I absolutely love the wagons of this era. Well, wagons of any era, to be honest. So many great childhood memories of family vacations are tied to the ones we had. It was unheard of (at least in our solidly middle-class suburb) to see a heavily optioned wagon anywhere but a brochure. Dad had a Bulova wristwatch that let us know how late we were. (Because Mother's hair-do always needed another coat of AquaNet before we left home. Totally worth the wait. She was gorgeous.) Manually rolling down the windows toughened us up and developed our scrawny biceps. Air conditioning? We were lucky to have heat! In Wisconsin! A definite step up from the Conestoga wagons of the pioneers, though, for sure. Yep. Good times!
Great story thank you so much for sharing =) this wagon was super clean only 6,000 miles.. not sure when it will be for axle or if they are even selling it, it was in the back room =)
My late fathers very first brand new car. I remember as a kid laying down the back seats, loading it up with our blankets and pillows and going to the drive-in theatre. My brothers and I always fell asleep soon after the second movie started. We would strain to stay awake because they always played a cartoon between features. Mom, dad and one brother are with the Lord now. Makes me sad to not just remember those days but the loved ones who are no longer here now.
Our family went through three cars with clocks when I was a kid...the 49 and 56 Chevy clocks stopped working after about 2 years according to the folks. The 69 Pontiac clock was always reliable. When I was little, others in our circle of friends had stuck car clocks in older vehicles & "The Dad" always said that electric car clocks always seized up unless you had a Lincoln, Cadillac or Mercedes. Apparently, Detroit fixed that somewhere along the way.
Three memories of these cars. 1) I so remember kids sitting in the rear seat that faced backwards, making funny faces at the cars behind on the freeway. My wife made the same comment! 2) The "wonder bar" radio was very cool. It would automatically seek stations, incredible technology for the time. 3) These were excellent driving cars, possibly the best of the era.. Thanks for another enjoyable video!
I never saw that before (I didn’t include running temp or oil pressure because you’d never really know I was going to add when engine is running hot the light will come on. If oil pressure isn’t where it should be light will come on but you will have no clue if oil pressure is to high or low and what temp does the light come on?
@@What.its.like. The green "COLD" light was featured on various GM cars of that era. Our 1963 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 had one. It stayed on until the engine reached close to normal operating temperature. On the Hydra-Matic selector---on Pontiacs the DRIVE left position caused the transmission to make all shifts culminating in fourth gear. DRIVE right held the transmission in third gear until a speed of approximately 75 mph was reached.
As a kid growing up in the 60s, on a long cross country trip, I spent many hours lying on a sleeping bag with my brother and sister… the rear seat was folded flat and there was no regards for safety in those days. Mom would pin makeshift drapes made of leftover sewing fabric to provide shade. Good thing that the upholstery was of vinyl, for gallons of Orange Crush and ice cream were consumed and spilled, on that long trip. My dad’s favorite company car was a Catalina, painted in a gold metallic with a butterscotch brown interior.
What a great memory thank you so much for sharing, just simpler times I was a child in the 90s grew up in 00s the 90s was simple compared to now thank you for sharing =)
If the neighbor kids had to be transported somewhere in the 60's, a six passenger wagon became a 12 passenger if us kids were small enough, just laying down in the rear compartment, not belted in of course. We also took lots of rides in the boxes of Apaches, F100's & D-100's, B-100's and even a couple of Champs.
@@billolsen4360 I remember those days. Just shortly after I had learned to drive, I was put in charge of transporting 11 grade school kids on a field trip with my Mom as chaperone - and nervously drove the overloaded vehicle, a 1971 Ford LTD station wagon. The overloaded car wallowed back and forth on the highway but somehow we survived.
Those were good cars and a lot of car for the money. Don’t care for the mushy automatic transmissions those had but otherwise great cars. This is a rare survivor that was presented very well!
