59 Strato Chief Right Hand Drive from Canada to South Africa to Australia

Well travelled Strato Chief now in my garage.
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Some things to do include replace rear taillights, handbrake lever, seats, interior, clutch, passenger doors don't close properly, etc, etc.

Beautiful car! I love poverty caps on any old car. Just wondering how a rhd began its life in Canada?
Im guessing alot of the parts you need are interchangeable with Chevrolet-makes restoration a little easier!

Also interesting it's a V8 Starto Chief but has dog dishes. Are those original?

It's interesting to me that they still used Pontiac dog dishes on these cars. IDK I guess I thought they would have used a chevy or generic dog dish instead.

markymark wrote:

Beautiful car! I love poverty caps on any old car. Just wondering how a rhd began its life in Canada?
Im guessing alot of the parts you need are interchangeable with Chevrolet-makes restoration a little easier!

"Poverty caps" ! Haven't heard that expression before.

Canada had special tax status with the Commonwealth countries such as NZ, South Afrixca and Australia, so many auto manufacturers used their Canadian plants to make the RHD verions for export. For example, (shown in the photo) I have a RHD 1940 Mercury that was made in Windsor Ontario (even the 3.9 L motor), and a 1947 V8 Ford Deluxe that was made in Wondsor but shipped as CKD to South Africa, and assembled there.

Hopefully, all the Chev running gear of the Canadian Strato Chief can be obtained for the US or Canada.

I need some things such as new rear tail light lenses (the originals have stress caks, leak and will not pass the Australian road worthy test), etc. Any good parts places in Canada that will post to Australia?

I dont know where I picked up the poverty cap term-I think its been around for awhile. Ive been pilfering odd parts off a lhd car just like yours down the road from me, but its a canadian car, so i'm limited. I actually pulled the e-brake out but it was a chevy piece-you said you needed one? I can post stuff for you fronm Canada if you'd like. By the way, those back up deletes are stunning. A hard to find item.
Mark

Apparently, Poverty Cap is the correct term for GM cars while Dog Dig was used for Mopar.

Yes, those back up light deletes are tough to find. It took me probably 3-4 years to find a set. Now I have 3 extras plus the 2 on my car. I think they look sweet!

all the drivetrain is chevy which makes it easy for parts, but i dont know of anywhere that sells any repro stuff as far as light lenses or body parts for the canadian version 59. Its also very hard to find any canadian 59s around even for parts, most have rotted away!! I live 2 hours from windsor, which is just across from Detroit michigan, alot of cool cars around there.

The body parts should all be pontiac. Only the chassis and drivetrain was chevy, not the body

starchief_59 wrote:

The body parts should all be pontiac. Only the chassis and drivetrain was chevy, not the body

Not quite - the dashboard is '59 Chevy LHD reversed, five dials with larger central speedo. The LHD Canadian cars (see https://pontiac-59.darkbb.com/t109-canadian-pontiacs) had the Pontiac-specific three-same-size-dials cluster. RHD Chevys and Pontiacs

Guys.....the quarter panels and trunk lids for U.S. cars don't fit Canadian cars. The Canadian Pontiacs were on the shorter Chevrolet wheelbase (119") versus the longer (122 and 124") U.S. version. Fenders, doors, and bolt-on stuff like taillamps etc. should be the same......John

The rear taillight lenses are often seen on e-bay. I got a set a year or two ago, and they did not cost a fortune. The shipping was more than the item