Cheetah by Conroy Pontiac

canadian l79 · Addicted!

Cheetah by Conroy Pontiac

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

Wow good stuff biggrin

wonder where those Ont cars went? confuse

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

canadian l79 wrote:

Conroy also made 8 Can Am Firebirds with the Z28 302 engine.

This is the best part for me of the post. I am going to assume that it is Trans Am Firebirds with the 302's.

This is a huge piece of the Trans Am puzzle that up until now was never figured out. George Z confirmed the existence of these cars and they actually raced in Trans Am, now I think we know.

Conroy must have been the Royal Pontiac of Canada.

Ghost Post · Poncho Master!

Those Cheetah production #'s are the same or similar to what's been reported before..
The 350/360 HP 396's are L34's...the L78's were the 375 HP motors..
Although L78's were available on Chevelles they were not a Beaumont RPO so until proven otherwise w/ GM Canada paperwork we should always consider any L78 Beaumont to be a dealer installed option..

And Ray,
Do you remember looking at pics of the Conroy Firebirds here before?.
They had more scoops than a raisin bran factory!.
Pretty sure it was either here or the Yenko site and within the last 6 months?.

-- Edited by Ghost Post on Tuesday 3rd of November 2009 02:34:26 PM

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Ghost Post wrote:

And Ray,
Do you remember looking at pics of the Conroy Firebirds here before?.
They had more scoops than a raisin bran factory!.
Pretty sure it was either here or the Yenko site and within the last 6 months?.

No, all I recall is George Z confirming that so many 302 Firebirds were built to qualify for Trans Am Racing. If not by Conroy then the epuzzle remains. I postulated that they were CKD modification cars and George Z said Interesting Concept.

-- Edited by 73SC on Tuesday 3rd of November 2009 02:22:38 PM

455gto · Poncho Master!

Have all the Cheetah's been accounted for?

Ghost Post · Poncho Master!

73SC wrote:

Ghost Post wrote:

And Ray,
Do you remember looking at pics of the Conroy Firebirds here before?.
They had more scoops than a raisin bran factory!.
Pretty sure it was either here or the Yenko site and within the last 6 months?.

No, all I recall is George Z confirming that so many 302 Firebirds were built to qualify for Trans Am Racing. If not by Conroy then the epuzzle remains. I postulated that they were CKD modification cars and George Z said Interesting Concept.

I can't find the pic Ray and rethinking it all am wondering if the pic was maybe one of Vancouver BC's Mander Chev/Olds Camaros I'm remembering?.
I'll keep looking..

On the Trans-AM racing 302 F'Birds, I've always had an interest in this subject too but W

W, I had no idea you've had word from Geo. Z. confirming anything?!
Please keep us posted of what your research uncovers on this as most believe the whole rumor of SBC Firebirds came from the way the brochure reads..

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

I started a new post 302 powered Firebirds. I copied the posts from the summer there, including George Z's.

67BBSD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

canadian l79 wrote:

Just received my latest issue of The Canadian Chevelle Beaumont News, and it had a vary interesting story on the Canadian CHEETAHS built by Conroy Pontiac Buick dealership in Vancouver BC. Article says 46 Cheetahs were made 21 Beaumont Cheetahs stayed in BC the other 25 where shipped to Conroy Pontiacs main office in St Catharines On. The BC production was 8 in 1966, 7 in 1967, 6 in 1968, Of the 25 that where shipped to St Catharines there was no mentioned of how many of each year was sent to the home office. The Cheethas in BC had the following engines, 2 with 283's the balance had the L78 360Hp and the 427.

Conroy also made 8 Can Am Firebirds with the Z28 302 engine.

pretty amazing !

wonder what happened to the Niagara Cheetahs-I have been with beaumonts since 1984 and never seen one in the Niagara area-never heard of one etc...

There is a black/red 66 SD that came with a 396/360 4-speed and had a 427 most of its life-raced at Niagara Raceway in NY for years-I'll have to look into where it was sold new-this is another SD hiding in a garage never seeing daylight.

CDNROUNDPORT · Addicted!

Blastmaphy a Chevy in a 69 Trans Am.

67BBSD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

the 69 TA that was down the street from me had a Chevy small block-guess thats why I didn't think it was a TA-

CDNROUNDPORT · Addicted!

Oops!

87 player bird · Poncho Master!

I thought the sbc birds were just that, birds, the trans am was available with the r/a III or r/a IV. The trans am cars were firebirds. Or so I think.

Astro Jet · Poncho Master!

CDNROUNDPORT wrote:

Blastmaphy a Chevy in a 69 Trans Am.

Ian, they were called "Can-Am" Firebirds, so I think the Canadian McKinnon engine in them was somewhat appropriate. wink

Astro Jet · Poncho Master!

canadian l79 wrote:

Just received my latest issue of The Canadian Chevelle Beaumont News, and it had a vary interesting story on the Canadian CHEETAHS built by Conroy Pontiac Buick dealership in Vancouver BC. Article says 46 Cheetahs were made 21 Beaumont Cheetahs stayed in BC the other 25 where shipped to Conroy Pontiacs main office in St Catharines On. The BC production was 8 in 1966, 7 in 1967, 6 in 1968, Of the 25 that where shipped to St Catharines there was no mentioned of how many of each year was sent to the home office. The Cheethas in BC had the following engines, 2 with 283's the balance had the L78 360Hp and the 427.

