel frame but on the rear side wagon windows it looks like there are already painted moldings in place of the stainless.

Maybe just best to leave it all alone.

[brucee70]

Originally Posted by north

Car is from central Oregon, just up from California. Funny co-incidence is that the car was only 10 miles from where I bought my 69 Bonneville.

She won a new 69 Firebird in a contest but they let her change it for any Pontiac up to a given value.

Car is equipped with Auto, AC (and tinted glass), PS and power drum brakes. It has the Ventura interior upgrade but not the decor group which explains the lack of bright side window framing, dog dish and the cheapo 2 spoke steering wheel.

It also has AM radio, a roof rack, wind deflector, power tailgate window and light group (cornering lamps, reel up hood light and extra warning lights in the cluster). Lastly was 915x15 whitewalls.

Great SW !!!!
I'll accept some of that blame ...

Way back when bout 2001 at Norwalk I bought a NOS RH tail light lens for a 69/70 SW because it was cheap, NOS, and I wanted a 70 wagon. The next spring I was on a training trip in Phoenix and visited Desert Valley Auto Parts for the 1st time (on my lunch hour). There was a nice 70 Executive SW with a wood wheel, tilt, guages, busted tailgate window and no motor sitting in "new arrival " area ...well ...I had to have it since I had a NEW tail light lens that fit it! Had it shipped to VA and started messing with it. Removed all the (bad) wood grain and bought everything I could to make it a BonneSW. Put a 455 in it and did lots of stuff ...unfortunately other SW's would appear and I had to have those as well ....Too many projects ...so little Time!! This truly is a sickness ...:-)
Some day I'll get all these cars back together.

[camerjeff]

John, Congrates on the new Ventura Long Roof!!!!! Glad it found a good home, the folks on the Station wagon site I frequent will be glad to know it found a good home. Several people were watching the auction closely. I had to inform some of them that the Ventura Badges were stock, and not taken off a 70's Ventura II.

[north]

Nice to know there are fellow wack jobs out there. Beautiful engine bay, interesting where the utility underhood light is, on 69's it's mounted on the rad support and doesnt have the red on the lenses. Some of the ones I've come across have a build in reed switch to turn them off and on.

[north]

Thanks cammerjeff, now we both have wagons and sprints.

[brucee70]

Originally Posted by north

Nice to know there are fellow wack jobs out there. Beautiful engine bay, interesting where the utility underhood light is, on 69's it's mounted on the rad support and doesnt have the red on the lenses. Some of the ones I've come across have a build in reed switch to turn them off and on.

Thanks John ...pretty sure I added the utility light. It's been so long ago that I acquired stuff for that SW. But, I bought everything I needed in about 18 months ...ebay was a nice place to shop then :-)

One of the best finds was a NOS A/C control for a Bonne ...the wood grain on a Catalina and Executive is not the nice stuff like on the Bonne and you can see from the picture I had not installed it yet. That was the only one I've ever seen for sale (admit I haven't been looking much any more ....)

Bruce

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by north

I will blame all of you who have been posting pics of your wagons lately... Because of this I started poking around on line looking for wagon pics. Next thing I know I own a 69 Catalina (Ventura) wagon! I'll tell my future ex wife its all your fault ;-)

Car is a bit of an odd ball in terms of options but it is in exceptional condition, 29,000 original miles, one owner and with the exception of tires and half the exhaust it's untouched including paint.

Nice one. Congrats!

[north]

One of the best finds was a NOS A/C control for a Bonne ...the wood grain on a Catalina and Executive is not the nice stuff like on the Bonne and you can see from the picture I had not installed it yet. That was the only one I've ever seen for sale (admit I haven't been looking much any more ....)

Bruce[/QUOTE]

I always preferred the 70 wood bezel than the 69 cheapo looking aluminum that always deformed to boot. I was lucky to find an nos bezel but now the AC head looks dull by comparison despite lots of cleaning.