For your interest, GM produced Pontiacs in Canada, and exported them from there to other parts of the world. BUT, they cheaped out. These Pontiacs were on a Chev platform, with Pontiac panels and trim bolted on. Engines were the small block Chev.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing =) I saw the Canadian ones didn’t use wide track wasn’t as wide as the USA models but didn’t know that they were on Chevy platform and super cheaped out on quality
@@What.its.like. And they looked weird. The wheels were too far inboard and the back wheels were too far forward in the well. Strange cars those Candian Pontiacs. Ford made weird Canadian cars too in the 50s
You are correct about the plastic timing gears. Actually they are typically ok until about the 70,000 mile range. These weren’t the only cars that used these. A person would have been wise to simply have a timing set installed around the 50,000 mark. Age takes a toll too. If I bought that wagon I would probably just change it so I wouldn’t have to think about it. The replacement gears were metal. They used plastic to reduce noise. 289 Ford engines ate timing gears too.
I think it’s absolutely crazy that they put a piece that’s so vital two engine integrity in an engine that produces that much power.. but then again Chevy nowadays is using harden plastic in there Colorado engine if I’m not mistaken
Great looking wagon! I really loved the 60's era Pontiac's. I'm dying laughing about the "no clock". Dad had to draw the line somewhere after he opted for the Strato Flight "tranny" Similar argument my dad & Uncle had. We had a '73 Ford LTD Country Squire w/ wiper delay "standard" Uncle Fred had '74 Thunderbird delay wiper "optional!!" he about lost his MIND! to be honest also in the 1960's most people wore wrist watches. Timex or If you were "fancy" Seiko's. Plus there were clocks everywhere. Great video!
When I was a kid going to Catholic elementary school in the sixties, the nuns had a Catalina Safari 9 passenger wagon. It was white just like this one!!! That 69 Continental Mark lll in the background really caught my eye, it looks great!!! Any chance you can review it?? Thanks for sharing this fun video!!! 👍👍🙂
Yeah I definitely want to get to a mark iii soon that car sold before I could video it. That was a great story those nuns riding in style. That wagon only has 6,000 miles on it
I'm not Catholic but grew up in a small town & new the local priest from carrying out his grocery bags at the Safeway. He got a new car every couple years, always white. I asked him if they sent him car vouchers from Rome or something like that, lol. He said no, the parish always wanted him to have a newer car since he did so much driving to visit rural parishioners and didn't want him to break down. He also joked that if he ever got promoted to Cardinal he was going to get a red one.
@@billolsen4360 the principal of my Catholic high school got a new LTD Brougham every other year while one of the regular priests drove a 66 Rambler American, go figure!!
My first boss in 1962 had one of those Poncho wagons, fully loaded. It was in for a tune-up and the mechanic called to ask him if he wanted the last spark plug done. Without it the tune-up cost $50. If he had to take half the engine compartment apart to get to it it would cost $250. So those beasts went to Pick-A-Part with one original spark plug all gummed up in the back corner, after guzzling gas for 100 thou or so. I remember stopping next to them at a light, listening to them chugging on 7 cylinders, and knew why. Detroit. Planned obsolescence.
Great channel and love all the details. Just subscribed. Rochester is the correct spelling for the carb and the engine was a 389, not 383. (described in your presentation, not in shown print)
Thank you so much for those corrections there is one other thing that wasn’t right it was the rear end I said the right rear end but the type was wrong it was late last night I wanted to get this video done because we were supposed to go to the lake today.. but didn’t end up going Thank you so much for pointing out those corrections welcome to the channel =)
The ""Cold" light was a fixture on some GM cars until 1966. 1967 they were gone. My 1967 Buick Sportwagon has no cold light. Chevy V-8's used nylon teeth on their camshafts as well. I think the logic was at the time, it was quieter than steel teeth. I bought a 74 Camaro from a girl who told me it did not run, and stopped while at a light. I saw a slit in the bottom of the timing cover - Guess why..... lol
Nice article, except that it neglects to mention a very important caveat: you could actually get any Pontiac engine up to the 421 or the 389 with trips; you could get a 4-speed floor trans (I once drove one) because Pontiac wanted to be covered for any drag racing class and a lot of other things, including one of my GM favorites: you could get the car in any GM color for $22 extra. You could also option up to the trailer package, with its trans cooler, bigger rad core, HD generator and other pieces OR get the fantastic 8-lug combination wheel/brake setup. But please change the "Rodchester" carburetor reference. Please.
