Being Canadian we just took it for granted that Pontiacs had the same engines as Chevrolets. When we saw one with a real Pontiac engine we got excited. Remember we are going back to the days when Pontiac ruled the racing scenes and street scenes, the late 50's to mid 60's. As I said I have had only one bird and she had the blue block. This is not to say every car had a Chevy engine because there were 326 and 400 cars here. Just like the LeMans line, while most LeMans cars got small blocks the GTO always had a real Pontiac engine but they were only built here in 1970 and 1973.
I will try to find a photo of a 1st generation Canadian car to post so all can see. I have to admit it has been a while since I saw one, and in fact I was out to a cruise last night with over 100 cars and not one 1st generation Firebird was there.
Like Carl S, I was raised on Pontiac's but the ones in our family had mostly Chevy engines, a 61 Strato Chief with a 283, a 65 Laurentian with a 327, a 70Tempest 350 Blue block, a 73 LeMans Sport Coupe with a Chevy 350, a 76 Grand LeMans with a Chevy 350 and a 80 GP with a 301 Pontiac.
As goquick says the reason was the Auto Pact, a trade agreement between our countires. The tariffs would have priced US Pontiacs out of reach of the intended market. Here Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles were sold together and Pontiacs and Buicks were sold together, this was a way to give people an entry level car and a luxury model to aspire to at the same dealer. In essence most Canadian Pontiacs are Chevrolets with Pontiac looking bodywork and interiors.
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