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67 Knafel Pontiac's Acadian


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Well, a Pontiac engine won't fit in there without major surgery.

Found a picture where the class designation was SS/D. In Super Stock they had to run the brand of engine that it was built with. That would be a Chevy.

In 1967 SS/D was running 8.70-9.49 pounds per advertised horsepower.

A 350 horse Chevy 327 @ 9lbs per horsepower would put you at 3150 pounds which is very close to the advertised curb weight of that car.

 

Edited by Foghorn Leghorn
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1 hour ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

Well, a Pontiac engine won't fit in there without major surgery.

Found a picture where the class designation was SS/D. In Super Stock they had to run the brand of engine that it was built with. That would be a Chevy.

In 1967 SS/D was running 8.70-9.49 pounds per advertised horsepower.

A 350 horse Chevy 327 @ 9lbs per horsepower would put you at 3150 pounds which is very close to the advertised curb weight of that car.

 

Excellent analysis/deduction, Foghorn! Absent evidence to the contrary, I'd say you nailed it. Well done! B)

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16 minutes ago, Mark said:

I can't see that running Super Stock with that Mopar hood scoop, and headlights that look to be blanked out.

Foghorn said he found another pic of the car where it was SS/D. Who knows what it's running in this pic? 

I agree, the Mopar hood scoop would put it into NHRA Modified Production. But don't forget AHRA Super Stock, I don't know what their rules might have been. Also not sure what's going on with the headlights, but if it doesn't have any, that would kick it up to Altered class--even Gassers were supposed to have headlights. :unsure:

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To make things worse, it has leaf springs under the front end.  I did see this car run in early 67 before I got drafted and have wondered about it ever since.  I do know a guy who worked on the 66 GTO and will give him a call to see if he knows anything about this car.  Thanks guys for all the information.

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I thought the car had a reworked front suspension, but wasn't sure until I enlarged the pic.  It wouldn't surprise me if it did have a Pontiac engine swapped in.  The way the car is set up, it probably wouldn't have been competitive as an NHRA gasser, and the front end would have rendered it illegal for Modified Production.  It could have been set up for a NASCAR drag class such as Ultra Stock.  (Yes, NASCAR did sanction drag racing for a time; '66-'67 was probably their high point.)

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6 minutes ago, 59 Impala said:

To make things worse, it has leaf springs under the front end. 

Then it's definitely not NHRA SS or MP. Could be AHRA something, or it might have just been running on one of the several circuits still going in 1967 and '68 with the older AWB-type funny cars that were no longer competitive against the new generation of tube-frame "floppers." If that were the case, you'd think engine guts of some sort would be coming through the hood, though. :unsure: 

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14 minutes ago, Mark said:

I wonder how many of those rolled off of the assembly line with the 327/350 combo.  Someone who worked at Knafel is probably still kicking himself over putting the torch to that car...

It didn't have to come from the factory with an L79 to be legally raced with one. The combination just had to be available from the factory. Grumpy's Toy II, the car Jenkins ran after the red and white Nova was totaled in a towing accident, wasn't born with an L79. Grump put one in the replacement car, possibly the same engine from the original Toy. 

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16 minutes ago, Mark said:

I wonder how many of those rolled off of the assembly line with the 327/350 combo.  Someone who worked at Knafel is probably still kicking himself over putting the torch to that car...

It would be a rare beast. From the references I checked, the 327/350 was only officially available in the '66 Acadian, so there weren't many around even when new. If the car was sold new in Canada, and the VIN is available, GM Canada Historical Services can look up the build information.

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1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

It didn't have to come from the factory with an L79 to be legally raced with one. The combination just had to be available from the factory. Grumpy's Toy II, the car Jenkins ran after the red and white Nova was totaled in a towing accident, wasn't born with an L79. Grump put one in the replacement car, possibly the same engine from the original Toy. 

But, likely, that car would have been ordered with it.  Why buy a new car, then buy another engine?  Jenkins couldn't get one anymore when he needed the second one, as the '67 model changeover was underway.  Besides, he already had the engine and whatever else was needed. 

