‘PLAIN JANE’ PONTIAC COMES BACK TO LIFE
Maple Ridge mechanic restores basic four-door, mostly because he received it for free
George Perkin has been a fixture in Maple Ridge auto repair since he and his brother Bruce opened Perkin Brothers Automotive in a 90-year-old blacksmith shop 42 years ago.
Born to be a mechanic, George got his first car two years before he was eligible to get a driver’s licence. The then-14-year-old paid $20 for a 1946 Austin that came with the engine in the back seat.
“There was a set of new piston rings for the engine, so a friend and I put it together and got it running,” George recalls.
He apprenticed as a heavy-duty mechanic before teaming up with his brother to start an automotive business. Perkin Brothers Racing was a well-known drag racing team with George and Bruce spending weekends torching the pavement, first at Mission Raceway and then drag strips all over North America. They began campaigning a 1955 Chevy, then a ’68 Camaro followed by their best-known car: a 1963 Corvette split-window coupe that set numerous National Hot Rod Association records.
The brothers saw a lot of iron working Monday to Friday at Perkins Automotive followed by the weekend drag racing.
George, who bought his brother out of the business in 2004, always liked 1955 Chevys. When he had the chance to buy a California-bred BelAir two-door sedan, he decided to restore it. He got carried away and disassembled the car to make it brand new again. Years ago, he bought his wife a Canadian-built ’55 Pontiac sedan for a grocery getter and to haul the kids around.
“It was a real plain Jane with no options, but it was very safe and reliable,” he says.
After he sold the car, a customer brought by the identical car, only this one had a lot of options.
“He wanted to sell me the car, but I didn’t want to spend any money on it,” Perkin recalls of events 20 years ago. “When he came back and offered me the car again, I told him I would take it if he wanted to give it to me.”
The owner removed some fancy wheels and the non-stock engine and sent the car to Perkin on the back of a tow truck. When his son Ken saw the Pontiac, he wanted to drive it. So he and his father installed a 305-cubic-inch engine that had been stored in the shed, went through the brakes and did some other work. Ken drove it for 10 years and then parked it in a corner on their shop property.
“I kept looking at that car and finally decided to do something with it,” George says.
He embarked on an eight-year restoration of the Pontiac in the old blacksmith shop that was empty after being replaced with a larger, more modern auto-repair shop. He tore the old Pontiac sedan completely apart and did a frame-up restoration, which involved a lot of body rust repair.
“I decided to restore the car because it was free,” he quips, saying he spent eight years and more than $20,000 on the restoration.
The results are spectacular. But George admits the car isn’t worth the expense and effort he put into the restoration.
“I liked the car because I had one before, which was the same colour but had no options. This one was probably ordered by an older man who wanted some special options.”
The Pontiac has a V8 engine, automatic transmission, power brakes and steering, backup lights and a radio, clock and electric windshield wipers. It is painted the original Neptune Green with a Sea Mist Green roof.
Canadian-built Pontiac cars were really Chevrolets with the same basic body, chassis and running gear. They had distinctive front ends, rear fenders, dashboards and steering wheels. But underneath they were all Chevy, unlike American-built Pontiac cars that were longer than their Chevrolet cousins.
Although the Pontiac restored by Perkin is a rather utilitarian four-door model, the owner is very happy with the results.
“I’m going to drive it,” he says. “It’s just like most of the cars people bought back in the day. Not fancy, but well equipped.”
The freshly restored Pontiac got the attention of the owner of the identical model George sold years ago.
The owner of that car has approached George to restore his 1955 Pontiac. Maybe there will soon be two identical 1955 Pontiac sedans restored and back on the road.
I’m going to drive it. It’s just like most of the cars people bought back in the day. Not fancy, but well equipped.