Member: Dave Nordman

Car: 1968 Beaumont

My friend and fellow club member Willi Konn had been telling me I needed a car to play with for stress relief. After a couple of years of looking and with the prices on all cars escalating I decided to get serious about buying one. I found a silver ‘68 Beaumont convertible that I liked. I bought this local car that had a lot of what I wanted; convertible being important but not so original that I would be afraid to put miles on it.

I struck a deal with the owner of a local shop that restored Camaro’s and being a Beaumont he had not put a lot of effort into this car. He was suppose to fix up a few last things on the car as part of the deal so after driving the car for a week I left the car at his shop. What I didn’t realize was he was going bankrupt and when I went to get the car the door to the shop was locked tight and there was no contacting him. It took a week to track him down and get the car back with nothing done to it; luckily for me the bailiffs didn’t move in for another week.

Since I have owned the car I have added a few things to add some “bling” and dependability so I can drive the car with out worry. A new rear end was the first item as the ten bolt’s axle tubes were coming apart so I built a 12 bolt posi with 3.73 gears. Next I installed a set of lowering springs all around to give it the stance I was looking for and soon afterward was a 200R4 over drive transmission to give it some cruising ability. The overdrive tranny has been one the best things I have done to the car. I also added a decent stereo, gauges, factory tach., Torq-Thrust II wheels and a hundred other little things to make cruising more pleasurable.

I wanted to do the motor next but my wife decided she needed more power than her Subaru was able to deliver and a BMW 325ci convertible has arrived. The motor rebuild is on hold!

Since buying the car in 2003 I have been putting 5000 to 6000 miles a year on it. What I didn’t realize when I bought the car was how many people you meet who just want to talk about cars or that they, their dad, brother, or friend had one just like this. I think there were only about 550 ‘68 Beaumont convertibles built but it sure seems like a lot more after talking to all these people.

Dave Nordman’s‘68 Beaumont Custom is equipped with the following

• Option Codes Description
• Cowl Tag
• 736 Beaumont Custom V8
• 67 two door convertible
• 8 model year 1968
• 1 assembly plant code for the Oshawa Ontario plant
• Z49 Mandaory Cnd. Base Equipment Modifications
• Trim Tag
• A51D55M35T-02
• BODY ST 68 73667 0S 796680
• PAINT TR 794 2-12-20 HH
• A51 front bucket seats
• D55 floor console unit
• M35 Powerglide two speed automatic transmission
• T-02 convertible top colour Black
• Trim Tag Information
• ST refers to style of car
• 68 model year 1968
• 73667 model number for a Beaumont Custom V8 two door convertible
• OS assembly plant code for Oshawa Ontario
• 796680 body order number
• BODY refers to above
• TR refers to interior trim
• 794 interior trim code for parchment vinyl
• 2-12-20 production date of car body afternoon shift of December 20 1967
• H lower body exterior paint colour Grecian Green
• H upper body exterior paint colour Grecian Green

Members Index