In the 1980s magazines produced by CSK Publishing, which published Muscle Cars and High Performance Mopar magazines (among others), there was a column written by long-time journalist/enthusiast Jerry Heasley in which readers would send in their latest finds. I sent in my submission when I found my 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 convertible. Today, we have Ryan Brutt’s Barn Finds as the millennial version of the concept.
But not all cool finds reside in barns. With the proliferation of the Internet in our lives, we have come full circle – Facebook Marketplace or even Craigslist is a new-world version of the newspaper classifieds. We at The ClassicCars.com Journal would love to hear about your collectible finds and tell your story like what I am about to do.
In July 2023, I was visiting family in Buenos Aires and preparing to return home. My friend Danny sent me a message showing me an ad on both Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for a 1968 Pontiac Catalina two-door sedan with a 428 and a four-speed. I’d only heard of one other car like that, which my friend in Michigan owned. His had the 390-horsepower 428 High Output, while this one had the regular 428, which was rated at 375 horses.
428 HOs are quite rare, as are four-speed full-size Pontiacs from 1968. Most four-speeds were Grand Prixs and Catalinas, with the latter usually being hardtops. A two-door sedan was quite an unusual find. I got excited and told Danny that if he didn’t buy it, I’d like to have the opportunity.
While overseas, I communicated with the seller, then bought the invoice from PHS Automotive Services, which showed this car was built in Cameo Ivory with a blue interior, Custom gauge cluster (though, sadly, Pontiac did not offer a tach anymore on full-size cars), Décor Group (which included chrome window trim, Deluxe wheel discs, Deluxe steering wheel, and pedal trim plates), and a few other items that you can see in the above order form. It also confirmed the 428 four-speed combo.
Danny’s cousin was in SoCal, so he was able to handle an inspection, but he and the seller could not agree on price, so the car was passed along to me. I bought it and had it shipped to Phoenix. The Catalina was tired and ragged, with rust appearing in unusual places more common for a NorCal car, but it wasn’t enough to turn me off – on the contrary, I wanted to learn how to fix everything on it. If anything, the car was licensed and could be driven. The interior, on the other hand, was worse, but that gave me more room to learn. The biggest issue was that I was dealing with a broken ankle and could not drive it!
In its second day in my possession, I found the name of the original owner. As it was uniquely Italian, I was able to track him down easily and discover, at 89 years old, he was still among us. He said he was a Mopar guy but hated the ‘62 Dodge, so he bought a Pontiac on the advice of his Tri-Power-driving friend. When it came time to buy another car in 1968, he chose a Poncho, specifically a Catalina two-door sedan. He wasn’t a fan of GM’s automatic, so he selected the M20 wide-ratio transmission. After a few years, he sold the car to an associate who has since passed away. He gave me several other names of people who ended up with the car through the mid-1970s, but I haven’t been able to find them.
Since my purchase, I have found another four-speed Catalina two-door sedan, this one an HO out of New Hampshire. And while I have yet to commence the restoration (kids and life have their way), it will come.
Tell us about your car find. Fill out this form, submit images, and we’ll take care of the rest!
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