[thews]

Originally Posted by 68BeaumontSD

I have a 1968 Beaumont SD396 that I have owned for over 22 years. I know of the previous owner of this car. Even though they are recognized by POCI they are NOT Pontiacs. There weren't enough Beaumonts built for GM of have Beaumont dealerships so they were sold through Pontiac dealerships.
There were 702 1968 Beaumont SD396 coupes and 65 or 66 convertibles built.

The entire dash is the same as a LeMans or GTO dash. Almost everything else is Chevelle.

Does it say "Pontiac" on the emblem? I stand my ground and accept my brothers from other mothers.

[north]

68BeaumontSD is technically correct but the confusion is understandable. Everyone looking at Pontiac’s that were produced in Canada assumes that Beaumont is a Canadian Pontiac model but they are not.

The Canadian built Chevy based full sized cars like Parisienne (hope I spelled it right) were the Pontiac Brand in Canada. They were basically a full sized Chevy chassis, drivetrain and interior with Pontiac looking sheet metal (much of which didn’t actually interchange with real American Pontiac panels) and a Pontiac dashboard (with Chevy steering wheel, pedals etc). These cars were the Pontiac brand in Canada.

When the Chevy II came out GM of Canada created a new brand called Acadian. It also was Chevy based but unlike the big cars they even used Chevy sheet metal (probably to save cost but also because of course Pontiac (USA) didn’t produce an X body model in those years). The only unique parts on an Acadian would be slightly modified grilles, tail trim and emblems. All sheet metal, chassis, drivetrain, dash etc was pure chevyII.

Initially the Beaumont name signified a higher trim level on the Acadian but in 64 when GM redesigned the A bodies into midsized cars GM Canada decided to start a third brand.; Beaumont. Like the Acadian the entire car was chevelle based but it used a Tempest dash and also had slightly modified chevy grilles and tail trim, everything else was chevelle.

Hard to say why GM Canada had these three unique brands rather than just calling them three different car lines of the Pontiac brand? It is worth knowing though that in the 60’s these individual brands in Canada were not like the pretty independent US brands (Chevy, Pontiac etc) because in Canada GM Canada was really the brand. The brands were just brand names. For example all cars sold in Canada had a GM Canada window sticker rather than a Pontiac or Buick one. GM Canada ran all the plants in Canada, did all the marketing and parts distribution etc. in effect GM was running the Canadian business in the 60’s the way they’d run the US business in the 80-90’s.

Part of why people think of Beaumonts and Acadians as Pontiacs is because all Canadian Pontiac dealers were also Beaumont and Acadian dealers. But, in Canada the brands (Chevy, Pontiac, Beaumont, Acadian, Buick, olds, caddy, opel and a British GM car whose name I forget) were not really brands in the American 60’s sense of being actually separately run and managed businesses, they were just car lines marketed like a brand. But,back then most Canadian car shoppers probably assumed they all were Pontiacs anyhow so I guess it didn’t matter.

[north]

Btw, the underlying reason that GM Canada created these unique Pontiac, Beaumont and Acadian models is related to the Canadian dealership structure.

With its lower population, much lower population density and lower standard of living GM Canada needed a different distribution system than in the US. In order to get the main volume brands to as many cities as possible GM Canada had almost all dealers be chev-olds or Pontiac-Buick (either could also carry Cady if the market in a given area justified it.

The problem of this twinned dealer line system was the low end. A Pontiac-Buick dealer trying to sell American Pontiacs couldn’t compete with Chevy pricing so in areas were there wasn’t room for both types of dealers a Pontiac-Buick dealer had no chance against local Ford and Plymouth dealers.

So GM Canada produced a Chevy based Pontiac instead. Here is the math: using 69 as an example , the cheapest real Pontiac full-size (Catalina) cost about $400 more than the cheapest big Chevy (Biscayne). This was because the Pontiac had a bigger heavier chassis, big 400 versus a Chevy six. This price difference was almost 15%. The Canadian Pontiac (Laurentian) was only $50 more than the biscayne, less than a 2% premium.

This concept worked out great, ironically because of the justified higher market perception related to American Pontiacs buyers in Canada saw these Canadian Pontiacs as a great value. Unlike in America where Chevy outsold Pontiac about 2.5-3.5 times, in Canada those Pontiac models actually outsold full sized chevies!

The Beaumont and Acadian models didn’t match the success of the big Canadian Pontiacs (probably because they didn’t look different enough from their Chevy competitors) but still sold well.

This also worked out well since GM had to produce a certain number of cars in Canada anyhow to avoid stiff Canadian tariffs on the cars they imported to Canada from the US.

[68BeaumontSD]

Originally Posted by thews

Does it say "Pontiac" on the emblem? I stand my ground and accept my brothers from other mothers.

It doesn't say Pontiac anywhere on the car, owners manual or sales brochure.