Sorry for the misspelling of Rochester I didn’t see the 421 in the options list I saw the 425E I didn’t include it with the 389 engine choices because I wasn’t sure if that was an engine that was available 389 was the only PA listed for the Catalina wagon, not sure if that engines were available on the Bonneville wagon. Thank you so much for sharing that information =)
Wow! Interesting about the nylon gear. I know they were using them to make the engine more quiet. I never thought of what would happen if one wore out.
Yeah that’s why I added it in here.. =) I want this channel to be the go to classic car channel for someone that knows nothing about the car, to know somethings about the car especially younger people who are just getting into this hobby.
A nice car built back in the days when American families were big enough to need more room. Also a nice solid American 🇺🇸 car made by the UAW before they were despised. Any chance you are going to do an episode on that Bricklin in the background?
Yeah this was the back room at motor car portfolio wagon was the last car that I shot for the day.. yeah I wanna go back and do the Bricklin the last time I went back to motorcar portfolio the Bricklin was in service, hoping to cover this car soon =)
I kind of liked this era of cars that I call the Kennedy Cruisers. Kind of flattened out compared to the finned fifties overkill. More functional and modern for the space age.
It's ROCHESTER not RODCHESTER No clock? Option Delete (yes delete was an option) 60 Buick, which you reviewed has a "cold light" Nice car, good review. Timing gears: Replacement parts (steel gear) 483047 cam sprocket, 532993 timing chain, 9772517 timing cover gasket,9794125 oil pan gasket. If memory serves me right - still used through 1972. Did a number of them. Many independent shops repalced the gear and didn't remove the oil pan, which could clog the oil pump.
I don’t know that stumped me the rear window was already down when I got there. It was late and I didn’t ask if it was powered I didn’t check the rear and it didn’t have the folding window crank like I’ve seen in other wagons.. What is your favorite wagon?
@@What.its.like. I enjoy Young People discovering the cars that were just a every day part of my world. I was lucky to have a Dad who was a car nut. I'm one too!
Nice, rare car. Looks good too.
It has 6,000 miles on it that’s it
My first car ride ever (as a newborn) was in my family’s 1960 Pontiac Star Chief 4dr Vista hardtop, blue with a white roof.
I absolutely love the wagons of this era. Well, wagons of any era, to be honest. So many great childhood memories of family vacations are tied to the ones we had. It was unheard of (at least in our solidly middle-class suburb) to see a heavily optioned wagon anywhere but a brochure. Dad had a Bulova wristwatch that let us know how late we were. (Because Mother's hair-do always needed another coat of AquaNet before we left home. Totally worth the wait. She was gorgeous.) Manually rolling down the windows toughened us up and developed our scrawny biceps. Air conditioning? We were lucky to have heat! In Wisconsin! A definite step up from the Conestoga wagons of the pioneers, though, for sure. Yep. Good times!
Great story thank you so much for sharing =) this wagon was super clean only 6,000 miles.. not sure when it will be for axle or if they are even selling it, it was in the back room =)
7:51 The kiddies in the back seat get two ashtrays for those long family cross-country vacation excursions!
My late fathers very first brand new car. I remember as a kid laying down the back seats, loading it up with our blankets and pillows and going to the drive-in theatre. My brothers and I always fell asleep soon after the second movie started. We would strain to stay awake because they always played a cartoon between features. Mom, dad and one brother are with the Lord now. Makes me sad to not just remember those days but the loved ones who are no longer here now.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that memory with us =)
What a great car! Love the interior, even if the guy was too cheap to opt for the clock 😄
That wagon only has 6,000 miles on it =)
Our family went through three cars with clocks when I was a kid...the 49 and 56 Chevy clocks stopped working after about 2 years according to the folks. The 69 Pontiac clock was always reliable. When I was little, others in our circle of friends had stuck car clocks in older vehicles & "The Dad" always said that electric car clocks always seized up unless you had a Lincoln, Cadillac or Mercedes. Apparently, Detroit fixed that somewhere along the way.
