As a long time Pontiac collector I've been on PY online forums which is the main Pontiac discussion forum. Last month someone posted a link with vintage photos from this forum. I got hooked going through the vintage street scenes thread and for fun started looking on eBay to see what wagons were going for these days. Long story short I stumble across a 69 Catalina wagon (marketed as a Ventura) with 29,000 miles and original paint. Incredibly clean original car. Next thing I know I've bought it. It's a one owner car, he actually won it in a cereal box type contest. The original prize was a Firebird but they allowed substitutions up to $5,000 so he took this wagon. Optioned a bit oddly; Ventura package (basically a fancier interior trim package that included Ventura nameplates replacing Catalina inside and out), Automatic, PDB, PS, AC, tinted glass all around, AM radio, roof rack, wind deflector, power tailgate window, whitewall tires, lamp group (underhood reel out light, cornering lights, extra warning lamps on dash) and mandatory headrests. What is odd is that the decor group was not ordered so it has dog dish hubcaps and no bright-trim around the side windows or drip moldings. Probably an error. Engine is the standard equipment 400 high compression 2bbl (290 horse) and the rear is a 2.56 or 2.73 as per the factory powertrain chart. So I now have a wagon! My other cars are all a cross section of the 69 Pontiac line so it fits right in.
Welcome to the forum, North. Nice story on the Pontiac. Yes, should have been ordered with the exterior decor group! Probably would have cost the buyer maybe $40......... My second car ever was a '64 Catalina 2-door hardtop with the Ventura option. Still said 'Catalina' in script on the fenders, but with a little 'Ventura' plate underneath. Marshall
I suspect the lack of decor group was just a mistake. Even though it was a lower end wagon (executive and Bonneville were two step up wagons) it still cost $5,000 delivered (I have the original window sticker etc). My parents never had wagons so I have no personal connection to them. What I'd really like to find is a 69 LeMans Safari which was the woodgrain version of the midsize wagon, the coke bottle shape of a LeMans looks great in woodgrain. Been looking for 10 years and only found one and it was too rough.
Welcome to the forum. Nice introduction and great find on your station wagon. Just shows that vintage street scenes is more than a place to pass time revisiting the past.
vintage street scenes is ruining my life! My wife is going to leave me because I spend hours a day working my way through the pages (up to page 450 now). It's mesmerizing, like a trip back to my youth!
Don't worry about it. There are plenty of good women left. But how often can you find a place to relive the good ole days and still not leave home? Coincidentally we are moving this spring back to the midwest to Memory Lane. Now I can really walk down memory lane. Too short to drive. I might even let my wife move with me.
Got her home Wednesday night. I live in Montreal Canada so I had it shipped to the border in upstate New York enclosed transport and then went and picked it up myself to get it over the border and home in a closed trailer. It was 7 below F and the car fired right up (ironically the other late model cars on the trailer all failed to start). Car is a real timepiece, nice to buy a car sight unseen and be pleasantly surprised! Apart from tires, battery and a tailpipe the car is absolutely original untouched. 29,000 miles on the odo but looks like 2,900. Factory paint looks like a 6 month old car and the engine bay and interior are unbelievably clean (and not because of polishing or detailing, just pure virgin car). Too nice! My friend saw it today and told me something sobering... "you are not the owner, you are the caretaker" So much for my "upgrade" plans for the car. Factory engine paint, same on the wheels. But the money shot is the inside of the ashtray, the plating is so bright I had to turn off my flash.
