Because we live in America, we tend to concern ourselves only with the Pontiacs produced and sold in our country. However, most of us know that our beloved Division also sold a great number of its ‘60s and ‘70s American-built performance cars to Canadian consumers. And we can’t overlook GM’s Oshawa, Ontario plant that produced many late ‘60s and early 70s Pontiacs (as well as other GM brands) for Canadian and American consumers alike.
This photograph of a wrecked ’62 Pontiac has been in my collection for quite some time. Take a closer look. That’s not a Catalina. It’s a Laurentian!
One aspect of Pontiac history I admittedly had no real knowledge of was the unique Canadian-built Pontiacs with Chevrolet engines. Yes, I knew these vehicles existed and have even looked at a great many of them at the various Pontiacs events I’ve attended over the years. My naivety toward them wasn’t scornfulness, however. I guess maybe I considered them sort of an anomaly and figured I would learn more about when I had the time.
In looking through my photo collection for future PontiacV8.com blog material, I came across two images that I finally awarded a long-overdue look. And when I did, it was only then that I realized the ’61 and ’62 Pontiacs depicted in the photos were not the Catalinas I first assumed, but were, in fact, Laurentians—the Canadian equivalent. Then it started…
When I originally found this 35 mm slide I guessed that it was a typical ’61 Pontiac four-door. It wasn’t until I used a magnifying glass did I find “Laurentian” in the door trim.
I began wondering what, besides the Chevy V8 differentiated the Laurentian from the Catalina? And to that point, why did Pontiac need to install Chevrolet engines into their model lineup at a time when GM was among the world’s largest corporations? Thanks to certain online references and General Motors’ Heritage Center, my understanding is much clearer!
The automobile industry was in its infancy during the early 1900s. American industry pioneers saw Canada as a viable marketplace for the new horseless carriage. As early as 1903, American-built automobiles such as Oldsmobile and Pierce were being exported to Canada.
This advertisement for Wilson & Company in the February 25, 1904 edition of The Ottawa Journal indicates that only a handful of manufacturers were selling automobiles in Canada at that time.
The Canadian National Policy of 1879 was intended to stimulate economic growth in that county by spurring domestic manufacturing. It placed high tariffs (as much as 35 percent!) on imported technology and that meant hefty surcharges on automobiles finish-assembled in American.
Based on the Policy’s terms, Ford Motor Company (of America) established Ford Motor Company of Canada in 1904. Immediate volume wasn’t great enough to justify Ford building a foundry and/or setting up machining operation in Canada, so it exported US-produced components and finish-assembled vehicles in Canada using Canadian labor. Ford built 117 such vehicles that first year.
As evident in the March 18, 1904 edition of The Winnepeg Tribune, Ford Motor Car Company of Canada began automobile manufacturing operations and McCulloch & Boswell was selling them.
Successful Canadian carriage builder, Robert McLaughlin also recognized the automobile’s significance on society. In 1908, he and son, Sam, established the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in Oshawa, Ontario, which designed and built its own vehicles priced to compete with Ford’s. Similar to Ford’s production model, McLaughlin designed and assembled his vehicles in Canada, but found it more cost effective to import certain US-produced components than produce his own domestically. That included sourcing engines from Buick, which eventually led to the McLaughlin-Buick automobile in the years that followed.
American William Durant formed General Motors in Detroit in September 1908. Immediate acquisitions included Oldsmobile and Buick. Oakland and Cadillac followed in 1909. Durant, along with Swiss racer, Louis Chevrolet co-established the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in November 1911. The McLaughlin family worked with Durant to establish the Chevrolet Motor Company of Canada in 1915 to expand Chevrolet availability north of the shared border.
Durant’s General Motors acquired sole ownership of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company (of America) in May 1918. By that September GM had purchased McLaughlin Motor Car Company, which included Chevrolet of Canada. In November 1918, General Motors of Canada was established.
During the 1920s, many of GM’s now-famous brands could be found driving about the Canadian countryside, and that included Pontiac. As we learned in this article on General Motors Heritage Center’s website, while some American-built Pontiacs were exported into Canada, the tariffs greatly impacted vehicle pricing for Canadian consumers. GM of Canada found it easier to simply build Pontiacs (as well as other brands) north of the border and invested in the tooling for produce Pontiac’s inline 6- and 8-cylinder engines there.
The Pontiac was introduced in 1926 to complement the Oakland and bridge the price gap between it and Chevrolet. This advertisement in the September 4, 1926 edition of the Winnepeg Tribune reveals that GM of Canada began producing the its own Pontiac within months of its American introduction.
As years progressed and body styles rapidly changed, production efficiency and maintaining price competitiveness were paramount. GM of Canada produced a basic body shell that Chevrolet and Pontiac shared. It was then equipped with Pontiac-specific forward body panels and Pontiac’s inline 6- and 8-cylinder engines to create a truly unique Canadian-built Pontiac at an affordable price. And they sold quite well!