Three memories of these cars. 1) I so remember kids sitting in the rear seat that faced backwards, making funny faces at the cars behind on the freeway. My wife made the same comment! 2) The "wonder bar" radio was very cool. It would automatically seek stations, incredible technology for the time. 3) These were excellent driving cars, possibly the best of the era.. Thanks for another enjoyable video!
Buick had Wonderbar radio. For several years Buick had the antennas on the roof just above the windshield.
Thank you so much for sharing those stories =)
Impressive. Rare beast
My Dad had a '63 Impala 283 v8 with a "Cold" light - warned you to take it easy until the light went out
I never saw that before (I didn’t include running temp or oil pressure because you’d never really know I was going to add when engine is running hot the light will come on. If oil pressure isn’t where it should be light will come on but you will have no clue if oil pressure is to high or low and what temp does the light come on?
@@What.its.like. The green "COLD" light was featured on various GM cars of that era. Our 1963 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 had one. It stayed on until the engine reached close to normal operating temperature. On the Hydra-Matic selector---on Pontiacs the DRIVE left position caused the transmission to make all shifts culminating in fourth gear. DRIVE right held the transmission in third gear until a speed of approximately 75 mph was reached.
Thank you so much for that information =) I never knew
As a kid growing up in the 60s, on a long cross country trip, I spent many hours lying on a sleeping bag with my brother and sister… the rear seat was folded flat and there was no regards for safety in those days. Mom would pin makeshift drapes made of leftover sewing fabric to provide shade. Good thing that the upholstery was of vinyl, for gallons of Orange Crush and ice cream were consumed and spilled, on that long trip. My dad’s favorite company car was a Catalina, painted in a gold metallic with a butterscotch brown interior.
What a great memory thank you so much for sharing, just simpler times I was a child in the 90s grew up in 00s the 90s was simple compared to now thank you for sharing =)
If the neighbor kids had to be transported somewhere in the 60's, a six passenger wagon became a 12 passenger if us kids were small enough, just laying down in the rear compartment, not belted in of course. We also took lots of rides in the boxes of Apaches, F100's & D-100's, B-100's and even a couple of Champs.
@@billolsen4360 I remember those days. Just shortly after I had learned to drive, I was put in charge of transporting 11 grade school kids on a field trip with my Mom as chaperone - and nervously drove the overloaded vehicle, a 1971 Ford LTD station wagon. The overloaded car wallowed back and forth on the highway but somehow we survived.
Those were good cars and a lot of car for the money. Don’t care for the mushy automatic transmissions those had but otherwise great cars. This is a rare survivor that was presented very well!
For your interest, GM produced Pontiacs in Canada, and exported them from there to other parts of the world. BUT, they cheaped out. These Pontiacs were on a Chev platform, with Pontiac panels and trim bolted on. Engines were the small block Chev.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing =) I saw the Canadian ones didn’t use wide track wasn’t as wide as the USA models but didn’t know that they were on Chevy platform and super cheaped out on quality
@@What.its.like. And they looked weird. The wheels were too far inboard and the back wheels were too far forward in the well. Strange cars those Candian Pontiacs. Ford made weird Canadian cars too in the 50s
@@390rambler They'd left out the Wide Track chassis.
@@billolsen4360 It was a Pontiac body bolted to a Chevy frame.
Beautiful car. Since you are on a roll; can you do the white Lincoln mark III sitting next to it?
That Lincoln is gone now I’ll have to find another one
love the dashboard, so much cooler than ones on new cars
Everything now sucks by comparison =)
Great line about the Clock !
=)
That’s a big wagon ,& nice
=)
You are correct about the plastic timing gears. Actually they are typically ok until about the 70,000 mile range. These weren’t the only cars that used these. A person would have been wise to simply have a timing set installed around the 50,000 mark. Age takes a toll too. If I bought that wagon I would probably just change it so I wouldn’t have to think about it. The replacement gears were metal. They used plastic to reduce noise. 289 Ford engines ate timing gears too.
