Our feature car for September is this beautiful Butternut Yellow 1970 Pontiac 2+2 convertible. Bruce McIntyre is the lucky owner of this Poncho which has been in the family since 1973. Being one of only 274 2+2 convertibles made in 1970 means the chances of seeing another one running wild in the world is pretty slim. Let's find out more from Bruce:

My dad acquired the 2+2 from the U.S. embassy in 1973 as the owner was returning to the USA and my recollection that the car could not be exported at the time. I always thought the vehicle was driven by the ambassador’s wife turns out it was actually owned by an FBI agent who was assigned to the embassy in Ottawa at the time, a fact I only learned a few years ago. It is equipped with a 400 cu inch small block which is very rare, THM 350 tranny, 2.56;1 12 bolt rear end and very few factory options. It was delivered through GM diplomatic sales in Oshawa.

My dad really liked the 1970 Pontiac full size cars and this was the second one in the stable back in 1973, the other one was a 1970 Pontiac Strato Chief 4dr LS4 454 which was an unmarked ex RCMP pursuit car. Dad acquired it to pull a travel trailer when we lived in New Brunswick in the early 70’s. It was one of the faster cars in my high school even though it had tall highway gears 2.73:1. Sadly this car’s history ended at an auto wrecker.

I  learned to drive with both of those cars, mainly the Strato chief but really enjoyed the 2+2 and lot’s of fond cruising memories for sure. Dad and I spent many weekends working on both of these cars as we did all of our own maintenance.

The 2+2 was my mom’s car and was driven up until 1994 and then parked in my dad’s garage until 1998. It was only driven a couple of winters in it’s life so the frame and under carriage were in excellent condition when my dad gifted it to me. The rust was limited to the bottom of the doors and rear quarter panels mainly.

I completed.a full restoration in 2013 which included body and paint, new top, interior work including front seats. The engine was really not touched other than valve seals. New springs, brakes, shocks, dual stainless exhaust, radiator and front end rounded out the mechanical repairs. A rebuilt THM 350 followed in 2014 along with a conversion to a period correct Rochester four barrel and intake that I acquired from Clint Scherger who helped a lot during the restoration. I suprised my dad with the car on Father’s Day in 2013 and it was a very memorable experience as he had not seen the car since 1998.

The car has been driven very little since 2013 but now that I have retired, I hope to be able to get out to cruise nights and more shows in Ontario.  The car runs very well considering it has the original engine which is largely untouched. The car attracts a lot of attention at cruise nights as the Canadian Pontiacs are becoming very rare.