Many of you would have been following or at least heard of the impending demise of the GM factory in Oshawa, just east of Toronto, where this Laurentian was born. This news has been more recently followed with an update that 300 or so jobs are planned to be retained at the site, and it is destined to become an aftermarket parts centre. They also may create a test track there to trial autonomous vehicles. More news to follow I’m sure.
Autonomous vehicles were the furthest from Sam McLaughlin’s mind when he set up shop in Oshawa in 1908. His company, McLaughlin Motors, produced 154 cars in its first year of operation, using Buick engines provided by William Durant of GM.
Sam’s brother John, founded the Canada Dry company, in Toronto, in 1890. Still one of my favourite drinks of pop (soda for our US friends). Someone shot a photo of this can on the French language side.
I would not lay claim to be the most expert person in either GM or GM Canada history, what follows is what I have been able to glean from various sources. I have included multiple CC articles that describe Pontiac in Canada and the Laurentian / Parisienne etc. below in the further reading section.
By 1918, GM saw that Sam had a good thing going and they purchased his operation. They began to produce GM branded cars in Oshawa at this location.
This 1962 example came from that factory. The 1962 Ponchos were redesigned from the 1961s with more rounded contours. US models got an increased wheelbase by 1-inch to 120 inches. Canadian Pontiacs stayed on the 119 inch wheelbase shared with Chevy.
As expertly written here on CC previously, these Pontiacs were Chevrolets under the skin. They used the same engines and transmissions as full-size Chevys. I believe this example used either a Chevy 261 six or a 283 V8. Transmissions were either the three-speed column-mounted manual or the 2 speed Power Glide automatic.
As a casual GM observer, I was always confused with what I observed as the proliferation of model names – Bonneville, Strato Chief, Parisienne, Catalina, there were too many to understand. Researching this piece, I came across an equivalency description that was helpful for me. The Laurentian was the equivalent in trim level with the US built Catalina. The Canadian Strato Chief’s cousin was the American Star Chief, and the Canadian Parisienne was equivalent to the American Bonneville. At least at the time.
After the GM downsizing of their full size cars in 1977, I believe that the remaining Canadian model names were dropped in favour of the US names in 1986. Parisienne was the last to survive. The Laurentian in these photos had a trim level equivalent to that of the Chev Bel Air.
This car visually jumped out at me while driving along Trafalgar Road in Hornby Station (near Milton Ontario) last summer. This particular location has become a bit of a used car lot – one car at a time that is. Previously I have also photographed a 1974 or so Cutlass there, and now resides a more recent foreign make of what appears to be Japanese or Korean origin.
The differences in profile view with a modern car are obvious – the lengthy rear overhang, the greenhouse mounted on top of the body, the whole upright look and feel of the car. An unintended contrast with the black car in the background of the lead photo shows the difference in aerodynamic characteristics.
I was pleased to see this car, along with its seemingly rechromed bumpers which the former owner may have done in an attempt to start a restoration, or to at least address parts of the car that were in the worst condition. The rest of her looked pretty original (aftermarket gauges notwithstanding) and in very decent, solid shape. One can only guess at the age of those whitewall tires however. I can say that it did not last long on this corner with the red sign in the window.
1962 offered some other historical highlights: The music of Ray Charles, Gene Pitney, Bobby Vinton, and Elvis Presley. JFK committing to putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. John Diefenbaker still Canadian Prime Minister despite bungling the government’s handling of the Avro Arrow aircraft program and its cancellation. The first Wal-Mart opened (scissors photo) in Arkansas. Marilyn Monroe. The Cuban Missile Crisis.
The other appeal to me for this Pontiac was that I had a Strombecker slot car racing car set as a kid, and it had two stock cars – a 1962 Pontiac and a 1962 Ford Galaxie. I think it was 1/24 scale. I loved the semi circle taillights on the Pont, and the drop down taillights on the Galaxie. So much so that I used red marker to colour the taillights in on both the monocolour bodies. I ran those cars until the brushes wore out. Unfortunately the racing set did not survive several moves my parents had to perform. No matter, it was great fun. The racing cars, not the moving part.
Further reading:
A cool find. I always liked the back-end styling on these – the combination of the taillights and the nameplate always made me think ” (Pontiac) “. Had the letters been moved up to the next level the effect would have been even more clearly parenthetical.