That happened to the Ramchargers in '63 when they rolled one of their cars...they had to buy a six-cylinder car and change it over.

There was another way of getting one.  A guy one of my brothers knew back in the day ordered an L-79 Chevy II two-door sedan brand new.  A few months later, it was stolen.  A week or so later, he found the car...minus engine and transmission, minus every part, bracket, bolt, and piece of wire needed to convert a six-cylinder car over to a V8.  They did leave the rear axle in so as to leave it as a roller. 

The guy didn't have theft insurance, even though it was financed (in NY that wasn't required yet).

So here's this guy, he's still got to make payments on a car he can't drive.  He shoved it in his garage and left it, until the late Eighties or early Nineties.  My brother asked him if he still had the car...he'd sold it a few months prior, just the way it was after the theft.  

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1 hour ago, 64Comet404 said:

It would be a rare beast. From the references I checked, the 327/350 was only officially available in the '66 Acadian, so there weren't many around even when new. If the car was sold new in Canada, and the VIN is available, GM Canada Historical Services can look up the build information.

Only in the '66 Nova here, though there have been claims of a handful of '67s having been built.  Chevy dropped the 327/350 from the Nova to sell Camaros with it instead.

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1 hour ago, Mark said:

Chevy dropped the 327/350 from the Nova to sell Camaros with it instead.

Never heard of that! Was that the plan at one time? I've never heard of any L79 '67 Camaros built, even rumors or one-offs or special orders. 

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Nope, no 327/350 in the Camaro...wonder why they didn't offer it.  Too many warranty claims in '66, maybe?

There was a 275 hp 327...how different was that from the '66 L-79?  Probably not too much, and the lower HP rating fitted it into a lower Stock class at the strip.

Anyway, the initial top engine was a 350 (exclusive to the Camaro in '67).  But with Ford dumping the 390 into the '67 Mustang (and Chrysler building 383 Barracudas that year also) it was only a matter of time before the Camaro got the 396...and it did, in mid-year.

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31 minutes ago, Mark said:

But with Ford dumping the 390 into the '67 Mustang (and Chrysler building 383 Barracudas that year also) it was only a matter of time before the Camaro got the 396...and it did, in mid-year.

Yes. And before that, hot-rodders were already dropping BBCs in them, and commenting that the Rat fit like the car was designed for it...which, of course, it obviously was from the beginning. B)

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I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who worked on the Tin Indians and he said that Bill Knafel got the car from Canada and it took 3 days to import it and then installed a 421 Super Duty in it, he thinks.  He is going to try and get in touch with one of Knafel's sons and see if he can get more information about the car.  I'll let ya know if I hear anything.

Edited by 59 Impala
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On 7/18/2021 at 7:59 PM, 59 Impala said:

Does anyone know what engine was used in this car?

405273184_Knafel_Pontiac_Aradiandoc_Dixondriverphotoby_Todd_Wina.jpg.f00ea6e04755af393b6ee619dbdcb3bc.jpg

I'm attempting to build a close replica of this car.

These are the engines and transmissions  listed on the 1967 Acadian brochure

1599132003_1967Acadianengines.jpg.06e5a1b14bcb9368433ad8a34b157fce.jpg

 

Edited by Vietnam Vet67
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As a GM fan, I always liked the Canadian Chevy/Pontiac hybrids. This one is SO cool! Especially if someone did indeed shoehorn a 421 SD in there! It must have been quite a beast! Of course, it probably would be no slouch with the L79 327 either!

 

 

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Who's to say that when this car was pictured it was running 1967 NHRA rules? By 1969, AHRA was allowing aftermarket fiberglass hoods and non-OEM hood scoops in Super Stock. Who knows when that started?

In the pic where it has D/SS on the door window the headlights look clear.

There's a discussion elsewhere where one guy asserted that it was running a 427 inch Chevy in B/MP. Then 3 or 4 guys parroted that.

It coulda started out as an L-79 Super Stocker then morphed into something else.

 

 

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In that era of Drag Racing the engine could be anything depending on the class it was setup to run in at that given time. Next weekend at another track it might be running a different setup and a different set of rules depending on the sanctioning  body or the rules of the track it's self. 

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