Hey guys. I’m not sure if this is the right section for this post this but. It’s a story about a Canadian Pontiac built on a Chevy Chassis, which is what they did back then. In that day if you didn’t like what was on the lot, you sat down with your sales rep, chatted a bit and checked some boxes. Apparently back then only two people had the foresight to check the appropriate boxes to install the legendary 409 in a ‘63 Parisienne Sport Coupe. One a beautifully restored example in Red with white interior and roof. These cars are basically Catalina’s on an Impala chassis. The motor came from Tonawanda in my car. I’m not sure on the other one. This one was the only one that the fellow sitting across from the salesman chose to go balls out and opt for the King Kong of Chevrolets. The 4 speed, dual quad, positraction, 409. Yeah, Canadians liked The Beach Boys too. Black with a red interior made for the best color combination ever to come out of the era. Power tinted glass and a power antenna top off the option list. He couldn’t have checked better boxes. A show car in its day, I remember it in an ISCA show in the early eighties. It was gorgeous. Her beauty has somewhat faded but all of her original parts are there short of a later sixties M20 transmission. The car was a big puzzle when I saved it from a grassy grave. My wife thought I was bringing home a hearse, something I might do but not this time. It was pretty dissembled when I found it but I was able to track down all of the missing pieces on three different properties thanks to the help from some friends. Show Cars have been my best friends in sourcing the miscellaneous parts needed to make it whole again. Eric Gardner of Gardner Exhaust in New York provided a work of art which is actually too beautiful to install under the rusty shell. My goal is to have it ready for Ryan’s Barn Finds in Chicago this November. I’ve rebuilt most of the mechanical but am leaving the body as found for now. The 409 still gets it’s bumps from the original Crane cam and factory pistons. I’m pretty excited to see it run. Which should happen soon with a little more effort on my part and another order from Show Cars. Fuel lines in particular. And advice on changing the brake and fuel lines would be appreciated.
‘63 Pontiac Parisienne 409
- Thread starter Rare1
- Start date
Nice car.
You will love the fit of the Gardner exhaust,good move going with the turbo 2 mufflers.
While it can be done,changing fuel lines and brake lines is much easier with the body off the frame.It is not going to be cheap but it will be worth it when you are finished.Did you check with PHS to get the build sheet(I don’t know how far back they can do).
Can you post a picture of the trim tag.
You will love the fit of the Gardner exhaust,good move going with the turbo 2 mufflers.
While it can be done,changing fuel lines and brake lines is much easier with the body off the frame.It is not going to be cheap but it will be worth it when you are finished.Did you check with PHS to get the build sheet(I don’t know how far back they can do).
Can you post a picture of the trim tag.
So are you saying your car is one of one, with the 425 horse 409…… if so extremely valuable…….!!!!
GM Vintage Vehicle Services in Canada authenticated it. It’s the original engine. Cool story behind it. The body shows almost 100,000 miles but when I tore the motor down it looked like new. All factory internals. Looking at the fenders where the 409 emblems are was a 327 imprint in the paint. Turns out very early in its life they pulled the 409 in favor of a small block. The fellow who had it last tracked down the original engine. As in numbers matching in a ‘65 impala so he bought the car for the engine. And I do believe it to be one of one per George Zapora at GMVVS 
Carl 1962
Well Known Member
Love the story, and unicorns are hard to verify so I'm glad that GMVVS had records to confirm the CSL-14G. These codes are not in any of my records, but the other ACC codes are regular RPO codes used on Chevy's and confirm the power windows, bucket seats and center console.