The side profile is not these cars’ best view. In fact, I have been trying to decide if this Laurentian has the longer butt of the American Star Chief or the more abbreviated derriere of the Catalina. I couldn’t find good comparison shots of sedans. The Laurentian has the rear fender stars like the Star Chief, so maybe those make it look longer.
On the American side a buyer got a lot by that step up from Chevrolet – a much bigger engine and a 3 or 4 speed automatic instead of the Powerglide. Although the PG would prove to be more durable than the 3 speed Roto Hydramatic used in the smaller cars. The Canadian versions were sort of a premonition of how all of GM would start operating by the early 80s, with the same car in various versions of interior and exterior styling.
I am quite certain that the longer rear of the Star Chief and Bonneville was achieved by adding a few inches ahead of the rear wheels, as is quite obvious from the gap between the rear doors and rear wheel opening. But from the wheels back, I can’t imagine they tooled up a different rear deck and fenders too. The trunk is clearly the same, with more “filler” between it and the rear window.
My point is that I assume none of the Canadian Pontiacs of this vintage would have the extended rear end, as they all sit on the shorter 119″ wheelbase.
Nice old Pontiac. I like the patina on the paint job, and even with the bumpers re-chromed I hope its new owner isn’t in too big of a hurry to restore it to showroom condition. Early in 1968 my parents were house-hunting, and the realtor drove my parents, my then 5-year-old self and my two sisters around in her white ‘62 Parisienne convertible. I still remember the faint whine from the transmission as she drove us around, and we ended up buying a house that day. Her and her husband (also a realtor) always drove their clients around in big Pontiacs up until they retired sometime in the late’70’s or early ‘80’s. It’s nice to see a big Pontiac like I remember from my childhood still around, and I hope its new owner takes good care of it. Cars like that Laurentian, while nothing fancy in their own time are now a rolling piece of history.
Best GM design for ’62, I’d say.
That rear end is just epic!
Under the Oshawa factory sign, it says “landfill free facility”. Is that a common, or even regulated, declaration in Canada?
I can’t say that I have ever seen that before or in any other location.
It essentially just means they send their trash to an incinerator instead.
GM’s Fort Wayne truck plant has that sign.
It is “pop” in some areas of the states as well. Detroit is one.
Same in Chicago. I think it’s a Midwest thing.
In DC and suburbs, I’ve heard “soda”, “pop”, “soft drinks”, and “fizzy drinks”
In the UK, pop is used, though it is now a slightly dated term. Soft, fizzy or carbonated are more common, but never soda.
This is one of a series of US dialect maps done several years ago — it shows the regional distribution of the terms pop/soda/coke. I’d love to see a corresponding map for Canada.
In Eugene we call it “poison soda” or “Diabetes Cola”. 🙂
Oh I forgot “coke” in the Southern US, which does not necessarily mean Coca-Cola or even any brand of cola, but rather any soft drink regardless of flavor. Something like Orange Crush would still be “coke”.
I’ve also heard “soda pop”….
It used to be “tonic” in New England. That fell out of usage about 50 years ago. It’s never heard anymore. Soda is commonly used now.
About 30 years ago, my uncle (a mechanic by trade) had a beautiful red and white ’63 Mercury Monterey, My (almost) 11 year old self at the time thought it was different and interesting that the greenhouse was narrower than the body it was riding on (just like this car). How times have changed.
As for the landfill free facility in the Canadian auto manufacturing sector, I’m not sure if it is regulated or not. As far as I know, the Honda facility in Alliston is also a zero landfill waste facility as well.
What does that mean? That they don’t have their own landfill for waste? That it wasn’t built on a landfill? That they compost?
Looks like it means they don’t send any waste to a landfill. They reuse, recycle, (which sounds like another name for reuse), or compost 96% and convert the other 4% to energy.
https://www.autonews.com/article/20180228/OEM01/180229778/gm-now-landfill-free-at-142-facilities
Ok, makes sense. I wanted to guess Pontiac Star Chief but didn’t know what year on the quiz… cool car. I like the Galaxie (with a 390) best, but it’s pretty hard to go wrong with anything from ’62 from GM or Ford. Or even a Studebaker Hawk.
