"Eugene Blanchard" > wrote in message
...
> "Stephen H. Westin" wrote:
> >
> <snip>
>
> > Hmm. Weren't the Vega, and later the Chevette, sold in Canada only
as
> > Pontiacs or perhaps Acadians? The U.S. later got Pontiac versions of
> > each, as I recall. The Parisienne was originally a Pontiac Canada
> > nameplate; I think it was basically a Catalina or Bonneville. Later,
> > when the A-body was rebadged as a Bonneville, the B-body was
> > resurrected as a Parisienne.
> >
>
> The Vegas were sold as Pontiac Astras and the the Chevette was called
> the Acadian
>
> --
> Eugene Blanchard
> DIY Kustom Hot Rod website
http://www.therockies.ca/~blanchas/54pontiac

Pontiac had its own B-body when the downsized '78s came out. The doors
and roof were the same as Chevy's (etc.) but the fenders, hood, trunk
lid, and of course minor trim parts were uniquely Pontiac. At the
second oil crisis, Pontiac decided to do only small cars and dropped the
B-body, reapplying the Bonneville name to the A body, former LeMans.
Evidently, they scrapped the B tooling entirely, because a year or two
later when gas prices sent down and they wanted a B-body again, the only
way to do it was to adopt the Parisienne, which had Chevy sheet metal
but Pontiac grille and taillights. Much less distinct from Chevy than
the earlier B-body had been.

Joe