During the 1960s and 1970s, the Catalina was Pontiac’s entry-level full-size car. They were by no means spartan and in 1966 came with a 389 cubic inch V8 as standard. This 1966 Catalina is a 2-door sedan, one of the least-produced body styles that year. While it looks like your ordinary schoolteacher kind of vehicle, it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This auto is capable of turning 12-second-quarter mile runs at the drag strip. Located in Langley Township Southwest, British Columbia, this sleeper is available here on craigslist for CAD 55,000 (about USD 40,500), What a cool tip brought to us by Tony Primo!
If you walked into a Pontiac dealership in 1966 looking for a full-size car, they showed you either a Bonneville, Star Chief or Catalina (if you told them you were on a budget). Out of 831,000 total auto assemblies that year, more than 260,000 carried Catalina badging. And, of those, just under 8,000 were the pillared 2-door sedan, the second slowest selling Catalina body style (only the 2+2 hardtop found fewer buyers).
The seller’s car has a racing pedigree, although its appearance suggests otherwise. The only visual cue that something mighty is under the hood is the dual exhaust protruding from under the rear bumper. This Pontiac came with a 421 V8 and the seller says this motor has been built to 468 cubic inches, though no mention is made of matching numbers. With the car’s mechanical enhancements, including a TH-400 automatic transmission, this Poncho has turned in some impressive times out at the Mission Drag Strip, though no awards or trophies are included.
This street legal machine is said to have 5,000 miles, which may have been since an apparent restoration was done. The body, paint, and interior are flawless, and the seller doesn’t tell us if it wants anything but a new home. An extra set of wide steel rims with drag slicks will accompany the Pontiac to its next domicile. When this car was new, it had a short list of options, i.e. no radio and dog dishes instead of full wheel covers. You shouldn’t drive this car in the rain as the windshield wipers were removed to reduce weight and the rear window is now Lexan instead of glass.
It’s a later model engine as well as the dog dish hub caps. Now the positive, it is a nice poncho, to get in the 12’s it’s running hard. It looks so innocent, I love it! My 64 Tempest with a mild 428 and turbo 400 did low 13’s and it was less steel, so that’s a respectable car!
Tony Primo for president!
Running 12’s with 3:23 gears ! That’s wild! Imagine having 4:10 gears! Maybe 11.20 or 10.90 ! This is a beast to have. Weekend cruiser that’s for sure. Beautiful Poncho to bring to shows. I remember the story growing up about Pontiac ringer the Catalina 2+2 and what they did to get those impressive numbers back in the 60s. Would love to see this one at the track with 4:10 and slicks. Anyway.. good luck to the next owner..🐻🇺🇸
My dad got a new ’66 Catalina with his job, it was a 4 door sedan similar to this one. It was nicer than our ’65 Impala. I still remember the new car smell when he brought it home.
This has to be one of the nicest ones left.
I had a ’66 Catalina 421 factory 4-SPD with bench seat and 8 lugs.
I was hoping to see a 4sp in there 🏁
For the win Stan, for the win!
Nice! I took the wipers off my 49 Ford the performance was unbelievable.
Haha! Good one.
Cragar’s would make it run in the 11’s also. :)
Probabally a bad muffler bearing was holing it back from breakin into th elevens!
Nice car but the 2 door Bonneville from 1965 for 10k – dealer lot barn find – is prettier in white with blue interior.😊
Yum.
Here’s a tip to pass along to your friends planning out their pro street car. If it is a GM car, tell them to use a Chevrolet rear end, or even better, a Winters non-quick change. Here’s why. Passenger cars switched from a banjo-style rear end in order to lower the drive shaft, so they could make a smaller tunnel in the floor to increase passenger car room. But the offset pinion gear robs power. The Ford 9 inch has more of a pinion gear offset than the GM designs, so it wastes more.
Why not a Pontiac? Parts availability. The full-size Pontiac rear ends are plenty strong. In fact, Bonniville racers still use them. The problem is, nobody makes the high numerical ratio gears needed for street and drag strip performance.
I guess that’s why Every drag racer uses 9″ Ford rear ends. The minuscule loss is more than made up in strength and ratios availability. GM rear ends are Not as strong as a 9″. Proof is in what people are using. Pinion bearing setupway way stronger in a 9″. Plus WAY easier to set up and change.
This car is totally for racing! No power steering or brakes and no heater/defroster. The heater/defroster controls were right next to the radio and mimiced the appearance of the radio. I don’t know if this car has it, but I think these cars could be ordered with an aluminum front clip to further reduce weight.
