The 1966 Acadian Canso Is a Familiar Chevrolet Built in Canada

And I'm not even talking about the more modern Passport and Asuna brands that were used to sell rebadged Isuzu, Saab, and Daewoo models from 1988 to 1995. I'm talking about the companies that built popular Chevrolets in the 1960s: Beaumont and Acadian.

Beaumont was established as a stand-alone marque in 1966 and was used to produce midsize cars that looked like the Chevrolet Chevelle until 1969. I say "looked like" because even though the Beaumont shared the sheet metal with the Chevelle, it also included various parts from other GM products.

They were fitted with dash panels from the Pontiac Tempest, wheel covers from the LeMans, and an emblem based on Pontiac's. The powerplants came from the Chevelle, while the taillights housings were unique to the Beaumont. The Canadian-built Chevelle was, however, introduced in 1964, when the Beaumont was marketed as part of the Acadian marque.

Which brings me to the second so-called automaker created strictly for the Canadian market. Acadian was created in 1962 so that the Pontiac-Buick dealers would have a compact car on offer since the Tempest was unavailable in Canada. GM selected the Chevy II, also known as the Nova, for that role.

Called the Acadian Canso, the Canadian-built Nova soldiered on until 1971 in various trims and variants, including an equivalent to the Nova SS powered by Chevrolet's hot 327-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) L79 V8 rated at 350 horsepower. Replaced by the Pontiac Ventura II, the Acadian was GM's last Canadian-exclusive model until 1989.

While somewhat popular and affordable at the time, the Canso is not a common sight in Canada nowadays. Specific production figures are not available, but the Tuxedo Black example you see here is one of only a few examples in this condition still on the road. It's also one of a handful of Sport Deluxe models still known to exist. That's because Acadians don't usually get restored.

But Chris Pointon restored his Sport Deluxe a few years ago and it's a sight to behold. Well, of course, it's not as impressive as a 1966 Ford Mustang, but we don't get to see many 56-year-old classics that look new nowadays. The owner spent a whopping eight years restoring this car but didn't settle for a complete stock rebuild. This Canso hides a few cool goodies under the hood.

All of them were put together to create a custom small-block V8 that displaces 355 cubic inches (5.8 liters). Not only larger than the regular Canso SD mill, but it's also notably more powerful, coming in at about 400 horsepower. That's actually better than the super hot Nova SS 396 of the late 1960s, so we're looking at a full-blown sleeper. And that custom powerplant sounds fantastic out of the exhaust pipes.