I think this car might very well redefine the term gutless!

But the asking price is hard to argue with.

This is once instance where I an grateful that the car isn't local, because I'd buy it in a heartbeat... then again, I have a thing for three speed cars ;)

I wish someone on here would buy this! I want to see the restoration thread and GM docs!
That Biscayne Mark posted looks cool too. I'm a sucker for doggie dish hubcaps.

Interesting seeing the brochure. When I was an apprentice in the 70s a customer had a 71 Chevy full size wagon with a six and a three speed. It was plain being beige with tan vinyl interior. If I recall correctly the owner delivered newspapers with it. I see that you couldnt get a six in a Pontiac wagon. There were quite a few 71 Chevy taxis in my area that were sixes. I remember one bringing a customer to our shop to pickup their car, and the taxi had a really bad piston knock. The cab driver said that it had been making that noise for about 70,000 miles and he said it hadnt been getting any worse.

here's my take on three speeds;

Before model year 1969 GM allowed it's divisions to outsource for a heavy duty three speed;
I have some to understand that chevy small blocks (or less in the case of an I-6) in any 'pedestrian' horsepower level, used a (standard duty) saginaw three speed.
I have understood that anything with more clout, (eg: a Pontiac 400/455) would have required a 'heavy duty three speed' which after the 1969 model year (through to around 1974) was a Muncie 330 three speed;

I have understood that the Muncie (330) three speed was supposed to be floor shift only;
I get a bit fuzzy on full sized car offerings because I understand they often came three-on-the-tree - just by the nature of the car that they were;
I have read somewhere (but not verified) that the Muncie 330 did in some instances come in full sized cars with the truck gear set - this would likely circumvent the "floor shift only" part of the heavy duty three speed option - as I believe that often trucks came column sift - unless opted otherwise.
If the trucks did indeed come column shift with the Muncie 330, then it wouldn't be a huge leap to believe that full sized cars which recieved the "truck" transmission would have come column shift too.

I have done ALOT more scrounging for information on the 1970-1976(?) Muncie 330 transmission than I would care to admit.

I intentionally did not use any RPO code, as the code would change between divisions, model year, and platform;
As an example:
1970 Firebird/Lemans "standard duty" three speed RPO = M12 (saginaw 3 speed)
1970 Firebird/Lemans "heavy duty" three speed RPO = M13 (muncie 3 speed)
1972 Firebird "standard duty" three speed RPO = M13 (saginaw 3 speed)
1972 Lemans "heavy duty" three speed RPO = M13 (muncie 3 speed)
1969/1970 Camaro "heavy duty" three speed RPO = MC1 (muncie 3 speed)

-- Edited by unruhjonny on Friday 2nd of November 2018 02:26:20 PM

-- Edited by unruhjonny on Friday 2nd of November 2018 02:27:14 PM

Carl Stevenson wrote:

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Wow!

Somebody buy it and put a big block and a 4 speed in it!

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 NO !!!!!!!

We traveled coast to coast both in Canada & the U.S. in a '70 Biscayne 250 3-speed towing a tent trailer and sometimes also with a boat on the roof. We got pulled over in Ventura, California for going 80 mph when the posted limit was 80 mph. With trailers it was only 55. Cop was perturbed but professional. We got a warning & an escort back to the highway, except en route the exhaust system dropped to the road, obviously not used to buzzing along at 80.

To appreciate that '71 Laurentian in original form means adopting a different rhythm to driving, as most any 3-speed column shift would dictate.

 

 

As for the '71 3-speeds in the full-size U.S. Pontiacs, note that in each case the 3-speed was only offered with the base engine in each series. Catalina with a 350 Pontiac supposedly received a h.d. 3-speed. The Catalina Brougham came standard with a 400 2-barrel & a h.d. 3-speed. The Bonneville came standard with a 455 2-barrel & a h.d. 3-speed. The Grand Ville came standard with a 455 4-barrel & a h.d. 3-speed. Even though larger engines were offered as options on the lower series cars, they did not retain the 3-speed as a choice.  Choose your series wisely & get your order in quickly because the. 3-speed was dropped mid-71 (except for Laurentian sixes through '72.)

Price drop
www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/kawartha-lakes/standard-pontiac-laurentian/1395522188