Our new '66 Pontiac Beaumont SD convertible

[murphy98]

My wife and I just drove her home late yesterday. She's a Canadian built '66 Beaumont SD convertible with a fresh regal red paint job. Been trying to convince my wife, who's family name is Beaumont & she was born in '66 to get one of these for her. She did not start out as a "Car Girl" but after riding in my '62 GMC last fall after my 7 yr. restoration she stated to get the car bug. Went to a few shows this year, she saw a few Beaumont hard tops and thought, maybe we should look into one? Only stipulation she had was that it had to be a convertible! So a few internet searches later, I found this one a couple of hours away from our place and a deal was made. I'm waiting for the GM Canada Vintage vehicle info on this car but from the limited research I have been able to do, it is one of only 57 ever built and perhaps one of 10 with the red interior, hope to confirm that soon. Has it's original 283/powerglide & rear end drive train & original interior upholstery. Colour was originally silver/gray but with body work being done when we first saw it, we decided to change to the regal red paint to better match the interior colour & black top. Looking forward to many days of top down weather with this one!

[screamin_c10]

As a '67 Chevelle owner, I must say, I absolutely love the look of its Canadian Cousin. I wish that Chevrolet had used that dash and those tail lights on the 66/67 Malibus.

[ERASER5]

Nice find.

[flashed]

I love those Beaumonts ,a friend of ours in Canada still has his one owner 67 that he restored and he has even driven it down here to Ga .

[murphy98]

Thanks very much guys! I must admit I've always been a pick up truck guy but having this little beauty around is adding more enjoyment to driving classics! Looking forward to our first trip to the Drive-In movies soon!

[flashed]

A drive in movie in a convertible is hard to beat ,we are taking a road trip in my wife's 72 Malibu convertible as soon as we both get off work today ,will be exploring parts of North Carolina for a long weekend .

[murphy98]

Originally Posted by flashed

A drive in movie in a convertible is hard to beat ,we are taking a road trip in my wife's 72 Malibu convertible as soon as we both get off work today ,will be exploring parts of North Carolina for a long weekend .

Sounds like a great way to spend a long weekend flashed! Hope you have a great 4th of July! Our dream when my wife & I retire is to take the '66 to Chicago and drive as much of old Route 66 as we can right to the Santa Monica Pier! Enjoying the sites along the way. Driving along 66 in a '66, with the top down of course!

[chevyrestoguy]

What a cool car! I can see a lot of Chevelle/GTO DNA in that car, along with a bunch of Beaumont-specific parts. I like it.

I know that yours is rare because it's a convertible, but do you see a lot of Beaumonts still on the road in Canada? We NEVER see those cars in the U.S., so that's why I'm asking.

[murphy98]

Originally Posted by screamin_c10

As a '67 Chevelle owner, I must say, I absolutely love the look of its Canadian Cousin. I wish that Chevrolet had used that dash and those tail lights on the 66/67 Malibus.

I am not very familiar with the Chevelle dash at the moment but I am starting to learn that the Beaumont's used GTO dashes. Need to remember that when I am looking for parts!

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Nice find.

Thanks very much! We do feel lucky to have found this one!

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

What a cool car! I can see a lot of Chevelle/GTO DNA in that car, along with a bunch of Beaumont-specific parts. I like it.

I know that yours is rare because it's a convertible, but do you see a lot of Beaumonts still on the road in Canada? We NEVER see those cars in the U.S., so that's why I'm asking.

Thanks chevyrestoguy! I do see a few hardtop versions at car shows or out for a cruise in good weather etc around here in Southern Ontario, but not many convertibles. This particular model is one of only 57 ever made, and apparently one of 10 with red interior, 283 & the big block hood as it is called. I have written to GM Canada Vintage vehicle service for more info on the car, hoping to get that info soon.
Thanks again and hope you have a great 4th of July!

[davepl]

As a brief explanation for us Americans (and yes that's grammatically correct) the trade treaties of the 50s and 60s between the US and Canada (AUTOPact, I believe) required that cars sold in Canada generally be built in Canada, with few exceptions.

So rather than having Pontiac plants our Pontiacs were built on Chevrolet chassis. In most cases you got:

- A shorter, lighter body with the same Pontiac bodywork and styling
- The corresponding Chevy chassis (B-Body would get the Impala chassis, Beaumont on Chevelle chassis, etc)
- Pontiac dashboard
- Chevrolet interior with Pontiac emblems replacing Impalas and bowties
- Chevrolet engine (up to 427 and 454 in 1970, at least in full size).

I said the Canadian Pontiacs were lighter and shorter, but that might only be on the full size cars.

Similar deal with GMC, though they were already badge engineered with Chevy parts anyway.

Here's the very rough mapping of models:

GMC 1500 -> GMC 910
GMC 2500 -> GMC 920
GMC 3500 -> GMC 930 (and this prob contined up to GMC 960)

Acadian -> Nova
Beaumont -> Chevelle
Beaumont SD -> Chevelle SS
Strato Chief -> (Equiv to Biscayne, may not have had a US Pontiac equiv)
Laurentian -> Catalina
Parisienne -> Executive
Grande Parisienne -> Bonneville
2+2 -> 2+2 (Mechanicals match up with Impala SS, but you didn't get the 2+2 in the US after 1967)

Here's a couple of mine - these are 1969 2+2 cars, one 350/300 (red convertible) and one 427/390 4-speed (the black coupe).

You could get the 427/425 (L72?) in earlier years but by '69 the Corvette's 427/390 (L36?) was the top option.

Check out the forums at canadianponcho for more.

[LT1 Burb]

Nice car, what are the chances that 2 guys on the 67-72 forum have a 66 SD convertible. I bet there is less then 100 left on the planet. They only made 565 convertibles and no one knows how many were SD's. That 57 number is inaccurate as it has been the "known" number for a long time and I know of 10 more that aren't included in that number. To put it in perspective, chevy made over 5000 396 SS 66 convertibles.

[murphy98]

Beautiful car LT1 Burb,
Looks like it's in great shape to me. I must make a correction to my post (thought I had done it long ago) Guess I corrected my info on the Canadian Poncho site but forgot to do it here. After receiving the info on the car from GM Vintage vehicle services, my growing suspicions (after doing more of my own research on the whole SD thing) were confirmed that our car did not leave the factory as an SD car. Someone went to a lot of effort (well done I might add) to create an SD clone car. So according to the paperwork, it is a regular convertible and was shipped with a 283/powerglide combo with a production number of 245, still not bad! Car was originally shipped from Oshawa to Calgary as "GM Dealer stock" no specific dealer named. As I may have said before, we did not decided to buy this particular car because it was a supposed SD car, but because of it's excellent condition and that it was a '66 Beaumont Convertible which is what my wife wanted ultimately. We enjoyed the heck out of it this past summer and can't wait to get it back on the road this spring. Since getting the car we have be able to really go through it well and even the guys at our local GM dealer where we had the safety done were incredibly impressed with the condition of the car, especially the under body, no rust or other damage at all. With the exception of a few cosmetic things I will take care of early spring, I found an original Beaumont radio to put back in the dash & a few other small things the car is perfect for us & ready for our enjoyment. Hope you enjoy yours LT1 Burb, looks like your still the only member here with a truck SD!