cars spotted while cycling in Minnesota

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September 2015

Spotted at a used car lot near (IIRC) Jenkins:

1970 Pontiac Catalina:







Beautiful car, likely equipped with a 350 and a TH350 or TH400. $2000 seemed like a really good price. Perhaps a 2-dr or H/T would have fetched more. We didn't have the same models in Canada. In ascending order, Pontiac offered (in full-size models) the Strato Chief, Laurentian, Parisienne, and Grand Parisienne here. I don't know where the Laurentian would fit in.
 
I see a few bikepackers and tourists there.
smile.gif


All the cars I see in the backroads of the Bay Area are work trucks, but you'll see Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren in the hills above Redwood City/Palo Alto/Menlo Park/Los Gatos. That's a pre-malaise era Pontiac before GM started putting in Chevy or Cadillac motors and 1st gen EGR/AIR systems in them too I assume>
 
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Correction to my first post in this thread; the car lot is closer to Pine River than Jenkins.

1972 Ford Mustang



1985 Mercedes

 
Park Rapids, September 2017. 1955? Chevy wagon. 200? Biscayne?


In any case, equipped with the mighty Blue Flame 140! (230 CID?) I like that oil bath air cleaner!
 
Cool pics!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most Canadian Pontiacs were Chevys - "Cheviacs". Due to local content laws, GM couldn't import American Pontiacs and it wasn't worth building Pontiac plants in Canada. So, they did what they could to Canadian made Chevys resemble American Pontiacs and that's why US vs Canadian Pontiacs differ a lot of the time.
 
And finally, also from September 2017, and spotted near Jenkins, these veterans:

Dodge Dart, c. 1961. This was before the Dart was a sister car to the compact Valiant:





Ford Galaxy 500, I think a 1967:




Chevrolet Greenbriar (Corvair-based) van, c. 1960-1964:





I hope the owner plans to restore these. They're all classics.
 
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
Cool pics!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most Canadian Pontiacs were Chevys - "Cheviacs". Due to local content laws, GM couldn't import American Pontiacs and it wasn't worth building Pontiac plants in Canada. So, they did what they could to Canadian made Chevys resemble American Pontiacs and that's why US vs Canadian Pontiacs differ a lot of the time.
Hoosier, that makes sense. I know that a lot of my 'car' friends were really upset when GM dropped the Pontiac division - they were always really popular here. There was also a strange hybrid division called 'Acadian', with cars sold in the 60s by, I think, Pontiac dealers. One model was the Beaumont, which looked a lot like a Chevelle of the day. We always thought of the Acadian as a Canadian Pontiac. I don't think the Acadians said Pontiac on them anywhere.

I think you're correct, too, that the drivetrains were from Chevys. I'd assumed that the Catalina pictured would have had the Chevy 350 SB because that would have been the case in Canada. The American model would have had a Pontiac-specific engine, correct?

In tune-up tech days of many years ago, I remember that the late-60s Chevy 327s would say 'TurboFire 327' on the air cleaner housing, whereas a Pontiac of similar vintage would say 'AstroFlash 327'.

I made a type w.r.t. the Pontiac Catalina - I typed Laurentian, but meant Catalina.
 
Originally Posted By: nthach
I see a few bikepackers and tourists there.
smile.gif


All the cars I see in the backroads of the Bay Area are work trucks, but you'll see Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren in the hills above Redwood City/Palo Alto/Menlo Park/Los Gatos. That's a pre-malaise era Pontiac before GM started putting in Chevy or Cadillac motors and 1st gen EGR/AIR systems in them too I assume>


Yup, that's my old Rocky Mountain MTB w/ the bulging green panniers! See my post regarding the Paul Bunyan Trail under the Bicycles forum for more photos.

We don't get much of the exotic stuff that you see in your area. Wow! (But I guess you get used to anything.)