Canadian-built Pontiacs were given unique series designation numbers and/or names to segregate them from their US-built counterparts. The Laurentian became Pontiac’s top Canadian offering in ’53 and it included the Division's inline engine. Pontiac and Chevrolet introduced their own uniquely-developed V8s for 1955, but the cost of setting up separate tooling for both engines in Canada prevented GM from making that investment twice. GM decided to equip the ’55 Pontiac Laurentian with Chevrolet’s new V8.
Enerson Motors Limited advertised that the Laurentian was Pontiac’s newest Canadian-built entry for the 1953 model year in the January 6, 1953 edition of The Lethbridge Herald.
Commonization generally occurred with other components, too, such as frame and suspension by Chevrolet and wiring harnesses by Pontiac. And since Pontiac no longer produced or offered a 6-cylinder in America when its V8 was introduced in 1955, but Chevrolet did (albeit with slightly greater displacement in Canada) the shared frame allowed GM of Canada to offer 6-cylinder-powered Pontiacs that were otherwise unavailable in the states.
Pontiacs and Chevrolets produced by GM of Canada shared many components. Equipping the Pontiac with a Chevrolet frame required Chevrolet's V8 under hood, but it also allowed GM of Canada to offer a Pontiac with a 6-cylinder, as advertised in the May 10, 1955 edition of The Lethbridge Herald.
In America, Pontiac was one wrung higher on the corporate ladder than Chevrolet, and consumers accepted Pontiac’s higher price point and expected that quality and standard appointments reflected it. That perception bled over into the Canada consumer landscape, but GM of Canada’s component commonization minimized the cost variances between Canadian-built Pontiacs and Chevrolets. It meant that an entry-level Canadian-built Pontiac included as many standard appointments as its American-built cousin, but by commonizing driveline and suspension components, the Pontiac was much closer priced to its Canadian-built Chevrolet than in the states. No wonder the up-level Pontiac was so well received up north!
Grismer Motors Limited advertised Pontiacs new 1955 models as well as V8 power in the December 31, 1954 edition of the Surrey Leader. What it didn’t say, however, was that the V8 powering the Pontiac was Chevrolet’s!
When Bunkie Knudsen became Pontiac’s General Manager in July 1956, he transformed Pontiac in every fashion. Speed-inspired names like Catalina, Star Chief, and Bonneville accompanied Pontiac’s new model designations. GM of Canada used names like Laurentian, Strato Chief, and Parisienne to segregate the Chevrolet-powered, Canadian-built Pontiacs from them. Others such as the Beaumont followed as new model lines were introduced.
This advertisement in the December 14, 1962 edition of The Gazette provides a look at the wide array of ’63 Pontiacs that Canadian buyers could choose from. Notice the Tempest and Grand Prix?
During the 1960s, Canadian customers purchased many of GM’s hottest US-built performance cars. A select group of Canadian GM dealers were approved to place orders for domestically-produced Pontiacs for its home-base customers seeking to purchase specific (Pontiac V8-powered) models like the Tempest, Grand Prix, or GTO, which had no Canadian Pontiac peers. In addition to the sticker price (or whatever selling price the buyer negotiated), buyers had to pay the import tariff, which could add $1,000 or more to the price of the vehicle.
Unique Canadian-built Pontiacs continued through 1970. I photographed this Canadian-built ‘70 Pontiac in 2014 at the POCI’s National Convention held in Wichita, Kansas.
The Canadian/United States Automotive Products Agreement of 1965 forever changed the Canadian automobile manufacturer landscape. The pact agreed to abolish the tariffs imposed sending complete automobiles and auto parts across the shared border. It took a few years to execute, but American-built vehicles were much more affordable to purchase in Canada. By the late 60s, Pontiac’s hottest cars, GTOs and Judges, and Firebirds and Trans Ams, weren’t uncommon on Canadian streets. It also allowed GM of Canada’s Oshawa, Ontario plant to produce vehicles for distribution in both countries using division-specific components.
It’s not often that we find the numbers-matching 454-ci big-block Chevrolet V8 stuffed under the hood of a full-size ’70 Pontiac!
As years progressed, Pontiac (as well as GM) sold more and more of its vehicles in Canada. And some models, such as the last-generation Firebird was produced solely at the GMAD plant in the Montreal suburb of St. Therese, Quebec. That plant closed in August 2002 when F-car production ended. Despite rough times, GM of Canada has forged onward and remains 3-plants strong as it celebrates its 100th Anniversary!
Image courtesy of General Motors.
Because I looked at an old photograph in my collection, it forced me to have a much better understanding about GM of Canada, and how it specifically relates to the unique of the Pontiacs manufactured there. I also found how passionate owners of these vehicles are. The small-but-strong following can be found in force on the Canadian Poncho forum.
Do you have any stories about Canadian-built Pontiacs to share?