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ORIGINAL: Katzmans Caddy

Do you know these makes? Do you know what makes them different from cars sold in the USA? Did you know a Canadian Pontiac is 6 inches shorter than a US Pontiac? Did you know Canadian Pontiacs came with Chevrolet engines branded as Pontiac? What about the Acadian and Beaumonts that are crosses between Tempests and Chevelles and Pontiac'd Novas? There is a forum dedicated to these special models that were only avaialbe in the Great White North and the muscle car versions of these are interesting and rare. Have a look:
www.canadianponcho.ca

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ORIGINAL: Katzmans Caddy

Back in 60's GM Canada sent Pontiacs to Australia and Beaumonts were sold in Chile. In Canada, Pontiacs were based on Chevrolet chassis and drive lines primarily because of tariffs and socio economics at the time. Importing Pontiacs made them too expensive for the intended market so GM Canada decided to build their own. This is how these distinct models came about. Around 1970 the tarrif situation eased and that was the first year that Bonnevilles, Catalinas, Grand Prix, Tempest/LeMans/GTO were readily available in Canada. Canadian Pontiac dealers sold, Strato Chief, Laurentian, Parisienne, 2+2, Grande Parisienne in the full sized line, Beaumonts in the mid size line instead of Tempest/GTO line and Acadian based on the Nova.

As far as other counties go South America has a ton of US makes that were never sold in North America. I was in Brazil and Bolivia last year and enjoyed seeing these, plenty of US cars from the 50 and 60's too.