Note that the Safe-T-Track (Positraction) price is incorrect. The dealer wrote in the price for the turbo 350 transmission with 6 cylinder on that line. I'm not 100% sure what the actual price for Posi was but on the Beaumont it was $49.10 which sounds right (about 15-20% more than the US price of $42.13)
My second thought is, since you got them posted in sequence with no posts in between, maybe we should just leave it open. This might be a good place for any discussion to evolve from them, and I suspect there will be! Very cool stuff.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Yes, you could also get convertible shoulder belts front or front and rear in the US. I have a GTO convertible that came with them.
The little difference is that in Canada you could get rear shoulder belts without also ordering deluxe belts. On US models rear belts were only offered with deluxe belts.
My US car has shoulder belts in the the convertible and it brings extra trim items like the belt mounts which I bet are some of the rarest Canadian parts (deluxe and non-deluxe shoulder belt mounts for the convertibles).
Those belt retainers were identical to an accessory kit sold by GM to clip your belts to the front of the front and rear seats. They screwed into the bottom front steel frame of both seats through the vinyl. These kits nos are often on eBay.
Those retainers were also used for shoulder belts on el caminos and 3rd row of wagons as well as convertibles.
There are two versions, one for deluxe and one for standard belts. They dont interchange due to buckle design.
Interesting that the 427/390 seemed like a bargain to make you weep at $270 retail, but converted to todays dollars that's like $1800! So it was a pricy option then.
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
Interesting that the 427/390 seemed like a bargain to make you weep at $270 retail, but converted to todays dollars that's like $1800! So it was a pricy option then.
I bet most of us on here would cough up $1800 today to buy it though!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
bear in mind that all the optional engines are priced over the cost of the 350 2bbl engine. The true extra cost from the base (six) was $110 or so more than those prices show.
Inversely the L36 was a good deal relative to the 55 less horse LS1 when you consider that the real extra for the L36 vs LS1 after accounting for it's standard duals is only $48.
The East York Lions Club coughed up a total of $40.30 for options for my lottery car.
The J50, Power brake is a stand-alone option so that ends the debate of "De-optioned"
I have seen another 69 Parisienne without power brakes.
The funny thing is, I read this and thought "who would buy such a big car with manual brakes?" Then I realized I have a big car with manual brakes, and I've noticed in US wrecking yards a lot of full size Chevys in the mid to late 60's have manual brakes, including Caprices. Weird.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
My Dad's 68 GMC that he drove contemporaneous with the Pontiac was a power-steering, manual-brake truck. I don't know why that was a common thing in Saskatchewan, but I saw a fair bit of it. Could it be a farmer thing? My dad wasn't a farmer, but we bought it from a farmer, and most everyone else was a farmer...
Then again you said you saw it in the US wrecking yards a lot, so maybe the uptake on power brakes was lower than you'd imagine, or people didn't fully trust them yet?
-- Edited by davepl on Tuesday 23rd of January 2018 12:59:54 PM
With drum brakes you can easily get away without power assist but with disc brakes it was a different story. By the late 60's most high end cars had power brakes and steering (Cadillac, high end olds and Buick etc). The first Pontiac model to get power brakes as standard was the GP midway through the model year in 69. I think that by 71-72 power brakes and steering bacame standard on most larger American Pontiacs.