I think it’s absolutely crazy that they put a piece that’s so vital two engine integrity in an engine that produces that much power.. but then again Chevy nowadays is using harden plastic in there Colorado engine if I’m not mistaken
Great looking wagon! I really loved the 60's era Pontiac's. I'm dying laughing about the "no clock". Dad had to draw the line somewhere after he opted for the Strato Flight "tranny" Similar argument my dad & Uncle had. We had a '73 Ford LTD Country Squire w/ wiper delay "standard" Uncle Fred had '74 Thunderbird delay wiper "optional!!" he about lost his MIND! to be honest also in the 1960's most people wore wrist watches. Timex or If you were "fancy" Seiko's. Plus there were clocks everywhere. Great video!
Great story thank you so much for sharing =)
excellent
Cool car
When I was a kid going to Catholic elementary school in the sixties, the nuns had a Catalina Safari 9 passenger wagon. It was white just like this one!!!
That 69 Continental Mark lll in the background really caught my eye, it looks great!!! Any chance you can review it?? Thanks for sharing this fun video!!! 👍👍🙂
Yeah I definitely want to get to a mark iii soon that car sold before I could video it. That was a great story those nuns riding in style. That wagon only has 6,000 miles on it
@@What.its.like. thanks!!
I just asked the same thing. :)
I'm not Catholic but grew up in a small town & new the local priest from carrying out his grocery bags at the Safeway. He got a new car every couple years, always white. I asked him if they sent him car vouchers from Rome or something like that, lol. He said no, the parish always wanted him to have a newer car since he did so much driving to visit rural parishioners and didn't want him to break down. He also joked that if he ever got promoted to Cardinal he was going to get a red one.
@@billolsen4360 the principal of my Catholic high school got a new LTD Brougham every other year while one of the regular priests drove a 66 Rambler American, go figure!!
My first boss in 1962 had one of those Poncho wagons, fully loaded. It was in for a tune-up and the mechanic called to ask him if he wanted the last spark plug done. Without it the tune-up cost $50. If he had to take half the engine compartment apart to get to it it would cost $250. So those beasts went to Pick-A-Part with one original spark plug all gummed up in the back corner, after guzzling gas for 100 thou or so. I remember stopping next to them at a light, listening to them chugging on 7 cylinders, and knew why. Detroit. Planned obsolescence.
That’s crazy story thank you so much for sharing =) I would think they would make it easy to get to spark plugs.
Great channel and love all the details. Just subscribed. Rochester is the correct spelling for the carb and the engine was a 389, not 383. (described in your presentation, not in shown print)
Thank you so much for those corrections there is one other thing that wasn’t right it was the rear end I said the right rear end but the type was wrong it was late last night I wanted to get this video done because we were supposed to go to the lake today.. but didn’t end up going
Thank you so much for pointing out those corrections welcome to the channel =)
The ""Cold" light was a fixture on some GM cars until 1966. 1967 they were gone. My 1967 Buick Sportwagon has no cold light. Chevy V-8's used nylon teeth on their camshafts as well. I think the logic was at the time, it was quieter than steel teeth. I bought a 74 Camaro from a girl who told me it did not run, and stopped while at a light. I saw a slit in the bottom of the timing cover - Guess why..... lol
Wow yeah I never knew that they made nylon gears until doing this episode.. lots to learn this is a learning channel =)
Nice article, except that it neglects to mention a very important caveat: you could actually get any Pontiac engine up to the 421 or the 389 with trips; you could get a 4-speed floor trans (I once drove one) because Pontiac wanted to be covered for any drag racing class and a lot of other things, including one of my GM favorites: you could get the car in any GM color for $22 extra. You could also option up to the trailer package, with its trans cooler, bigger rad core, HD generator and other pieces OR get the fantastic 8-lug combination wheel/brake setup. But please change the "Rodchester" carburetor reference. Please.
