I was recently discussing with a fellow Firebird enthusiast some of unique Special Paint 1972 Trans Ams known within the hobby. That then lead into the topic of special-paint Pontiacs in general and how easy Pontiac made it for new car buyers to create a customized vehicle with an air of exclusivity.
To kickoff the 1969 baseball season, a group of dealers within Pontiac’s Omaha Zone created the Catalina Royal—a 1969 Catalina in special-paint Royal Blue—to promote the new-for-1969 Omaha Royals baseball team, who was the Kansas City Royals AAA affiliate. The ad above suggests several were produced.
It’s well known that Pontiac offered a special paint option at extra cost on most models and/or trim levels during the 1960s and into the 1970s. Whether Special Solid Color (single color) or Special Color Two-tone, buyers could order their new Pontiac in any exterior finish within GM’s expansive color palette. It seems the special paint option largely went away by the mid-1970s—or at least it availability wasn’t well publicized in later years.
In addition to the one-off Pontiacs produced with a unique exterior finish during a given model year, oftentimes a single dealer or group of dealers ordered several cars in the same special-paint exterior color for a specific purpose or promotion. For example, new Pontiacs painted Carolina Blue were used in the Charlotte market to attract University of North Carolina loyalists as potential buyers. These light blue cars still crop up from time to time.
For several years Bill Beck Pontiac in Charlotte, North Carolina ordered a variety of new Pontiacs in special-paint Carolina Blue. For 1972 that included full-size Pontiacs, LeMans GTs, and Grand Prixs. Have you ever seen one?
It seems that dealer promotions involving special-paint Pontiacs weren’t limited to schools or sports teams, however. In my collection of dealership advertisements is a series of ads from Frank Woods Pontiac in Charlotte, North Carolina—one of Pontiac’s largest volume dealerships in that region—who regularly used uniquely-equipped special-paint Pontiacs to commemorate and/or promote significant events.
Fireball Roberts won NASCAR’s 1962 Daytona 500 in a black-and-gold Catalina. To celebrate that feat, Frank Woods Pontiac in Charlotte, North Carolina offered its exclusive Daytona Champions package during the summer of 1962. Eight specially equipped ’62 Catalinas received a special-paint two-tone black-and-gold exterior finish similar to Robert’s race car. Are any out there today?
While it’s certainly possible that other Pontiac dealers ordered fleets of special-paint vehicles for various purposes, I have yet found one with such regularity as Frank Woods Pontiac campaign. It begs the question, are you familiar with any dealership promotions involving a group of special-paint cars? And furthermore, have you ever seen any of the specially-equipped Pontiacs from the Frank Woods Pontiac ads shown below?
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In Pontiac circles the term “Bob Cat” almost always refers to the high-performance packages offered by Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak, Michigan. It seems Frank Woods Pontiac hoped to capitalize on that popularity with its 12 special-paint ‘63 Catalinas in this March 1963 advertisement. Did these “Bob Cat Specials” receive an authentic Royal Bob Cat treatment? We may never know.
As if Pontiac’s new 1964 GTO wasn’t hot enough, to create additional buzz Frank Woods Pontiac offered several near-identically equipped GTOs in special-paint Jubilee Gold with a black top in February 1964. The “custom-built” GTOs were also loaded with performance options.
Much alike its 1964 promotion, in February 1965 Frank Wood Pontiac offered several new ’65 GTOs with the same special-paint Jubilee Gold and black exterior finish as the previous year.
To celebrate its 31st anniversary in April 1965, Frank Woods Pontiac ordered several more special-paint ’65 GTOs. As opposed to Jubilee Gold with the two previous GTO promotions, these 15 examples were delivered in British Racing Green.
It appears that Frank Woods Pontiac didn’t use a special-paint GTO promotion during the 1966 model year. Instead, the newly-released Ram Air GTO (XS package) was used to draw showroom traffic during Spring 1966. Does anyone own an ‘66 XS GTO originally delivered to Frank Woods Pontiac?
The special-paint GTO promotion returned in April 1967 with 15 new GTOs finished in British Racing Green. It seems this particular promotion was the last time Frank Woods Pontiacs used special-paint Pontiacs in mass. Anniversary celebrations continued, but were marketed in other manners. Maybe you know otherwise?