The last of the really big full-sized Pontiacs. The last year for the 400 SBC in a car & the last year for the orange engine. It looks to be in decent shape. Those bodyside moldings were held on with adhesive and it wasn't unusual for them to fall off within a couple of years. That year the 400 was listed as the biggest optional engine, while in 75 they also listed a 455 (a blue block). Look at that old plate and numbering, it looks to be the original plate from 1976. The car still has the Niagara Motors dealer sticker on it. They are still in business in the town of Virgil near Niagara On The Lake.
Note the Pontiac log is still on the facade of their building. I have driven by the place and was surprised to see the logo still in place. They may have finally removed it this year.
-- Edited by CdnGMfan on Wednesday 18th of November 2015 10:46:42 PM
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
I had a 1974 Parisienne Brougham, 4 dr H.T. years ago with an orange 400 SBC but Ray posted a page from a 1973 service manual stating the 400 SBC was only available in wagons.
Was that a 1973 thing or did 400 SBC's come and go in Parisiennes??
While looking for a 400 SBC for my 1981 Parisienne last year I ended up with two Chevy 30 series cutaway vans.
1977 with an orange engine and a 1978 with a blue engine. I kept the orange engine and sold the blue one.
Did vans and or trucks have the orange engine a year later than cars, the van had a build date well into 1977??
I had a 1974 Parisienne Brougham, 4 dr H.T. years ago with an orange 400 SBC but Ray posted a page from a 1973 service manual stating the 400 SBC was only available in wagons.
Was that a 1973 thing or did 400 SBC's come and go in Parisiennes??
While looking for a 400 SBC for my 1981 Parisienne last year I ended up with two Chevy 30 series cutaway vans. 1977 with an orange engine and a 1978 with a blue engine. I kept the orange engine and sold the blue one. Did vans and or trucks have the orange engine a year later than cars, the van had a build date well into 1977??
Thanks Randy
Randy, I dont claim to know all the scheduling and allocation detail that led to decisions as to which engine source was chosen. I do know that back in 74-75 when I was in Grade 7, a classmates father owned a 1973 Parisienne coupe with a 400. It said so in the grille. Under the hood was an orange 400 (LF6) small block Chevy engine for sure. One of dads associates at work owned a brand new 1973 Laurentian 4-door with an orange Chevy 350 4-barrel (L48) and dual exhausts, front and rear stabilizer bars.
I only remember any 74 full-size Pontiacs in my hometown as having the regular 350 2-barrel Chevy engines. A good friends father traded in his 1971 AMC Ambassador wagon on a brand new 1975 Laurentian Safari. It had an orange Chevy 400 4-barrel and it moved surprisingly well. I lost my license in it (dont ask; lets just say that car saw a lot of crazy driving). Back in the fall of 1975 my fathers friend that had moved from Ancaster to Oshawa drove out to visit us in a brand new 1976 Laurentian Safari 3-seat wagon. It had an orange 400 4-barrel Chevy under the hood. I know that in the 1975 Canadian Pontiac full-size model brochure that they list the 455 as being available across the board, from the domestic Laurentian to the U.S built Bonneville Brougham. After 1974 a 400 2-barrel was a blue-block Pontiac, but a 400 4-barrel could have been either a Pontiac or a Chevy engine. It depended on which plant built it, which may have depended on which options were selected. Curiously the 1976 brochure lists the 400 4-barrel as the top engine for the Laurentian, Catalina & Parisienne, while the Bonneville offered a 455. I think that Catalina was actually built on both sides of the border and could be had with Chevy or Pontiac power in Canada.
As for the vans, I think they were generally building them in Scarborough starting in 1976. I remember them having a Canadian flag decal on the rear doors on the 76 77 models (not on the cutaway vans). I distinctly remember a friends older brother buying a new 1977 Chevy Van 10 with a 305 that was blue. Maybe the 400s were different as I have heard (unconfirmed) that the 400 small blocks were not coming from St. Catherines, but from 20 miles away across the border in Tonawanda N.Y. Personally I would expect a change company-wide to the Corporate Blue. That was the year that Olds used Chevy 350s in the Olds 88 models, and that led to a class action lawsuit. The Olds engine went blue in 1976, Chevy went blue in 1977 the way I remember it. Olds 350s & 403s were going into high-altitude U.S and California Pontiacs. Things were all over the place in 1977.
__________________
67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
Appreciate the input Cam, what got me thinking was Ray posted a page from a GM shop manual showing orange and blue engine applications for 1973 Pontiacs. The orange, 400 4bbl SBC was shown for wagons only in 1973, but I guess 1974-76 sedans as well. It sure was a confusing time with GM switching engines around!!
