This morning I opened my emails and what instantly caught my eye were the words "My dads 1927 Pontiac"
The email was beautiful to read, it certainly brought a smile to my face and as I read it, it brought back a few emotional memories from only a couple of years ago and I have to thank Ryan Turner from Mount Gambier for sending his story and the pictures below through to me.
Here are a few words that Ryan wrote:
G’day Grant,
I stumbled across your blog about
Monty the 1928 Chev today and was touched by your story. It is similar in many
ways to my journey in restoring a 1927 Pontiac that was originally owned by my
great, great uncle and then my dad for another 50 years. Dad inherited the car
from his great uncle when he was just 12 years old and used to drive it around
the back yard as a kid.
Dad was only 61 when he contracted
cancer in 2010. He had never smoked and was very fit so it was sadly just one
of things as they say. Dad battled for a couple of years but we lost him in
2011. It wasn’t long after this time that a decision needed to be made about
what to do with the Pontiac. Mum was selling the service station she had owned
and run with dad for more than 40 years and the Pontiac was still sitting in the
back where it had been since about 1970.
I’ve attached a story I put
together when the search for parts started in 2012 and also some progress photos
which show how we’ve been putting it back together since then. As you can see,
I have gone down the full restoration path as sadly there wasn’t much to
preserve when we started. A couple of old blokes in Mount Gambier are helping
me with lots of the work I’m unable to do myself and we’re not far from getting
it back on the road.
I hope you enjoy my story. It
would be good to catch up some day. It reminds me how cars can transcend
generations and bring strangers together!
Cheers,
Ryan and Kirsty
Here is another letter but details more history about the Pontiac
"I have recently inherited a very
tired looking 1927 Pontiac tourer from my dad.
It was originally owned by my great, great Uncle Bill Turner who lived
in Wandilo near Mount Gambier, South Australia.
Dad was only 12 when his great Uncle Bill died so it was more like a big
toy for him at the time. Dad painted the
bonnet and doors black with a paint brush and decorated the panels with Golden
Fleece Activ-8 oil stickers. He’d obtained
these from my grandfather who owned a service station next door to their home. According to my Nana, dad used to drive his
Pontiac around a paddock behind the house and charge children from the local area
for rides!
The Pontiac wasn’t exactly well
looked after during this period and sat under a tree in between use. Dad often reflected on this time and wished
he’d taken more care of it as a youngster.
He bought the service station from my grandfather in the early 1970s and
was soon after approached by someone who had seen the car in the backyard. They asked if dad would sell the Indian head
radiator cap however dad had plans to restore it one day so refused. The next day he noticed the Indian head had
been stolen! Concerned more bits would
go missing dad moved the car into the back of the service station where it was
more secure.
When my dad died in February 2011 after
a couple of years of illness he still owned the service station with my mum and
the car was still parked in the same place.
It hadn’t moved in about 40 years.
During that time dad had often talked about restoring it. He was going to get it ready for my oldest
sister’s wedding but that came and went along with two other weddings in my
family. Dad was a mechanic but apart
from getting the engine to run one time in about 1995 no restoration work was
started.
I wasn’t sure what we would do with
the Pontiac when mum and I started cleaning up the service station for sale in late
2011. Mum helped me remove years of odds
and ends that had been stacked around it over time and it was quite a sad sight. Not having any experience with vintage cars
let alone restoring them, I initially thought it was sadly too far gone. With assistance from a couple of local blokes
who had themselves restored older vehicles I learnt that anything was possible
given enough time, money and hard work.
I was excited to think we might be able to get dad’s car back on the
road and I know he’d be very happy to know it was finally being done.
Almost every spare minute since
this time has been spent finding out about the car, it’s history in the Turner
family and how to go about restoring it.
With assistance from my very supportive girlfriend Kirsty I have learnt
a lot about General Motors and in particular Pontiacs from the early
1920s. It has re-kindled my interest in
finding out more about my great, great Uncle and others in my extended
family. Mum hasn’t seen it going since
she started dating dad in the late 1960s so it will be quite a thrill when I
can take her for a drive"
Great effort and congrats to you and your family.
Cheers
Grant
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