Anyone coming from Westminster SC area I-85 to Emerald Coast-panhandle of Florida? Need a set of Pontiac 8 lug wheels hauled, I'm near Pensacola, but work at Eglin AFB, can meet along I-10 as well. Lucky day Monday, found a Barn Find survivor 1961 Pontiac Ventura, 389 V8 with added air conditioning! Has original paint, can't wait to get the ol girl on the road. And my Birthday is Saturday, went and towed it home last night, Happy Birthday to me. Bought it from original owner's nephew, his uncle purchased it new in Ava Missouri, has LETHCO SALES AVA MO dealer badge on back, he lived in Oklahoma and Texas as well. Not running but turns over, shows 27,000 on odo, couple of small rust areas. Chuck best to email at yahoo chevy55_geo thanks
WOW! Great find. Love those '61 Venturas. Sweet B-Day present to yourself. Good luck with the relay request.
Beautiful car and fantastic story to go with it. Good luck Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
These 61 Ventura Bubbletops are getting extremely difficult to find and bringing outraegous prices. A friend of mine purchased one for 12K, 389, two barrel, automatic, nice driver quality car. Had it painted at a local trade school. Never had it for sale but someone had to have it as they had the same car during their honeymoon back in the day and he let it go for 27K. The new owner turned around and sold the car to a well known car collector (who many of y'all would recognize if I told you his name) for 72K. It must be nice to have that kind of money. Gary
The $39k Hemmings one was pretty much a show car, and it was a 61 Catalina bubbletop, dropped to 29k now. ( https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/pontiac/catalina/2131487.html ) I agree with you about being nice to have that kind of money to spend $72k.
More pictures, I hadn't even noticed the seat belts under the seat until I started cleaning the inside.
Love those Slim Jims for driving but they don't take much abuse.. If you have those 8 lug drums cut, make sure you do it with a rim attached and torqued down to 70 lbs. Mark the wheel and always keep that wheel with that drum in the very same place it was when it was cut. You'll never have an issue with those 8 lugs.. I swapped the 8 lugs of discs on my old 64 and the 8 lugs stopped faster and smoother.. I had an alignment issue and the car went side to side during braking and I blamed the drums, nope it was the alignment!! Franks Pontiac parts sold be a beautiful set of 8 lugs..
55chevy, I just saw that black 61 Poncho Bubbletop thats for sale on Hemmings for the first time. I must have misread your post. For some reason I thought you were talking about the white 61 Ventura was for sale for $29K. My mistake and sorry for the confusion. That 61 black Catalina is a great looking car thats had a frame off restoration with all kinds of good stuff on it. $29,750 and negotiable for that car is a steal in my estimation. If I was looking for one and if it was half as good as it looks I'd buy it in a heart beat. I'd be suprised if it hasn't sold by now. Keep us posted on your progress with the Ventura. I'd like to see it some time as I live between Destin and Panama City. Gary
Congrats. Those are great cars. I had a 61 catalina for about 40 seconds. Had no room, no money and a family to raise. Turned it over to my buddy and he made a nice car out of it. Repaired the rusty bits, replaced bubbling chrome etc. We got a complete 4 speed setup for it but so far it's still got the 2 barrel/slim jim. Watch for frame cracks adjacent to front cross member and steering box. Also the core support. Dar put 15 inch 8 lugs on his
I lived in SRB last summer for a while, but back in Milton, work at Eglin, will let you know progress. Pulled the back seats to clean them up, found a rats nest behind the back seat top, and a pop top. The original gas cap was inside the locking cap box. The front door jambs have a metal panel that blocks off the space inside the fender, has a slot to see the VIN.
The Jalopy Journal
