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Automotive News & Views Mystery car pix....
23852 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 3:35 PM
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Replying to: bumpy (Nov 29, 2008 4:50 pm) As for Chrysler in Canada, I'm not sure exactly how they operated. Did they even have Plymouths up there? I've seen cars badged as Chrysler Valiants...basically a Dodge Dart with a Valiant grille. And I've seen Dodge Crusaders...Plymouths with Dodge grilles. More recently, I've seen Chrysler Intrepids. Is there really a need for a Chrysler Intrepid, when they had the Concorde? Or by that time, did they not sell Dodges in Canada anymore? Definitely a strange market, at least when you view it through United States archetypes, I guess.
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Replying to: kyfdx (Nov 29, 2008 12:55 pm) |
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 29, 2008 5:04 pm) I wonder even more if it was worth it to make the engineering changes necessary to mount a Pontiac body over a shorter Chevy Chassis and drivetrain as was done by GM thru at least the 1970s, IIRC. That seems like a lot of trouble to serve the small Canadian market (about the size of California?). What was the reason for not using real Pontiacs?
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Replying to: andys120 (Nov 29, 2008 5:47 pm) My understanding of it though, is that the way import tariffs were at the time, it was still cheaper for them to make these "home grown" Pontiacs than it was to import the real thing from the US. Also, it might not have been as difficult as it seems to get the Pontiac sheetmetal on the Chevy frames. To use an example, in 1969 a full-size Chevy was on a 119" wheelbase, while Pontiac Catalinas were on a 122" wb. Bonnevilles and Executives were on a 125". However, they were still all on the B-body platform, so the actual passenger cabins were the same size. I know with the Bonneville, they tacked that extra 3" of wheelbase on towards the back. It's really noticeable on the 4-door cars, as the little piece between the rear wheel opening and the back door is 3" longer on the Bonneville/Executive. But on a 2-door, that extra 3" in the rear quarter, ahead of the rear wheel opening, isn't as noticeable. However, another tell-tale sign is where the C-pillar is, in relation to the rear axle. I'm not sure though, where the extra 3" is, on a Catalina versus a Chevy. If it's ahead of the firewall, then to make the Canadian Pontiacs, they would have just needed to shorten the front fenders and hood by 3", behind the front axle. If they just took another 3" out in back, then they would have had to modify the quarter panels, and shorten that piece that goes between the trunk lid and the rear window. Other items, like the doors and interiors, would have most likely been a direct swap. In 1971, when GM redesigned its big cars, I think the Canadian Pontiacs actually used the longer Pontiac wheelbases, so no sheetmetal mods were needed, but they were still using Chevy engines. I imagine the 1959-1964 period might have been a pain though, because Pontiacs and Chevies were more unique then. Chevies used an X-frame, shared with Buick, while Pontiacs used a perimeter frame, shared with Oldsmobile. That definitely had an effect on stuff like the floor pans, but maybe it didn't matter so much when it came to swapping sheetmetal? |
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 Besides the make/model/year of this Presidential Limousine, do you know which President used it? |
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Replying to: andys120 (Nov 30, 2008 1:47 pm)
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Replying to: kyfdx (Nov 30, 2008 4:25 pm) |
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Replying to: andys120 (Nov 30, 2008 1:47 pm) |
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Replying to: andys120 (Nov 30, 2008 1:47 pm)
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Replying to: scscars (Nov 30, 2008 5:23 pm) The roof was added and the paint color changed to lower the creepiness factor.
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