Member: Mike Foley

Car: 1967 Beaumont Custom

My 1967 Beaumont custom rolled off the assembly line in Oshawa on December 8, 1966. It arrived at Jim Pattison Pontiac Buick in Vancouver on December 12, 1966. There were 3,452 of this model produced in Canada that year. It came with a 195 hp econoflame 283, powerglide transmission, Hydraulic steering, AM pushbutton radio. Not many options were ordered with this car. The car was originally Butternut Yellow, with a bench seat black interior.

I purchased my Beaumont from my nephew in Victoria as a parts car for $1500 in 1999. The car was originally purchased and lived in Port Alberni for a short time, then was sold to a person in Victoria. As far as I can trace it, I am the fourth owner. While in Victoria it under went many motor changes and different transmissions and shifters. My gameplan was to look for a decent 2 door hardtop that needed restoring, fix it up with spare parts from my car and we would be set, HA!! Try finding a 1967 2 door hardtop, only 2 were found, one in Ontario for $7000 and one in Quebec for $8000. By the time I added rail freight it would be around $10,000 for a project car.

The decision was made to put the money into my parts car instead. What a labor of love this turned out to be; over four and a half years searching for parts mostly in BC and Alberta. Many thanks to all our fine club members (especially Winston & Darlene in Vernon , Rod McNeil and Ken Noble of Nanaimo and Will Konn of Duncan to mention a few).

Luckily, when I bought the car, the original numbers matching 283 was put back in it, along with a turbo 350 auto trans and a B&M shifter. The high back bucket seats in it were from a 1984 Camaro, and it had a ‘82 firebird steering wheel. The hunt for parts was on. Dave "The Tin Man" in Cobble Hill also came to my aid with all the correct 67 parts I needed.

By 2004 I had finally found most of my necessary pieces other than a radio, so off to the body shop it went and had quarters and fenders replaced. I stripped the car and re-painted or re-chromed all parts, motor checked out fine, only 40,000 miles, new seals were all it needed. The car came back in the summer of 2005 and of course it looked naked. Now Ivana and I had work to do! We began by installing the 283 / powerglide , then the front clip. The console and automatic shifter were next and then the all new interior (with correct bucket seats); hand done upholstery by my dear wife, new headliner and carpeting. The Beaumont finally started to look pretty good. Final steps were installing the bumpers, grille and trim.

By the time we had it on the road in August 2005, there was only the Ladysmith car show left, so we went to the show and realized then how many people are genuinely interested in the older cars.

In 2006, we can finally say all the work was worth it as we cruise in it and enjoy a bit of nostalgia. Lots of thumbs up and great comments cement our plans to restore these beauties!!

Members Index