While the Laurentian used the Star Chief’s “stars”, the Canadian and US Pontiac models of this era cannot be directly compared. Pontiac was sold as a low-priced car in Canada, and the trim levels, pricing and available body styles directly paralleled Chevrolet: Strato-Chief = Biscayne, Laurentian = Bel Air and Parisienne = Impala. American Pontiacs were available by special order, but pre-Auto Pact duties made them prohibitively expensive.
The plant shown in the photos is not the site of the original McLaughlin facilities, but rather what is known as the “south plant”, first opened in 1953. The old “north plant” was in the downtown core of Oshawa. The last remaining portion was torn down several years ago and is now the site of a Costco.
Your slot cars would be the AMT Authentic Model Turnpike set in 1/25 scale. They did the Bonneville in addition to a Galaxie, Mercury, Thunderbird and the rare Impala. Most of the Bonnevilles were molded light blue.
No, not AMT. There were AMT slot cars in 1/25 scale but the Strombecker set, which I also had, was 1/32 scale and came with one each ’62 Ford and ’62 Pontiac. In my set one was red and the other was blue.
I had that Strombecker Pontiac in blue! My set originally came with a Pontoon Testa-Rosa and a Ferrari GTO, which my 5-year old self disliked because they were “foreign” (still that way to some extent 🙂 ). Later on, I was given the Pontiac plus a Corvette, which suited me better.
Great write-up and find Lee. The 1962 Pontiac holds a special place for me as it had a significant impact when I was a kid. I remember going junkyard hunting with my dad (remember when people used to find parts at junkyards for their daily drivers), and the one yard we frequented had a red ’62 Parisienne 4-door hardtop. It was a very complete and solid car for a junk yard car. My brother and I would spend hours in that car playing around on our many visits while dad removed parts from other cars. I wanted dad to bring it home, but the best he’d allow me was to get some parts off it. I remember collecting the headlight bezels, the steering wheel hub, a few emblems and name plates.
Later when I was older, one of Dad’s best friends had a ’62 Parisienne. It had a 283 and a TH350 swapped in place of the PG. It was a typical older Ontario car and had rusted out floors, which dad’s friend “expertly replaced” with pop riveted homemade replacements. I was close to driving age at that time and tried to convince dad to buy it as a father son project, but he wouldn’t go for it. He knew how the rusty secrets that hid beneath that car’s skin.
A couple of points on the Canadian Pontiacs. The line-up was Parisenne, Laurentian and Strato-Chief, from top to bottom. It was more equivalent to the Chevrolet line-up of Impala, Bel Air and Biscayne than the US Pontiac line-up. Pontiac of Canada mirrored Chevrolet very for engines, options and models. In Canada, Pontiac was a low priced car, not a medium priced like US. It was essentially GM of Canada’s way of offering a low priced car over a larger area due to the more sparse dealer network. The fact that it was a low price car made Pontiac very popular in Canada. And for families like mine that preferred lower priced vehicles, Pontiac always had a great reputation.
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the American and Canadian Pontiac models were sold regularly side by side, as US built cars Pontiacs were added to Canada. But by the late 1970’s the Canadian Line-up was simplfied back to Parisienne, Catalina and Laurentian, again matching Chevrolet’s Caprice, Impala and Bel Air (Canada only by then). The Parisienne was brought to the US market in 1983, after GM of Canada continued it on to produce the Pontiac B-body on its own for 1982 with the cancellation of the 1982 US Pontiac B-Body. The Parisienne was built in Oshawa until sometime in 1984, when all B-body production moved to the US. The Parisienne remained in production until the 1986 model year, while the Safari wagon (sans Parisienne name) continued until 1989.
I remain confused about Canadian Pontiacs in the mid-1970s – I spent some time in Canada in the late ’70s and recall seeing 75-76 Parisiennes that were trimmed like US Bonnevilles, but used the post sedan body style that in the US was used only for the Catalina, while the Bonneville was always a hardtop. Are the Parisiennes from this time otherwise similar to a Bonneville (except the engines)?
From what I understand, the sheetmetal of pre-1965 full size Canadian Pontiacs did not interchange with American models due to having to fit Chevrolet frames. So that I assume means ’58-’64 Pontiacs had the Chevy X frame underneath, and a different floorplan with a big central tunnel but no intrusion from a perimeter frame near the door openings?
