1966 Pontiac Executive Star Chief in QLD

1966 Pontiac Star Chief
This is s sad day. a day of posting this advert to sell the old favourite from the shed. I have bought many cars over the years from USA sight unseen and based purely on a sixth sense gut feeling and experience attained in this and when vehicles arrive in Australia a few months later they can disappoint to the extent that you have to admit that got that one wrong or they arrive with an expected assumption of how you imagined but every now and then one arrives and you are blown away by exceeding expectations and this vehicle is one such case.
What initially appealled was the rarity of the "Executive Star Chief" model. Everyone knows and loves a GTO convertible and a GTO this is not. Everyone also knows Pontiac's Catalina and Bonneville models are familiar to collectors but the Executive Star Chief slotted in between the 2 models from 1966 and 1970. It is built upon the same 125 inch wheelbase as the Bonneville and contained different bells and whistles to the Bonneville but only approx one tenth of the numbers each year were ever produced making it very rare. The Catalina was a smaller base model car. In Australian Holden comparitive terms it is arguably nor a Kingswood or a Premier or Statesman but the Broughman model equivalent.
What else that appealed was the very original codition and unmolested appearance and on arrival in Brisbane in 2008 it appeared that the vehicle had been in storage for some time but kept under cover was in exceptional condition.
So seeing up close we were firstly surprised by the condition of the original paint and straight body. faultless chrome and clean glass. Windows are electric up and down and work faultlessly. The dashboard of this model is very beautiful in appearance as is the original pearl steering wheel. The above dash plastic has some cracks from sun exposure at some stage but rather than try and fix we have left as displaying as some "beautiful warts". Inside the door cards and seat (electric front seats by the way) upholstery is in great original condition and the carpet is slightly faded but evidencing the carpet to be original. That is what is good about this interior. it is original and the warts are good warts. Underneath is solid with no cancerous rust and surfaces were treated with Innox to avoid any deteriotation. One of the pictures shows Innox treatment to minor surface rust of boot floorpan due to sweating under carpet but shows as an example of good thick metal all the same as is everywhere else. What else that was a surprise was such a sweet and freerunning motor that purrs and revs smoothly with no carby flat spot through acceleration and a smooth automatic transmission that moves freely up and down gears with any jerking. Under the bonnet is super original with no one trying to modify or spruce it up at any stage. it is as original as it was at manufacture and showing some nice ageing and maintaning its functionality. Speaking of functionality the car doesnt ever run hot even in traffic and the original radiator does a great job of never boiling over.
So we set up making this a daliy driver again with a tune up. new hoses and belts and re-gas the airconditioning again and fit a new dual exhaust and placed the existing chrome tips back on the new exhaust. We had the disc brakes machined and new pads fitted and new shock absorbers fitted. We pulled out the original old radio out from the dash and had an old valve radio expert fix it and fit a new speaker and now it plays AM radio again in beautiful ambient mono analogue sound after a 10 second valve warm up lag. Back in 2008 compliance rules said that retractable seat belts and child restraints had to be fitted so this vehicle has new belts and restraints and registered for 5 passengers even though it fits 8 people. ha ha.
So this was now a daily driver cruiser and we had it registered in Queensland for a number of years - old plates 977SZO are still in the boot and we did some weddings with it and just enjoyed cruzin. We found little issues along the way like having to replace new seals in the fuel tank and totally replace new master cylinder and a few other minor things as we used as daily driver. Then it went back in the shed for a few years as work busy again and recently we put 4 x brand new white wall tyres on it and replaced the battery and we are back to cruzin it her again whilst we have it up for sale. Whoever grabs this will get a very original and unmolested rare cruiser and enjoy the maintanece money we have spent on her.
So come by to Albion Qld by appointment and have a drive and make a reasonable offer or send in an independent assessor or email john@edicustoms. com. au or phone 0417 733057 with any questions or ask for plenty more pictures than the 12 featured here or have a look at this youtube clip by copy and pasting this link into your web browser.  https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=3TegNQ5Mmzg

Also published at eBay.com.au

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