Darksider number eight
 

Against common sense and perhaps even sanity another darksider is working its way to the The Break Away Squad. A 69 2 door hardtop Catalina in Matador red with black Cordova top and black cloth interior.

Condition rather than option desirability was the motivation. 29k miles, one owner and a real rustfree garage kept survivor. Interior is incredible original, if you know the many weaknesses of the 69 dashboards this one is almost erotic in its minty condition..

It isn’t perfect, nose piece is deteriorating, has a vintage alarm set up that sadly includes a key switch drilled into the front fender. Also was zebarted new so some holes drilled here and there. Small dent where fender meets bumper but it should pop out without paint. Also one bubble in the Cordova top at the back window. Oddly the bubble is three quarter of the way up one side so I suspect it is a defect where the quarter is welded to the roof rather than typical water-dirt accumulation along the bottom.

Option wise this car is 100% typical northeast dealer inventory; standard 290 horse 400, TH400, power steering and power drums, AM radio, remote mirror, whitewalls, Cordova top and decor group (deluxe steering wheel, bright roof moldings, deluxe wheelcovers, pedal bright trim and a bit of extra sound deadner). The decor group was mandatory if you wanted the Cordova top. At delivery the dealer added factory door edge guards and floor mats. The only oddity is the lack of even a soft-ray windshield.

Luckily I have a minty spare nosepiece that just needs a shot of Matador, also the back half of the exhaust is typical bare steel muffler shop stuff and no resonator so a call into Waldron is due. I’ll keep it single just for the heck of it.

Hopefully I’ll get it home soon despite the major border hassles! The car is still I the Pontiac Michigan area where it was born and lived till today. Got the PHS last week, sold new in Ferndale,

Car has been online and eBay for a few months by a consigner. We finally ended up at a mutually acceptable number.

Wow, a Matador red full size car. Sounds great John and looking forward to seeing some pictures. Good luck with the transport to Canada .

Some exterior pics. Seller says the nose is just a paint problem but I suspect it’s shedding a thin outer layer of the material itself. As I mentioned I’m fortunate to have a nice supple spare nose.

Interior is exceptionally nice, especially the usual 69 darksider trouble spots like the dash bezel, aluminum appliqué and wood grain panel on the passenger side.

The seats are in amazing shape two, especially considering that the seats are woven polyester which was notorious for staining and wearing through.

Engine bay is super nice, just need to junk the alarm and rad overflow setup. Booster looks NOS but for the zebart that got onto the lower half. I use a black hardish type of putty to hide non factory drilled holes. Barely noticeable without spraying over factory chassis paint.

Trunk is like new down to the factory spare, original mat isn’t even stained. Undercarriage is very clean but has that coating of zebart. Better than the heavy and hard typical undercoating from the day I guess.

What a time capsule. I have never seen an original interior than clean and preserved before nor an undercarriage. I bet that car never saw a Michigan winter. You have quite the knack finding original super clean low mileage cars. Hopefully the vinyl roof steel has held up as well as everything else.

You are most likely correct about the nose shedding and you are fortunate to have a replacement. I bet the original could be saved with some work and this way you would have a spare again.

Best of luck with it.

Outstanding! That's almost identical to my 69 Executive coupe, except for the color combo (mine is Champagne with Dark Fawn top) and mine had the AC option so the climate controls are different.

Where'd you happen to find a replacement nose piece to have on hand? That's the part of mine that has sadly chipped away over time and needs replacement.

Thanks Mark, weird how these grandpa cars somehow excite me more than Judges etc.

The deal with those noses is it seems Pontiac brought out a second version of the nose. I don’t know if this happened during the model run or afterwards to address the problem.

The first version is identified by having a thin flat inner lip (the lip you see after you open the hood just under the outer top surface). This version seems to be made with the same type material they made those early 70’s bumper fillers with. They crack and eventually turn to dust in your hands.

The second version has a fatter and tapered inner lip and seems to be made of the same stuff as the GTO front bumpers. They never crack and even if they dried out in the sun they stay pliable like a goat bumper.

I got a still boxed NOS of that 2nd version in the trunk of a car I bought a few years ago. It was still like new and is now installed on one of my cars. I’ve found 3 used ones too (all second version) over the years on eBay that were all in great shape. One of them proves the point best that the 2nd versions are bulletproof; I found it on eBay, it came off a 4 door sedan cat with original paint that had been parked outdoors for 30 plus years and it still was minty.

Price wise they can be all over the place. A guy who knows what he has might pull $500 if two guys really need it but I paid $20 for one of them, hit and miss I guess.

Great car, I’ve been eyeballing it for a couple weeks online admiring the condition. I’m really getting into these cars too. Look for them more than most GTOs nowadays.

You find such awesome cars north. I wish I could have found that brown '69 4 door you have. This car is another such example of such an exquisite car.

And I agree with you, I'd rather have a dozen of these than a Judge.

Very cool. Could the burglar alarm have been a dealer installed accessory? I recall seeing other cars that had that key switch in the fender deal.

Nice, nice find!

It was a typical set up from stereo shop type places back in the 70’s. They were useless contraptions. Any car thief would simply pop the hood and snip the wire to the horn, made all the easier with the lack of an inner hood release.

They varied in how they were wired, some tied into the door jam switch so that the alarm rings if a door is opened before the alarm is turned off with the fender key. Another variation is the engagement of the starter solenoid triggers the alarm. They generally didn’t interfere with the starting process, just ringing an alarm.

Nice '69 Cat North! I really like the color combo and no A/C too!

Dennis

Two red family cars, not a common color back then for these kind of cars. And black top with black guts is the way to go with red.

Funny how I look at this new Cat as a stripper but for your typical older Catalina buyer back then this car was considered a bit lush! V8, Automatic, power steering and brakes, a vinyl top, white walls, full wheel covers. The full monte!

I bet you over 90% of Catalinas had less than a dozen options rolling out the factory door.

My Bonneville is a later model year assembly, so came standard with power steering, power disc brakes and the TH400. I don't have the PHS, but, as far as I can tell the only options are the vinyl top, AM radio, tinted windshield, and white wall tires...so 4 options? I believe the body side molding was standard on the Bonneville, or all B-bodies in '71...but not sure. It has the standard 2.73 peg leg rear end too, so it's a nice cruiser.

Dennis

Nice car! Unbelievably nice for living out its life in MI.

X2! Dennis

I street viewed the owners address on the POP. Here is the reason the car looks the way it did, a backyard garage that housed the car for 50 plus years (current title still shows the same address).

Actually that style of back yard stand alone garage makes me think of the famous 1964 “tiger loose” ad! Of course that ad wasn’t referring to a 2bbl engine and a slush box was it!