[Limelight69]

Originally Posted by Cammer-6

nice car but colors and options matter on $$$

Not everyone one wants a red car with black interior. (Boring).

[thews]

Originally Posted by north

Btw, the underlying reason that GM Canada created these unique Pontiac, Beaumont and Acadian models is related to the Canadian dealership structure.

With its lower population, much lower population density and lower standard of living GM Canada needed a different distribution system than in the US. In order to get the main volume brands to as many cities as possible GM Canada had almost all dealers be chev-olds or Pontiac-Buick (either could also carry Cady if the market in a given area justified it.

The problem of this twinned dealer line system was the low end. A Pontiac-Buick dealer trying to sell American Pontiacs couldn’t compete with Chevy pricing so in areas were there wasn’t room for both types of dealers a Pontiac-Buick dealer had no chance against local Ford and Plymouth dealers.

So GM Canada produced a Chevy based Pontiac instead. Here is the math: using 69 as an example , the cheapest real Pontiac full-size (Catalina) cost about $400 more than the cheapest big Chevy (Biscayne). This was because the Pontiac had a bigger heavier chassis, big 400 versus a Chevy six. This price difference was almost 15%. The Canadian Pontiac (Laurentian) was only $50 more than the biscayne, less than a 2% premium.

This concept worked out great, ironically because of the justified higher market perception related to American Pontiacs buyers in Canada saw these Canadian Pontiacs as a great value. Unlike in America where Chevy outsold Pontiac about 2.5-3.5 times, in Canada those Pontiac models actually outsold full sized chevies!

The Beaumont and Acadian models didn’t match the success of the big Canadian Pontiacs (probably because they didn’t look different enough from their Chevy competitors) but still sold well.

This also worked out well since GM had to produce a certain number of cars in Canada anyhow to avoid stiff Canadian tariffs on the cars they imported to Canada from the US.

Thanks for all this info North. I'm not sure how many "Pontiacs" made in Canada had a Pontiac emblem, but a lot of them did and sometimes in the steering wheel horn button (please correct me if I'm wrong). I always wondered why they would come up with a bastard Chevy, instead of just based on a Pontiac, like the cool spin on the Comanche 69 Firebird. Do you own one of those?

https://www.hotrod.com/features/hppp...ebird-comanche

[north]

No, I don’t have a Comanche but I do have a 69 Canadian 2+2. Some Canadian models had Pontiac crests on the steering wheel and others had a maple leaf if I’m not mistaken. I’ve never owned any other Canadian models, I bought that one because I thought the color scheme was striking and the Canadian only features made a nice counter point to all my US models. For example it has a console and floor shift, neither of which were offered on any American full sized Pontiacs that year.

[north]

Here is a pic

[thews]

Originally Posted by north

Here is a pic

She's a beaut Clark.

[thews]

74 Firebird Super Duty 4-speed 1 of 58 at $100K in Georgia. I'd put honeycombs on it if'n it were mine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20571711493...Bk9SR-6S3I2mZg

[71GP76TA]

Originally an automatic.

[thews]

Originally Posted by 71GP76TA

Originally an automatic.

Good catch. Then it's not worth that much money IMO. $100K will buy a lot, but a car like this is one you buy because you want it, and there's only 1 for sale. It is a nice car.

[thews]

68 Firebird 400 convertible with a reserve in Texas. When I look at the bling on this engine, it screams of a waste of money, but that's just me when looking at the lack of a rear window. Seller has a feedback of 1.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/38894780701...Bk9SR56sn82mZg

[thews]

68 Grans Prix in Florida at $30K.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11673069969...Bk9SR-SMp8-mZg

[johnta1]

Good catch. Then it's not worth that much money IMO. $100K will buy a lot, but a car like this is one you buy because you want it, and there's only 1 for sale. It is a nice car.

When it was for sale previously, it included the original TH400.

[thews]

69 Brown GTO Judge in the Netherlands at $120K. Aftermarket wheels wouldn't have been my choice on this frame off, but that's an easy fix.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25710290969...Bk9SR8SO15mnZg

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Great looking brown judge.
Block is a total restamp, several dead giveaways .
Rear frame crossmember and axle are both pitted like the moon.
She was a rusty old gal in younger days

[north]

My exact opinion too

[thews]

70 Grand Prix in Florida at $13K BIN.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23632175173...Bk9SR6iwnLanZg

[68BeaumontSD]

Originally Posted by thews

Thanks for all this info North. I'm not sure how many "Pontiacs" made in Canada had a Pontiac emblem, but a lot of them did and sometimes in the steering wheel horn button (please correct me if I'm wrong). I always wondered why they would come up with a bastard Chevy, instead of just based on a Pontiac, like the cool spin on the Comanche 69 Firebird. Do you own one of those?

My Beaumont has the maple leaf on the steering wheel. The emblem on the grill is similar to a Pontiac emblem on the lower part and has the maple leaf on the upper part.