Parisienne built to last

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This article was published 30/06/2023 (1009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is a classic that has all the original parts. The 1973 Pontiac Parisienne, as well as its owner, 85-year-old Norm Popien of Brandon.

The 1973 Pontiac Parisienne Brougham four-door hard-top was built in Ontario, whereas Popien — or Pope, as his friends called him — was built in the community of Polonia, just a stone’s throw northeast of Minnedosa.

“I have what you might call, a very rare car for 1973. I’m 85 years old, and I remember the cars from that era as well as the ones previous to that, from the time that they started making cars that look like cars,” Popien said as he laughed.

“And it’s still an original car, so that means there have been no added parts. The motor’s the same, the transmission, as is the differential — basically, it’s exactly the same as the day it came out of the factory.”

The Parisienne rolled off the assembly line in Oshawa, Ont., as Pontiac’s fourth generation of the model that was sold between 1971 and 1976.

Today, Popien’s Parisienne has about 124,000 miles on it and is “loaded” with features that came with it 50 years ago, including a 400-cubic-inch V-8 engine, rear-wheel drive, power front disc and rear drum brakes, deep pile carpeting, cloth interior and a clock embedded in the dashboard.

It also has climate control, now called air conditioning, as well as rear defrost, which was described in a General Motors brochure from 1972, as a “new Canadian development,” and “at 20 below, clears more glass area than a standard blower, and helps make the rear passenger area even cozier.”

The car doesn’t have cruise control and power locks, Popien said.

Popien bought the Parisienne about 15 years ago from the original owners in Brandon, and he said in the last nine years before selling, they had only put about 1,000 miles on it, but kept it alive by “starting it up once in a while.”

“When they asked me if I wanted to go for a test drive, I said, ‘No, I just want to hear it run.’ So, the way to start a General Motors car that’s been sitting is to mat it to the floor, bring it back halfway, then right to the top, to back down halfway, and crank it. And that’s what I did. It rolled over about a half a dozen times, and all of a sudden kaboom, away she went. It’s a big car.”

His big car is 18-and-a-half feet long, almost seven feet wide, and weighs 4,200 pounds, which is about four times as heavy as a grand piano, which has an average weight of almost 900 pounds.

Popien said that’s why he liked the car — because it had style and was in pristine condition.

But above all, he added, he bought the Parisienne to help his wife, who was hospitalized at that time.

“So, I thought since she is from the same era as I am, it might bring back good memories of what things were like 30 years ago. It took a little bit for her to get used to the car, but when she saw how nice it rode and how quiet it was on the highway, she really started liking it.”

As he polished the trunk of his Parisienne Brougham, Popien remembered cars he has owned over the years.

First came a 1958 Meteor Rideau 500 four-door sedan, followed by a 1963 Mercury Meteor Custom two-door hardtop, and a 1964 Mercury Park Lane, which he said was once owned by Dufferin Roblin, the 14th premier of Manitoba, who led the Progressive Conservative government from 1958 to 1967.

But the first car Popien ever drove was his dad’s 1940 Ford Deluxe, “no frills.”

“My dad would have loved this Parisienne if he was alive. I can just hear him, ‘Man this thing rides like you’re sitting on a chesterfield watching TV.’ He passed away at age 92, about 25 years ago now,” said Popien.

When he takes the Parisienne to car shows, most of the comments come from people aged 50 and up, who tell him their own dad had a car like that. The younger crowds, he said, marvel at the size of the engine.

Popien’s daily drive is a 2015 Cadillac SUV, which he said has similarities to his 1973 Pontiac Parisienne Brougham.

Car manufacturers started using the word brougham in the early 1900s to add an air of prestige and a touch of class, according to Curbside Classic, and automotive website.

“With the cloth interior and bench seat, the brougham interior was classified as the best you can get,” said Popien.

“They were trying to make a Pontiac into a Cadillac for the upholstery — and I think they succeeded. When you open the door and get in, you feel really proud that you have a nice-looking car like that.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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