The Acadian was a brand of automobile built by General Motors of Canada. In 1962, it was based on the new Chevy II. The Invader was the base model, while the Beaumont carried a higher level of trim (like the Nova). In appearance and equipment, the cars varied little from their U.S. counterparts, with differences usually just in grilles or taillights. This 1962 Acadian Beaumont is a convertible with an I-4 engine and wears an older restoration. Another tip brought to us by Tony Primo, this Canadian Chevy is in Bear, Delaware, and is available here on craigslist for $25,000.
With certain models of U.S. cars not available for sale in Canada in the early 1960s, GM responded by building variants “north of the border.” One of these was the Acadian, which essentially was a Chevy II from 1962-65 and a Chevelle from 1966-69. They were sold at Pontiac-Buick dealers to fill a void in their product lines (i.e., no compacts). In the U.S. in 1962 (the first year of the Chevy II), Chevrolet cranked out more than 326,000 Chevy IIs compared to not even 15,000 of the GM of Canada Acadians.
According to the seller, his/her Beaumont was only 1 of 87 built as a drop-top with the base I-4 (153 cubic-inch) engine. Plus, it has the Powerglide 2-speed automatic transmission. Though the car was light, that motor was only good for 90 hp, so it’s not a head-jerker in performance. Since it was restored years ago, we assume the 6,600 miles on the odometer means it has rolled over on this numbers matching auto. It looks like a nice ride, but the seller only provides three photos (and one with the radiator cap missing; why?). We’re also told it’s the only known ’62 Acadian Beaumont convertible known to exist. But we found a video of another one here on YouTube.
Genius photo array.
And one of the copius photos shows no radiator cap – awesome!
Shows green, & i guess clean, coolant inside radiator, at least.
Fixed. Thanks
My uncle had a 62 chevy 2, four door, four cylinder, three one the tree. It was a nice car around town.
Could it get out of it’s own way?
I very much doubt it, what with a four banger and only a two speed slush box. A friend of mine had a ’61 Chev with the two speed box and he hated it, until it got onto the flat then it was just o.k.
This “nova” is lighter in weight than a late ’60s one. Might be peppy with say 3:23 or greater rear gears & no back seat or spare tire. The late ’60s heavier nova was also avail with the same 4 cyl & a glide – now THAT would be even slower, & even worse, a monstrous ’72 impala with a 250 6 cyl & a glide(last yr avail in full size chevy.) & a/c turned on. lol
In all my years messing around with cars, I’ve only seen two of little 4 bangers ; one was in the 1980s in a old school customized van, and the other in a trashed Chevy II sedan sitting in the “to be crushed” pile in a junkyard in the 1990s.
I had a buddy from London. We both came west for college. He ended up north, and I down south. Whereas my first car here was a slant six, his first car was one of these, albeit, not a convert. I think his was a three speed. A really nice car. Power was modest, but coming from a place where only the wealthy even had a car, lack of performance was not an issue.Plus, I think we benefited from not having grown up with the American youths need for performance and prestige. Peer pressure is not always positive.
This body style/drivetrain combo was unique to Canada. US-spec Nova convertibles were six cylinder only.
All the 400 series Novas were produced with 6 cylinders engines
A beautiful topless car , it only needs a few things changed !
Engine , transmission , suspension, brakes , radiator , a/c only a few things as it must a boring drive as is !
2.5L 90hp…is that basically what became the Iron Duke?
When I saw the posting I was hoping the engine would be the short lived one that was made by cutting a 389 in half.
It IS the Iron Duke.
This is not a Iron Duke, the Iron Duke was developed by Pontiac, from 1977, through 1993. It displaced 151 cu. in. This engine is a variant of the the Chevrolet Turbo-Thrift six cylinder, of the early 60’s. it displaces 153 cu. in. It was also used in forklifts, generators, and marine applications. Mercury Marine used them in their inboard-out drive units.
It’s the basis for the engine that eventually evolved into the Iron Duke. One of the main differences is the cylinder head. This car has a side flow head. The Iron Duke had a crossflow head.
I stand corrected. Many years ago I was deceived by a Chevy expert. (Or so I thought).
If you had ever owned one of the 389 cut in half slant fours you’d be thankful this Acadian has the engine it does. ;)
That’s the Trophy 4, I have one, factory 4 barrel. It’s actually pretty cool. 10.25 compression 155hp and a 4 speed. It’s always the only one at the car show.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/1963_Acadian_Beaumont_convertible.jpg
What a shame, these cars details make the car, and the seller didn’t give anyone pics of the cool details these cars had, it’s a shame.
Craigslist ad fixed. Video added. Thanks
Is that the same 4 cylinder engine that was used in the post office Jeeps?
I think it is the same engine used in post office Jeeps. I bought a totally used up one decades ago to use for pizza delivery. The DJ-5A (Kaiser Co.) used a standard CJ front end, with a four-cylinder Chevrolet Nova 153 cu in (2.5 L) engine and two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, with a T-handle shifter located on the floor next to the driver’s seat.
My sister had a 62-nova convertible, with this same drive train, I know I changed her oil, and drove it many times, they were dogs for performance, but ok daily driver, at least for her, you did have to make sure you had plenty of space and time when pulling out into traffic, I would like to have it today and throw a turbo on it just to see what it could do.
Marine version of this is 3.0 vortec, 150 h.p. or so.Still available, but made in Mexico or a reman. Still would swap to V8 drive line.
Later version is 3.0 (151) 140 HP Iron Duke. Older marine version is this engine 2.5 (153) 120 HP
Oops 181, not 151.I’ll shut up now.
Russ Dixon……Correction! The Acadian was a Canadian only “sister” car to the Chevrolet Nova and was sold at Canadian Pontiac dealers from 1962 through 1970. The Beaumont became a stand alone “sister” car to the Chevrolet Chevelle and was sold in Canada at Pontiac dealers from 1966 through 1969.
Marine /Industrial 3.0 is 181 c.i. Non cross flow head, is not a iron duke Pontiac cross flow head 4 cylinder. 3.0 and iron duke have different bell housings. 3.0 would bolt in as replacement for Chev 4. Iron duke , no.
Hello. I am the owner of the car. Interesting comments. I took the critiques thankfully and have updated the Craigslist ad. I also corrected the statement about 1 of 87 cars built and the only one known to still exist to reflect 4 cylinder cars only. It is an amazing car and drives great. Drove from north of Toronto to Delaware in a day last July. 65 all day long up and down the grades of I-81 and averaged 20 MPG.
Thanks for joining in, Paddy!
https://youtube.com/shorts/0LE61nVy1hI?feature=share
Not the only one out there! I have a 62 Beaumont drop top all completely original and drive her all the time in summer!