The 1971-76 Parisienne is essentially what was known as the Catalina Brougham in the US. In fact, all ’71-’76s are actually Parisienne Broughams, there was no “base” version. The Grand Ville and Bonneville were also part of the regular offerings by this time.
In 1977, the lineup became Parisienne-Catalina-Laurentian. The Parisienne was identical to the Bonneville, which was consequently no longer offered in Canada.
Ah – that explains it. I saw the 77s and later first so it got stuck in my head Parisienne = Bonneville and assumed it was the same for the pre-downsized cars too.
I’d love to see an interior shot of a ’77-’81 Laurentian – I cant imagine the elegant two-toned-wood ’81 dash matched with a taxicab-plain Bel Air seat and door panel. Can’t find a pic online; even the brochures didn’t show a view of the dash. The Bel Air dash and doors were stripped of woodgrain, but I can’t imagine Pontiac would bother making a non-wood dash just for a relatively low-volume Canadian model.
Up to 1970, Pontiac in Canada stuck with the Parisienne, Laurentian and Strato-Chief lineup. For 1971-76 the line-up got pretty messy. As I stated above, this is when Pontiac dealers intermixed Canadian and American models on the show room floor. So for 1971 the line-up became Grand Ville, Bonneville, Parisienne Brougham, Catalina and Laurentian (in order of highest to lowest). Only the Grand Ville and Bonnevilles use the longer 126″ wheelbase. If you wanted to relate the entire line-up to the US market during these years, the American model Pontiacs were pretty much the same as the US in terms of hierarchy, but the Parisienne Brougham would be a competitor with the Caprice, and the Laurentian with the Impala.
The even more confusing part was that there was also a mixture of Chevrolet and Pontiac engines in the line-up, including a Chevy six (Laurentian only). It seemed that most Canadian models got the Chevrolet engines, while US built cars had Pontiac engines but that wasn’t always the rule. I remember seeing lots of these mid-70’s Pontiacs with Chevy 350’s under the hood.
Stumack is correct that the Parisienne Brougham was essentially the equivalent of the Catalina Brougham in the US. It was also available for some years as a 4-door hardtop or 4-door sedan, but later was reduced to 4-door sedan (2-doors were available all years). The Parisienne Brougham generally even used the same interior trim as a Catalina Brougham. but not always for the same year. There was one year it used a combination of Caprice interior and Catalina Brougham trim.
As stated, things went back to some normalcy in 1977, when it went back to Parisienne, Ctalina and Laurentian. The Parisienne was pretty nearly identical to the Bonneville (althought I don’t know how the standard equipment compared of the top of my head). However the big difference was that Canadian Pontiac continued to use Chevrolet drivelines. The Pontiac engine/transmission line-up was identical to Chevrolet, and remained as such until the demise of the B-body RWD Pontiac.
Then there were the A-Bodies. While no Canada-specific models were built after
’69 (last Beaumont) some LeMans had 350 Chevys while others had 350 Pontiacs. I had a ’72 Lemans with a Chevy. I remember one guy in high school
was all high and mighty about his “blue block” which was supposedly so superior to the “orange”. History proved him full of crap-The 350 Chevy is vastly superior to the Pontiac, which was a dog. Now the bigger sizes (389-up) are a different story, but the 350 Pontiacs were slow. There was a 350 HO in ’69 that showed promise, but we never got it in Canada.
Many thanks to you and Stumack for information on post-1970 Canadian Pontiacs. I had seen old Catalinas in Canada on my visits to Montreal (the wife’s mishpocha) but did not know the Bonneville was ever sold there. And it was hard to tell by looking at those old cars whether the Catalina sat above or below the Laurentian, so thanks for enlightening me!
Was there a 1977-on Parisienne Brougham to mirror the US Bonneville Brougham?
I still find junkyard parts for my daily drivers! Last week I found a mint, alloy wheel for my ’97 Jag at a Pick and Pull yard. It was resting in the spare tire well buried under a pile of parts.
Yes, me too with a replacement alloy rim to replace one that was bent by a pothole on my Honda Fit.
I recently came across a GM marketing pamphlet from about 1920, when the Oshawa plant was relatively new. It noted that in addition to Canadian-market production, one of the benefits of Canadian production was to provide for exports to Great Britain and to British possessions worldwide — Canadian products faced much lower tariffs in British markets than did American products.
