7 Pontiac Parisienne

Five years after the Suez Crisis influenced the creation of the Mini, Londonbased US Concessionaires Ltd had the audacity to tempt buyers with a car whose wheelbase alone would all but swallow Britain’s diminutive newcomer. Shipped from GM Canada’s factory in Oshawa, Ontario, the 3780lb Parisienne was, even by North American standards, a ‘full-size’ saloon. The Motor’s 1962 road test noted that, despite a 4640cc V8 producing 170bhp, 60mph from rest took 13.7 secs en route to a 95.6mph maximum. But the likely clientele – film actors, pop stars and the like – could not have been less bothered: with ultra-light power steering and GM’S slush-tastic Powerglide ’box, this was a grand boulevardier for making a statement on the capital’s swinging streets. Just as well, since any foray on to the (then derestricted) M1 would have had the Parisienne singing more like Cilla Black than Dean Martin, with its low gearing offering just 22.7mph per 1000rpm in top. Anorak fact Contemporary testers noted that, at standstill, they could turn the Pontiac’s wheel through its five turns from lock-to-lock with one finger