[Heybuck]

I've copied this below out of the "What did you do with your Pontiac today" thread. Had a couple of people suggest I should start a dedicated thread, so HERE GOES::

I'm thinking I might start a whole thread on this car so anyone interested can follow it along.
I bought this 1965 Pontiac Parisienne Convertible way back in May 1985. So just about 40 years ago. How do I remember this? Well, my wife was within a day or so of giving birth to our third child, she was home looking after the older 2 kids and I decided to go out and look at this car. Which I bought and "The Bride" wasn't too pleased with me.

Now let me confess right here that I was totally ignorant of what I was buying. Its a 1965 but it had a 1966 front clip on it. The car had been in a savage front-on before I bought it (I didn't know!!), the chassis had a crack which I had welded before I could get a certificate of roadworthiness. But I LOVED IT....

Drove it for a few years, I slowly found all the right 1965 panels but I stored them till I could get the body redone. In the interim, I had a full leather interior done. Used the car for a few weddings but in 1992, I rolled it into the garage, pulled off the 1966 front clip and just got busy with my business. Time got in the way but a lack of money sure didn't help either.

In 1999, I bought my 1966 Grand Prix which I have driven a long way in the past 26 years. The poor old Parisienne just watched in the background.

So this Parisienne is one of 47 built in Right Hand Drive for export. I got that info from Canadian Pontiac Services. I don't know how many came to Australia but I doubt it was the whole 47. These RHD cars were sold in England and South Africa as well. I know of an original RHD 1965 Parisienne Convertible which still exists in England.

My car was originally triple white with red carpets and dash but it was painted Ferrari Red before I bought it.

I've now turned 75 and I'm winding down our business so its time to get the Parisienne restored. I have a fantastic metal man/painter and I've been waiting for him to retire himself so he will take it to his home and start work on it. 2 weeks ago he told me to start stripping it out which I've done and it will leave here on Saturday morning.

The best part of this car is it is virtually rust free. The trunk floor is like new. ALL the floors and frame are totally rust free. The ONLY rust we can find is a 2" diameter bubble on the bottom of the left door and a small section about 4" long under the windscreen. And that's it. The body has had a few repairs along the way so there is a bit of filler (bondo) in a few small sections but nothing major.

So here's few pictures and if you think I should start a thread, I'd be pleased to hear.. Let the job commence.

Ian

[Heybuck]

A couple more:

[camerjeff]

Nice to see seldom seen models being restored, and it doesn't get much odder than a right hand drive Canadian Pontiac! Are you planning on returning it to the as built colors? Or keeping it Red?

[Heybuck]

Originally Posted by camerjeff

Nice to see seldom seen models being restored, and it doesn't get much odder than a right hand drive Canadian Pontiac! Are you planning on returning it to the as built colors? Or keeping it Red?

Well, that's a decision yet to be made. The original car ex-factory was White (Cameo Ivory. Colour code C), then it was painted Ferrari Red before I bought it 40 years ago.

I'm not keen on the red but I'm sort of bound by my long ago choice of the red leather interior. So what colour do you suggest? Comments are very welcome.

The way I see it, if I want to stay close to the original colour palette, I can go Black (not keen), Montero Red, Burgundy, Light Gold, or White (again). Not keen on White either.

Toyota had a really deep Burgundy Red colour about 25 years ago which I like a lot

I also like the Modern metallic bronze colours with a minimum of gold fleck. I keep looking at a colour on late model KIA cars here, also Nissan and Honda have a metallic bronze colour I like

Another option is a dark metallic silver. Not too dark though.

The car will have a BLACK top. Already bought it.

Ian

[Carl S]

LOVE seeing this!

Do you have the GM Canada documentation? I'd love to see the option list for it.

[242177P]

Originally Posted by Heybuck

Well, that's a decision yet to be made. The original car ex-factory was White (Cameo Ivory. Colour code C), then it was painted Ferrari Red before I bought it 40 years ago.

I'm not keen on the red but I'm sort of bound by my long ago choice of the red leather interior.

White with a red interior works, also works with the black top.
Here's a pic from one of our own (60sstuff) to give you an idea.