Let's kick off 2016 with this beautiful 1967 Beaumont Sport Deluxe 396 that has been in Ralph Braden's possession since 1978. I have great respect for folks that hold on to their cars for so many years preserving these fine machines for generations to come. So without further adieu here's Ralph with all the details:
I was a young man of 18 when I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a car that would be part of my life in a big way. I purchased my 1967 Beaumont Sports Deluxe from the original owners back in 1977, the couple originally purchased the car from Patterson Motors in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. They had bought the car with the 396 c.I. big block to tow an aluminum fishing boat, they even went as far as welding on an angle iron trailer hitch complete with blowing a hole in the frame for the safety chain! The best part was it was meant for his wife, who was 53 at the time, how she steered a big block with standard steering standard brakes is beyond me. She passed away at 61 and her husband called my father to see if I still wanted to buy the car, but I was 17 at the time and they didn’t want a teenager getting it just yet so they sold it to my parents and they would sell it to me when the time was right. Well, my Mother drove it for a couple of months and complained how hard it was to steer and stop, so I got it in the spring of 1978.
I was driving my Beaumont on July 1st, 1978 going down to Wascana Park to watch the Canada fireworks when I spotted three very cute girls hitchhiking. I decided to give them a ride! To make a long story short, that cute young girl I picked up I ended up marrying three years later. We’re still together 38 years later. The picture is of my sweetie in front of my parents house. The car had Cragar Diamond spokes rims with Pro Trac rubber.
Well, we got married and nine months later here comes a daughter. Two years after that we had a son! So much for the Beaumont. She got put to “sleep” for a lot of years while we raised our family. It came out the odd year just to blow the dust off and make an ice cream run with the wife and kids. It got parked again as the kids went thru the teen years.
Move ahead to 2012. The Beaumont had just 77,000 miles on it and I thought it needed a “freshening up”. What started as “let’s do seats!” turned into a 5 year nut and bolt rotessoire restoration! Except for the soda blast and the paint, all the work was done at home in our two car garage with my son and myself. We ended up doing a total tear down. I ended up with every nut & bolt bagged and tagged. I had 672 photos and 27 pages of notes! I had built a few cars with buddies but nothing to this scale. We rebuilt every component old skool, the engine, wheel cylinders, alternator, waterpump, etc.
We decided for durability when we built the engine. It looks dead stock but it sports a complete Comp Cam Roller Cam Kit XR282HR with about 290 duration with just over 510 lift. It runs with the stock oval port heads and stock exhaust manifolds complete with heat riser valve, exiting out thru magnuflow 2 1/2” stainless exhaust with the X pipe. She doesn't sound like she looks! She’s backed with the stock 2spd poweglide with a 12 bolt posi with 355 gears. I am presently running the 14” bias ply tires I put on back in 1980.
The Beaumont having being stored indoors its whole life was a great candidate for a restoration. After the soda blast I was pleased to find a solid body with NO sheetmetal work involved! I did have to repair two holes in the trunk from water leaking a trunk gasket every time I washed her. We decided to grind down the frame to do the repair. Afterwards it got powdercoated for good measure. My buddy Rob at A & B Autobody in Regina got a key to my garage so he could come and go to do his magic to massage the body to his level of perfection. He put down a beautiful coat of Marina Blue Metallic that is just outstanding! My Son and I were tasked with doing all the interior including upholstery of the seats (not my favorite job). The Sun 10 grand Tach and Sun Oil & Temp gauges are the ones I put in the car back in 79.
With the help of my family and quite a few car buddies we rushed to get the car completed for the 49th Annual Majestics Car Show here in Regina. The best part was being chosen as the Jimmy Shine Award winner. Out of the 151 cars Jimmy chose ours! He had never seen a Canadian Beaumont before so it caught his attention. The car is beautiful but its the story that sells the car. The story board in front of the car has pictures of the Beaumont with my children at preschool ages, pics of the dismantlement with my son, dad and my twin brother as well as pictures of my granddaughter and son helping with reassembly. My Mistress has been at my side thru it all!
I ended up taking the Beaumont to the 2015 SuperRun in Red Deer this year, I was fortunate to have the gentleman from Canadian Hotrods approach me saying they would like to do a feature on our car. He said he would like to feature the car in his new publication called Bone Stock magazine. We went off site there and did a two hour photo shoot. I couldn't have been happier! We were the cover car of the summer issue and we are the feature car in the center spread!
We have plans for a couple more indoor shows this spring, but the car is a driver - not every day but it's a driver!
I’m glad that our Beaumont's are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Show em off and be proud to be Canadian!
Fantastic car and Great story, A friend of Ralph, Murray had told me many times about this 67 Beaumont, I was sure pleased when he brought to the SperRun, just too bad I was so busy.
Congratulations Ralph, a beautiful car and story like that needed to be up on top.
Todd, you have been consistently getting awesome feature cars. This beauty continues the run.
I love seeing correctly restored stockers, especially since this day in age it has once again become so popular to modify or personalize them. Seeing stock ones like this shows an appreciation for what they once were. GM Canada created a winner in the 67 Beaumont.
Congratulations on being car of the month. It's certainly inspiring on three fronts: the length of time you've owned it, the quality of the restoration and the fact that it is so original looking.
Absolutely love it.
Yup, always fun driving a manual steering manual brake car. Especially trying to get it into a parking stall at the mall, it requires some pre-planning.
Great car and great write-up in Bone Stock magazine (I subscribe to it).
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod
