May High Performance Pontiac

[Robert Hall]

This issue has an interesting 'factory freaks' article, cars with rare paint combinations, special order options, unusual powertrain combinations. Dark blue w/ red interior '74 Trans Am, '70 Le Mans 4dr w/ 350 and 4 spd manual on the floor, '71 Le Mans Sport 4dr ht w/ GTO appearance package (GTO hood, Endura nose), 455..

A '73 Super Duty Trans Am w/ column shift automatic, delivered in primer w/ red Endura parts (front fascia, wings, flares).

A '59 Catalina 4dr sedan w/ 389 tri power.

A '67 Tempest wagon w/ the OHC 6 and a 2spd transmission.

Also a '69 Grand Prix in Verdoro Green

A couple silver WS6 4th gen T/As and 2 '96 Comp T/A Trans Ams.

[balthazar]

Well, the Sport package was available on all '71 LeMans', so that it was applied to a 4-dr doesn't surprise me. I almost bought a '71 LeMans Sport convertible, but the buyer decided to keep it.

The '59 Cat, '67 Tempest & '69 GP weren't portrayed as 'unusual', correct?

[Robert Hall]

Well, the Sport package was available on all '71 LeMans', so that it was applied to a 4-dr doesn't surprise me. I almost bought a '71 LeMans Sport convertible, but the buyer decided to keep it.

The '59 Cat, '67 Tempest & '69 GP weren't portrayed as 'unusual', correct?

The Catalina and Tempest were, because of the engines....plain 4dr Catalina w/ a 389 tri-power and a Tempest wagon with the OHC 6 (rare for a wagon, apparently). Of course 40-50 years later, seeing any of these cars in restored shape qualifies as 'unusual', IMHO.

[balthazar]

Catalina w/ Tri-Ps would not be relatively unusual for '59.

Would be more uncommon on a Bonneville, I believe.

Tri-Ps sold to performance-minded individuals, and they wanted the lightest car (the Cat).

I myself found a Cat 4-dr with factory Tri-Ps on a vintage car lot circa 1985. And it was pink.

OHC-6 wasn't rare in the least - it was the standard engine & the only 6 in '67. 21% of '67 Tempests were 6s.

Hi-Po Pontiac should know better than this (implication)...

Exposure depends on the circles you move in. I've seen far more '59 Pontiacs in person than GTOs & G8s combined.

Edited March 22, 2010 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

Catalina w/ Tri-Ps would not be relatively unusual for '59.

Would be more uncommon on a Bonneville, I believe.

Tri-Ps sold to performance-minded individuals, and they wanted the lightest car (the Cat).

I myself found a Cat 4-dr with factory Tri-Ps on a vintage car lot circa 1985. And it was pink.

OHC-6 wasn't rare in the least - it was the standard engine & the only 6 in '67. 21% of '67 Tempests were 6s.

Hi-Po Pontiac should know better than this (implication)...

Can't be very many wagons left w/ the 6 though.

Exposure depends on the circles you move in. I've seen far more '59 Pontiacs in person than GTOs & G8s combined.

Must be..the only time I see in person very many old cars is at a few shows and cruise-ins I go to each year and at the Barrett-Jackson auction. I find that in daily driving, the odds of seeing anything older than about 1985 is pretty low..I maybe see 1/2 dozen '60s or '70s vehicles in a typical week..

Edited March 22, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

>>"Can't be very many wagons left w/ the 6 though. "<<

Agreed- wagons of the '60s (and '70s) have had a disproportionately high mortality rate. Tempest wagons weren't overly plentiful to begin with. 1967 : 3,495 Tempest Safaris, 5,324 Tempest Custom Safaris, 4,511 Tempest (LeMans) Safaris. The fact that's it's a clean, feature-able '67 tempest wagon far trumps the OHC-6 IMO.

[Camino LS6]

There are certainly a number of different rare 4th gen cars.