Pretty sure Pontiac stopped using the lightweight front clips when they discontinued their factory backed drag racing program around 1963, IIRC.
@Steve H: Racers are notoriously herd animals. Here are some approximate numbers:
GM axles are the 96%-95% range
Ford 9″ is in the 92%-91% range
A Winters non-quick change is 98% to 99% (even with a quick change, it is about 98%)
If an engine is producing 700 BHP at the crank, that’s about 50 BHP at the tire loss.
For circle track or road racing, heat is an issue.
I drag race and have for years. Yes the quick change is good for sure but not practical for most. Me and all of my friends who have gone from whatever rearend was in the car to a 9″ with same gear did not lose 50Hp for sure. Our et’s really didn’t change. And yes, we are talking a lot of them are way past the 700+ HP mark. We are going to use the most durable, practical and easiest to work on. Also with the most parts available. IF we lost a .050 in time it’s worth it and just make up the difference in power!
@Steve H” I can believe that. But that’s a different situation from my hypothetical. If you had a GM rear end before you went to a Ford 9″, and/or you had less than 700+ BHP, you wouldn’t lose 50 BHP. If it was the difference between a GM rear end, and 500 BHP, it would be closer to 15 BHP difference.
Hypothetical and reality are not always what you would think. It’s really not that much, trust me.
My brother worked at a Sunoco station for Walt Wentzel in Randolph, Ma. Walt had one of these in blue. I thought it had a tri-power set up…… could be wrong. He used it to tow his dragster, The Blue Bunny, up to Epping Speed way in the late 60’s early 70’s.
take off the antenna you will hit the 11s
How original!
A car with dog dish hubcaps just screams sleeper. You’re not fooling anybody.
Too bad correct 1966 poverty caps weren’t sourced (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/d0/0c/efd00c5dafee0ab49cd8c4c1821872d6.jpg).
That afterthought rear sway bar mounting will end up tearing the lower control arms. If they don’t tear, they will be torque-twisted beyond repair.
As with the Dodge truck…missing the wipers will lead to problems. Inspection, and, later, use.
And that is a problem, because from the 1965 reworking of the B body, Chevrolet models (by far the most-common) got parallel wipers. I don’t recall Olds and Buick, but Cadillac and Pontiac stuck with the older-design opposed wipers that folded in the center.
…where is someone going to get that linkage hardware? I’d be surprised if a Caddy or Buick wiper assembly just dropped in. A Chevrolet cowl transplant might be possible – I’d seen RHD Chevrolets of that era which had the Pontiac overlapping wipers – but maybe not; and you’ll lose points for lack of originality.
Other than that, I like it. But I’m less excited about the drag-strip credentials. That suggests hard use – and for a $40k classic, it’s not the type of use most potential buyers would engage in.
But it sure recalls memories. A friend’s father had a similar, only a four-door sedan. They were beautiful cars – well-proportioned and comfortable. Back when we could buy the cars we wanted, not what complied with complex regulatory demands.
I’d say you probably wouldn’t want to drive this car in the rain too much, and if you were out cruising and a rainstorm came up unexpectedly, just keep a bottle of rain-x in the glove box(if they didn’t remove the insides for adtl weight reduction) and pull over and wipe the windshield down… As long as you kept it over 35 you’d never need wipers! I had an old Supra when I was young and the first(of many things) that went bad was the wiper motor. Not wanting to cough up the 150 bux for a new one, I discovered that stuff, and with the serious angle of the windshield, as long as I kept it at 25+ the water would skeedaddle.. sorry for the shameless plug, jes tryin to help a brother out… I’d imagine if you could find all that fancy linkage for the wiper system, you’re probably going to pay dearly for it!
It’s a neat car, but I think 12s is a bit of a stretch. Heck, the “Swiss Cheese” Ponchos barely got into the 12s. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe this car will set you back in the seat, but more like 13s, still nothing to be ashamed of. With those skinny hides, traction will surely be an issue. Besides, by 1966, it was pretty clear what Pontiac was the car of choice to win at the strip, the GTO.
You did read that the engine has been worked on, stroked, etc. to 468. This car could run those numbers no problem. Watch some Factory Stock class racing and you’ll change your mind. He did say he has a set of slicks also.
It looks legit to me Howard.
Anything but red! Nice car otherwise but 40’s a stretch
I have a 65 post coupe with a 389 2bbl, 4 speed bench wit a 3:42 posi. The car also has ps, pb, ac, and tach. I thought it was a good 200.00 purchase years back even though it is quite rusty in the trunk and floors. Still runs well but will likely become a parter in the near future. This unit is cool but I am no drag racer.