Sorry for the misspelling of Rochester I didn’t see the 421 in the options list I saw the 425E I didn’t include it with the 389 engine choices because I wasn’t sure if that was an engine that was available 389 was the only PA listed for the Catalina wagon, not sure if that engines were available on the Bonneville wagon.
Thank you so much for sharing that information =)
Wow! Interesting about the nylon gear. I know they were using them to make the engine more quiet. I never thought of what would happen if one wore out.
Yeah that’s why I added it in here.. =) I want this channel to be the go to classic car channel for someone that knows nothing about the car, to know somethings about the car especially younger people who are just getting into this hobby.
@@What.its.like. For sure. I also do the same for plastic model cars. It's all part of the car hobby after-all...just not as expensive! LOL!
What’s your favorite model car that you own.
@@What.its.like. Too many to list! 40 ford
..this is when the family car WAS FAMILY
Yes
6:53. What is the little red light for to the right of the emergency brake release knob?? Did it indicate that the E-brake was on?
Yes
65 buick V6 had that same problem with the timing gear
Thank you so much for sharing that information =)
A nice car built back in the days when American families were big enough to need more room. Also a nice solid American 🇺🇸 car made by the UAW before they were despised. Any chance you are going to do an episode on that Bricklin in the background?
Yeah this was the back room at motor car portfolio wagon was the last car that I shot for the day.. yeah I wanna go back and do the Bricklin the last time I went back to motorcar portfolio the Bricklin was in service, hoping to cover this car soon =)
@@What.its.like. , You are a busy boy cranking out the videos and @ 4,700 subscribers and growing
Haha if you only knew the half of it =)
I kind of liked this era of cars that I call the Kennedy Cruisers. Kind of flattened out compared to the finned fifties overkill. More functional and modern for the space age.
Early 60s is a weird time for automotive design it’s like the calm after a storm or before a storm depending on perception fins --muscle car era
Jackie's White House 1960 Crown Imperial Limo was a style hold out with huge fins
It's ROCHESTER not RODCHESTER No clock? Option Delete (yes delete was an option) 60 Buick, which you reviewed has a "cold light" Nice car, good review. Timing gears: Replacement parts (steel gear) 483047 cam sprocket, 532993 timing chain, 9772517 timing cover gasket,9794125 oil pan gasket. If memory serves me right - still used through 1972. Did a number of them. Many independent shops repalced the gear and didn't remove the oil pan, which could clog the oil pump.
Thank you so much for this added corrections =)
Built in Rodchester NY I presume
I think Rodchester was how Jack Benny pronounced his valet's name
AWESOME VIDEO!!! Just WISH "Pontiac" was still around... 😞😓😩😤😡
Me too
Power tailgate window?
I don’t know that stumped me the rear window was already down when I got there. It was late and I didn’t ask if it was powered I didn’t check the rear and it didn’t have the folding window crank like I’ve seen in other wagons..
What is your favorite wagon?
@@What.its.like. A 1961 Chrysler Town and Country.
Ill add that to the list =)
Many cars had Hot and Cold idiot lights. My 57 Olds had them
That’s awesome never saw the cold light until this car
@@What.its.like. I enjoy Young People discovering the cars that were just a every day part of my world. I was lucky to have a Dad who was a car nut. I'm one too!
I was born way to late I’ve been called a boomer before lol, but wish I was there for it =)
This has to be the COOLEST LS and body swapped RustOmod Wagon of all time! You'll loveit! th-cam.com/video/bC36nb-uM8c/w-d-xo.html
It's shocking to know those cars have such cheap timing gears.
Apparently it was nylon coated but it was still a problem
you state 383?- you mean 389
Yes I have a had time with numbers thank you for the correction 389 like little gto =)
@@What.its.like. All is goo Brother-Peace
A rubbish car. Unreliable and ugly
what planet are you from?
In addition to the dashboard “idiot lights”, you sometimes get idiots that reply to your excellent presentation like the guy commenting before me.
Not alright one …I was referring to Brent