Yes, 1970 was, in my opinion, almost the high-water mark for GM - they had huge market share, and were producing beautiful cars that drove well. I loved setting the dwell on their V8s equipped with the window in the distributor cap. GM (and everyone else) added a lot of geegaws and things to the carburetors over the next decade to try to meet emissions regulations before succumbing to the inevitable and transitioning to EFI. The period from the mid-70s through perhaps the mid-80s saw a lot of problematic new technology introduced. We saw a lot of problems with GMs early electronic ignition as well, c. MY 1974.
 
Only $2000 for that Pontiac? Seems like quite the steal to have something unique and cool to drive around and show at car shows/meets.
 
Originally Posted By: Leo99
Only $2000 for that Pontiac? Seems like quite the steal to have something unique and cool to drive around and show at car shows/meets.
Agreed, I wanted to buy it myself.
 
Originally Posted By: old1
Just FYI, the chevy station wagon is a 56. and I think a 210 model.
Thanks, I enjoyed talked to the owner, but couldn't remember the year or model. I'm sure you're right - a '56 210 rings a bell. I presume 140 was the rated HP?
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Wow that Pontiac is Amazing for only $2000. Heck you could buy it, drive it for 10 years, and triple your money when you sold it.
Agreed, I wanted to tow it home behind the bike!
smile.gif
 
OK, last batch - I forgot about these, also from September 2017. We had stopped in Pine River for coffee, and found this informal Autumn convoy:

'59 Impala, loaded.



Check out those Chevy bowtie dual exhaust tips:


'65 Impala, 327.



'65 or '66 Chrysler 300, likely equipped with a 383 or a 440. A classic.




I guess I must be getting old; I thought the '70s Buick behind the '59 Impala was too new to take photos of.
smile.gif
 
Second car I ever owned was a 1970 Pontiac Catalina. Same color as the picture. Mine had the saddle skirts and a 400 engine. It was a very good car. Had one lifter to go bad round about 110,000 miles. Fixed it, and traded it in years later for a Trans Am.
 
Originally Posted By: BigD1
Second car I ever owned was a 1970 Pontiac Catalina. Same color as the picture. Mine had the saddle skirts and a 400 engine. It was a very good car. Had one lifter to go bad round about 110,000 miles. Fixed it, and traded it in years later for a Trans Am.

Beautiful car! (Although a Trans Am would have been pretty good as well.) I think the lifters were the weak points of the GM V8s of that era. I changed out the ones on my '68 Chevy 307.
 
Originally Posted By: Number_35
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
Cool pics!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most Canadian Pontiacs were Chevys - "Cheviacs". Due to local content laws, GM couldn't import American Pontiacs and it wasn't worth building Pontiac plants in Canada. So, they did what they could to Canadian made Chevys resemble American Pontiacs and that's why US vs Canadian Pontiacs differ a lot of the time.
Hoosier, that makes sense. I know that a lot of my 'car' friends were really upset when GM dropped the Pontiac division - they were always really popular here. There was also a strange hybrid division called 'Acadian', with cars sold in the 60s by, I think, Pontiac dealers. One model was the Beaumont, which looked a lot like a Chevelle of the day. We always thought of the Acadian as a Canadian Pontiac. I don't think the Acadians said Pontiac on them anywhere.

I think you're correct, too, that the drivetrains were from Chevys. I'd assumed that the Catalina pictured would have had the Chevy 350 SB because that would have been the case in Canada. The American model would have had a Pontiac-specific engine, correct?

In tune-up tech days of many years ago, I remember that the late-60s Chevy 327s would say 'TurboFire 327' on the air cleaner housing, whereas a Pontiac of similar vintage would say 'AstroFlash 327'.

I made a type w.r.t. the Pontiac Catalina - I typed Laurentian, but meant Catalina.


Exactly right on the engines. Most Canadian Pontiacs had Chevy engines...until GM started sharing engines across the whole division and did away with having a Chevy 350, a Pontiac 350 etc...
 
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