Q: Greg, I have a 1966 Pontiac Catalina 2+2 with a 421-V8 Tri-Power. It has p.s., p.b., M-21 4-speed transmission with console, 8-lug wheels, bucket seats, posi rear and PHS Documentation as an original car. It is blue inside and out. The powers and wheels came from a "donor" car. The car is in Average "No. 2" condition. What's your opinion? Thanks, Dave M., Foley, Missouri.
A: Dave, you are sitting on a real beauty that is worth considerable money. In 1966, Pontiac built over 240,000 Catalina models, but just 6,383 were of the 2+2 variety.
The 421 Tri-Power V8 is another rarity, as the standard 2+2 engine in 1966 was indeed a 421, but it came with a single 4-barrel carburetor rated at 338 horsepower. The Tri-Power 3-2 barrel setup pushed the horses to either 356 or 376, and is the most desirable of all options.
The 376-horse engine was known as the 421 HO (high output) and featured a better cam, valve train, declutching fan, special exhaust manifolds, and chrome low-restriction air cleaners, valve covers and oil-filler cap. (Yours looks to be the 376-horse version, another big plus).
Pontiac offered 2+2 options in 1964 and 1965, the latter with the 421-V8 as standard equipment. However, in 1966, the 2+2 Catalina became a stand-alone model, and very few were built. In 1967, the 2+2 was again an option on the Catalina line, so you own the only stand-alone 2+2 ever produced.
The photos you sent me clearly show the correct 2+2 badges, twin lens tail lamps, and chrome side air slot gills behind the doors. Pontiac's now celebrated eight-lug aluminum wheels were optional that year, and even though yours were added later, they still look great and add to the value.
Your addition of the powers and the eight lug wheels haven't hurt this car by any means. Also, the factory option M-21 Muncie 4-speed is also an added plus with its Hurst shifter. I'd say your car is easily worth $25,000 and perhaps more to a real Pontiac collector.
As for the year 1966, on March 22, in Washington, DC, General Motors President James M. Roche appears before a Senate subcommittee and apologizes to consumer advocate Ralph Nader for the company's intimidation and harassment campaign against him stemming from his bad reviews about GM in his book "Unsafe at any speed" that includes a chapter on the Chevy Corvair's "tuck under" suspension; On May 4, Fiat signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the Soviet Union; The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, DC on June 30; The final new episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show airs Sept. 7; Adam Sandler, American actor and comedian, is born Sept. 9; Walt Disney, American animated film producer, dies Dec. 15.