I’d never heard that before (though of course it makes perfect sense), and I wonder just how much product was exported to the British empire from Oshawa? Or how long it took for Oshawa production to focus mostly on domestic sales?
I’m awfully sad to hear about the Oshawa plant’s demise, and had no idea the plant had a pre-GM history until now.
This remained true well into the 1970s, maybe longer. It was less expensive to export from a commonwealth country to not only the UK but also Australia and several other countries. Also, often only Canada produced right hand drive models.
That may well be one of GM’s best rear ends ever. I remember from when they were new, it looked great both day and night.
As seen a few years ago.
Canadian Chevrolets and Pontiacs were the cars imported into New Zealand in CKD or SKD form for many years, confusingly for Kiwis used US models also showed up in moderate numbers in the 60s but had to be RHD converted local new versions were built RHD by the helpful Canadians, plenty survive.
Put me down as someone who never understood the purpose of a 1″ wheelbase difference. Is there really that noticeable of an improvement in ride quality or rear passenger space by increasing the wheelbase on one of these boats by less than 1%? 4″ or more definitely would make a difference, but 1″ seems like it was borne more out of the “necessity” that higher marques on the ladder have an increased wheelbase than anything else, and it seemingly only serves to make parts sharing that much harder.
The reason is simple: the Canadian Pontiacs used the Chevy X Frame, and its floor pans and such. It was really a Pontiac body skin over a Chevy 119″ frame, chassis and inner body.
The US Pontiacs had a perimeter frame, and thus a totally different underbody, floor pans, chassis and sill construction, as well as the real Pontiac suspension (wider track, etc). Quite different under there.
So the 1″ difference is all due to that, and undoubtedly they didn’t have to change anything in the upper body to make that work. Meaning the Canadian Pontiac wheels are undoubtedly not as perfectly centered in their wheel openings as the US versions. But it’s not enough to notice.
These are Chevys in disguise, made in the same factory as the corresponding Chevys, and using as many of the same Chevy parts as possible. This was of course before the 1968 US-Canada Auto pact, which eliminated the tariffs and allowed cross border imports and exports, so the need for this quickly evaporated after 1968.
I think what Drzhivago138 is referring to is the 1″ wheelbase stretch the US Pontiacs got from 119″ in 1961 to 120″ in 1962. That was undoubtedly due to “marque hierarchy”.
Aha. I misunderstood his question.
Given that the frame dimensions of the ’61 and ’62 are all the same, I’m assuming that it’s an exaggeration for marketing reasons or they managed to make a very minor adjustment (probably at the rear suspension mounting) to justify it.
Since the ’62 wagons still are listed at 119″, I think it’s safe to say my second guess is the more likely one.
But to answer his last question, my previous comment explains that there were no frame/chassis/underfloor parts shared between Chevy and Pontiac. The same goes for pretty much all the GM divisions back then. Ironically, they shared the same basic body shells, but underneath they all had their own frames and other chassis design and parts, for the most part. That’s the legacy of the way it was done in the 1920s. Back then, it was the chassis/drive train that distinguished cars, as bodies were often made by various coach builders. Quite the opposite of today.
That makes sense, thanks. I know that some IH pickups have had different wheelbases even within the same model run, and usually it came down to suspension differences affecting the placement of the rear axle.
I think Raymond Loewy himself designed that Canada Dry logo. Me, I prefer Vernor’s from Detroit , it’s neither pale nor dry.
Yep, Loewy did lots of major logos (link).
I like Vernor’s too, been ages since I had one.
My mom (who grew up in Windsor, Ontario) always kept Vernor’s around. I’ve never seen it here in Toronto, but you can find it if you’re within an hour or so of the Detroit area.
Nice article. No, really, I mean it. I learned something.
After the War, GM Canada models were exported in CKD form to South Africa, including Acadians and Beaumonts. My favourites were the 1967 and 1968 Grand Parisiennes, which, for you US readers, were the regular Pontiac hardtop sedans with the Grand Prix “hidden headlights” front styling! From around 1965, SA GM fullsizers were equipped only with the low-compression 327 4-bbl with Powerglide. 1969 was the last year for the North American GM products as GM followed Ford’s practice of sourcing larger cars from Australia, leaving Chrysler to offer the sole fullsize yank tank until 1974.