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'55 Pontiac Pathfinder (Canadian Pontiac)


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I’ve just completed this stock ’55 Pontiac Pathfinder sedan delivery using a toy low-rider ’57 Chevy wagon as the main starting material, and the basic front trim and dash-board was in my parts bin from an FM American ’55 Pontiac on which the body had self-destructed from a bad batch of metal alloy
All of Pontiac’s production sedan deliveries from ’54 until ’58 were built only in Oshawa, Ontario, and like the other Canadian Pontiacs at that time, were built on a Chevy platform. Compared to the American ’55 Pontiacs, the Canadian Pontiacs were shorter (Chevy chassis and drivetrains), and although they had similar front end trim, the shortened fenders had a different wheel opening shape, a shorter, taller, and narrower engine hood (to clear the higher available six cylinder motor) with a slightly more blunt nose. The front bumpers, while similar in appearance, had a shorter side length.
This is the third detailed sedan delivery that I’ve built in the last three years, using similar techniques and although they’ve all been time consuming builds, at least the build plan was familiar, and most of the research had been done….in this case, I also had reference to an unrestored full size version which was somewhat rough, but I was able to photograph lots of details which had been questions on my mind.
The main paint is Automotive basecoat/clearcoat to approximate Pontiac's Bolero Red

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Beautiful looking build. I'm also glad you included some of your build pictures as it helps apricate all of the work that went into this model. I think you posted your build on the '57 Pontiac as I remember following that one. Interesting information on the 1:1 build back ground. In the mid sixties a friend of mine had a '54 Pontiac Sedan Delivery. As I recall it had the standard Pontiac flat head straight 6 and Hydromatic. He put a Cadillac engine out of a Cadillac Ambulance in its place.  

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WOW - extraordinary. I have always been attracted to Canadian Pontiacs. There some very cool versions from the mid fifties to late sixties featuring all the great Chevrolet engines. My parents had a 53 Pontiac which shocked a mechanic in the states when it needed a new muffler and he discovered it was actually a Chevrolet under the skin. I also witnessed a street drag between a 65 Pontiac and a  maybe Thunderbolt. The Pontiac had a least a hi-po small block if not a 396 and gave the Ford a good run.

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Very nicely done Pontiac Sedan Delivery! I always enjoy seeing your models, they are always so nicely done and the build subjects are really interesting, too. Excellent job turning that '57 Chevy into a '55 Pontiac, if there was no project pictures or description, I'd probably have thought it was built from a resin kit. Very nicely done model...As always from your bench.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What a great looking trio of sedan deliveries Cliff! This latest addition is a very cool and a super clean build, especially considering the extensive changes you had to make to the source  models. You've done a tremendous job creating a unique model that we'll never see as a kit. At one time vehicles like this were simply a 'part of the scenery', but are so rare today and really nice to see as a model.

It's interesting to learn that GM tooled up separate sheet metal for a Pontiac to work with the Chevrolet platform intended for the Canadian market. 

Eric

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9 hours ago, Smitty said:

What a great looking trio of sedan deliveries Cliff! This latest addition is a very cool and a super clean build, especially considering the extensive changes you had to make to the source  models. You've done a tremendous job creating a unique model that we'll never see as a kit. At one time vehicles like this were simply a 'part of the scenery', but are so rare today and really nice to see as a model.

It's interesting to learn that GM tooled up separate sheet metal for a Pontiac to work with the Chevrolet platform intended for the Canadian market. 

Eric

x 2 - simply mindblowing !!!

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