The Barn Find Hunter Discovers a Private Pontiac Museum
Tom Cotter spotted another gem of a collection while wandering through some back roads in rural Maine. Charlie, the owner of this menagerie, is particularly fond of Pontiac cars and International Harvester trucks. A man after my own heart. Charlie and Tom first quickly inspect a Scout II before stopping by an oddball in the collection, a Toyota FJ40. Moving into the main collection, Charlie reveals that he has at least one Pontiac from every decade of the brand’s existence. As the marque started as a spin-off of GM’s Oakland brand in 1926, it’s appropriate that a 1926 model is where the collection begins.
After touching on a string of beautiful Pontiacs, there’s a slight detour with the story of the 1967 Travelall that kicked off Charlie’s obsession with International, before the two are right back to Ponchos, with a Tri-Power 1966 GTO—one of two GTOs in the collection. Unfortunately, Charlie’s 1970 GTO wasn’t on site, but two representatives from the 1970s are: The flamboyant pair, a 1977 Can Am and a 1977 Trans Am, both feature shaker hood scoops. While the black-and-gold Trans Am is one of the most iconic Pontiacs of the decade, and the color scheme of the special-edition model is almost synonymous with the entire second-generation Trans Am, the Can Am, in contrast, is a rare machine. Created by combining the Grand Prix and Grand Am with Trans Am engines, fewer than 1400 were built. After showing off a slew of pickups, including a former Budweiser semi that’s towing an early Scout, it’s back to cars with a brief look at an ’88 Fiero GT, the only year Pontiac’s mid-engine two-seater was available in yellow.
Despite being focused on two defunct brands, Charlie’s collection has astounding variety—as well as some interesting deviations from the theme. Not only are the four- and 18-wheel members of the collection worthy of the tour, but there’s a whole heap of signs and décor in the shop that are worth a watch. Hopefully, Tom’s adventures encourage you to take the road less traveled and perhaps stumble across a Travelall yourself. Happy hunting!
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