1969 Pontiac Catalina Ventura - HANGN

I think it is a full-size 1969 Pontiac. The grille bars are custom though and resemble the fittings on the last full size 1968 Grand Prix. It could be a Bonneville, Catalina or possibly a Safari wagon (estate).

Thanks. I'd forgotten about this what with trying to get more photos onto ipernity. So, everything seems to point towards a 1960s Pontiac. Just need to get Googling now and see what comes up. Thanks again guys for the input.

Much appreciated.

PAUL

Okay guys, found another shot of this one, which I'd not uploaded because of the quality, but I guess it's useful in identifying it ...



And I've spent ages tying myself in knots looking at Google images and various Pontiac related websites. In the end this is what I've concluded.

Before 1968 they had vertical lights, but in 1968 they went back to horizontal. However, although the 'nose' of the bonnet is narrower at the front point it’s also narrow at back so unlike the mystery car. The 1969 Pontiac wagons also had the narrower 'nose', but this was matched with the raised section of the bonnet being wider at the back and extending either side of the vents. From 1970 the wagons still had the horizontal light set-up, but the lines of the bodywork seemed to alter and certainly the 'nose' became much wider.

So I reckon all things considered it is most likely a 1969 Pontiac. It could be a Bonneville, Executive or Catalina that’s assuming it was made for the US market, or if it were originally a Canadian model then I guess it could be a Safari or even a Grand Parisienne - in fact the latter also had lights hidden behind grille, which I don’t think the US models had apart from the Grand Prix as mentioned by Still.

What do you think guys?

PAUL

1968 and 1969 are essentially the same body with a small changes in marker lights and trim. It wasn't at all unusual back then to see a 1968 with a 1969 nose on it, or a 1969 with a 1968 nose on it. I ran across this same car on Flickr and it was identified as a Ventura there. Sounds reasonable to me. Ventura, Catalina, and Bonneville ... essentially all the same body with the trim being the big difference. Prior to 1968 and you could have added Gran Prix to the same list. Gran Prix got a midsize body in starting in 1968. Ventura went to a mid size body in 1971.

www.flickriver.com/photos/45904802@N08/6190477991

Thanks Norm ... flickr, well I never! ;)

By research only - this is not a model I recall - 1969 Pontiac Ventura Wagon although the grille is still a custom piece. A little further research seems to show that the Ventura option was Catalina upgrade.