.

the car junkie daily magazine.

.

Craigslist Find: A Factory Four Speed 1965 Pontiac Catalina Safari Wagon


Craigslist Find: A Factory Four Speed 1965 Pontiac Catalina Safari Wagon

We have to thank BangShift reader Tardis454 for the tip on this super cool wagon that is currently for sale in the Cleveland, Ohio area. The fact that it is a not too often seen 1965 Pontiac Catalina Safari is one thing but the additional goodness of its factory four-speed transmission makes it instantly more awesome. Power comes from a 2bbl 389 which also would have been standard issue factory equipment. The car rides on the famed eight lug Pontiac wheels of the era and the body has some rash and scars on it, which we dig. This is a big wagon with some personality and that four speed jutting up in front of the bench seat is just too cool looking!

According to the research we performed in the BS eastern world hq archives, Pontiac produced 12,965 1965 Catalina nine-passenger wagons and 21,082 six passenger wagons so that means this car isn’t all that rare, right? Wrong. Overall in 1965 242,924 Catalinas were produced in all of the various body styles. Of those 242,000 cars, only 5,003 were optioned with a stick shift. That’s a little more than 2% of cars produced. We can’t dig all the way into the way wagons were optioned, but this car has to be one of only a handful produced with a third pedal. We’re sure that there are Pontiac guys out there with the actual numbers, but if it was 100 cars we’d be shocked. The 389 is either rated at 256 or 290hp. With the little 2bbl we’re guessing that it is a 256hp engine. It probably make a lot of torque down low, making this a decently fun barge to wheel around. If we grabbed this car, we’d happily set aside that stock intake and carb for a decent four barrel and a high performance aluminum intake just to wake things up a little.

This is a super cool car and the asking price of $7500 is a little steep, but considering the rarity of it? The price is probably right.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE LINK TO SEE THE CL AD WITH MORE PHOTOS AND INFO!

CL AD LINK: 1965 CATALINA SAFARI WAGON – FACTORY FOUR SPEED!

 


  • Share This
  • Pinterest
  • 0

5 thoughts on “Craigslist Find: A Factory Four Speed 1965 Pontiac Catalina Safari Wagon

  1. Gearhead60

    Gotta dig them 8 lug wheels! My bet is the seller is not the owner. Too bad I don’t have the cash, because that would be a very cool hauler!

Comments are closed.