Conroy also made 8 Can Am Firebirds with the Z28 302 engine.

More from the same article:

...the "race version" which included 4.10 gears, scatter shield and headers. If not "race" 3.73 gears no headers or scatter sheild were installed, just the tricked suspension and L78 engines (cars were shipped with 360hp engines in 67 and had the L78s installed at Conroy's shop). Buick ralley wheels and after market mirrors from England were installed with the original holes leaded in.

67BBSD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

there has to be more of these cars out there-lets findm' !

cheetah 427 · Poncho Master!

i have two cheetah beaumonts a 66 and a 68 both high option cars , i also have a 68 firebird from conroy its a odd car to, it had the talbot racing mirrors and its a ho 350 4spd rag with a bunch of options, deluxe wheel hood tach side ho side stripe hd suspention rally 2 wheels...... going to look at another 68 sd this weekend that is as i have been told to be a cheetah by conroy, complete but rusty, fingers crossed. i know of two more cheetah beaumonts a 66 and a 67 not for sale as of now.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Either you have the nose of a bloodhound or you are just a very lucky man!!!

Will you keep us posted as to what you find? Of course we are not expecting you to give away all the details.... No, wait, we ARE expecting that!

cheetah 427 · Poncho Master!

yes i have a wide web, i will let you know what i find, i have always lived in the vancouver area and have been on trail for years .

68sd · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

any info for the registry on the SD would be very helpful

thanks

GG455 · Member

According to Mike Carmichael Conroy GM & George Pappas ('67 Cheetah 427 owner) an article published, they stated about 50 Beaumont Cheetahs were produced between 1965-69.

Most were 396 360HP in '66 & 396 350 HP in '67-68 some early 327's (article May 2012 Edmonton Journal "Desperately seeking super-tuned Cheetah"), mostly likely other affiliated newspapers near this date.

Only 3 '69's with 350 CID article stated & no more than 10 427 conversions built. (3 - 427's found Green, Black & Gold)

Conroy Pontiac was a stand alone GM dealer in West Vancouver, BC.

An ad from Vancouver Province in 1967 clearly stated "ONLY CONROY HAS CHEETAH"

This old post stated 25 Cheetahs were sent to the Conroy's parent St. Catherines head office. no evidence of this being reality. Conroys head office was in West Vancouver, BC

It makes absolutely no sense for Oshawa to ship Beaumont's to Conroy in BC, do conversions, then ship back to Ontario.

GG455 · Member

as for claim "Conroy build Can Am Firebirds with Z/28 engines. TOTALLY FALSE!

there is No record of a Can AM Firebird's existing, other than this dated post as per George Z confirmed! (his word?)

The CAN AM series did not use Firebirds nor Camaros. This series mostly used Chevy 427's in McLarens & Lola's. (purpose built race cars)

As for TRANS AM Series the CID limit was 305 CID.

Ford had 302

Mopar had de-stroked 340

Chevy used 327 block with 283 crank = 302

AMC has 304

Pontiac entered with a de-stroked RAM AIR V (not a production engine) 303 CID (Bore 4.125" X Stroke 2.84" (RAM AM V also had 400CID version)

Pontiac racing only RAM AM V 303CID was articled in Hot Rod magazine May 1969.

LT1Caddy · Poncho Master!

GG455 wrote:
as for claim "Conroy build Can Am Firebirds with Z/28 engines. TOTALLY FALSE!
there is No record of a Can AM Firebird's existing, other than this dated post as per George Z confirmed! (his word?)

I think you misunderstood... The Can Am firebirds were not used for racing. I think it was Conroy building a dealer optioned car. Like Yenko, Motion, Gorries
Conroy hung the "Can Am" moniker on the Firebirds to make them distinctive....

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

There's the Can Am series vs. Trans Am sedan racing.

I remember reading in Hot Rod back around a 1980 flashback article that the 302 Chevy powered Firebirds were entered into the Trans Am series under the false assertion that Canadian Pontiacs all used Chevrolet engines. The Firebird was not a Canadian Pontiac. The radically destroked 400 Ram-Air Pontiac that became the 303 c.i.d. just wasn't cutting it in racing, while the 302 Chevy was about perfect for the job. They fudged the Chevy 302 powered Firebirds until the sanctioning bodies got wise and cried foul.
Of course later on GM would share engines from different GM divisions as standard operating procedure later. Firebirds came with Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile & Buick engines in the late 70s.

GG455 · Member

LT1 Caddy "guru" Rush to Judgement by responding less than hour after my post. Administrators could confirm exact minutes response.

You think this, you think that...

LTI Caddy - EXACTLY WHAT AM I MISUNDERSTANDING?

Another important factor since Pontiac Motor Division built 25 303CID RAM AIR V's for the Trans Am series.

Homologation required a minimum 250 unit installed in production cars, since this did not happen these engines were available from the parts department.

Why did Conroy not source these available rare engines for transplants?

originally posted by 73SC - "George Z confirmed the existence of these cars and they actually raced in Trans Am, now I think we know."

What Pontiac teams raced these alleged Z28 302?

By what factual method did George Z confirm?