Ron Erker has a long story to tell about his 1967 Pontiac Parisienne because he has owned it since 1969.
His family grew up with the Poncho and it is a part of the family.
Ron lives in western Canada and his Pontiac has been on 62 (and counting) separate trips to the US.
Ron shot an old school family movie film in 1971 on a stretch of highway between Phoenix and Las Vegas. The footage was taken behind the wheel of his Pontiac.
Fittingly, he took the same footage 39 years later on the same stretch of highway behind the wheel of the same car. The only difference was that Ron used a digital video cam this time.
Ron has a still photo of his baby boy behind the wheel of the Pontiac. That baby is now over forty, and he has some very fond memories of many road trips in the old family friend.
The Poncho needed a heart transplant over the years, so it now sports a 283 small block in place of the original engine.
Clearly the big Pontiac has gone from red to yellow over the passage of time, but it may return to red in the future-money permitting.
The fact that Ron drives it so much will definitely rule out a summer restoration, however winter is definitely an option. As long as it is ready for another summer on the road because it is a long-standing ritual of summer for Ron, his family and his car to spend time together-on the road.
The car carries a unique add-on feature from the early 70s: an under-dash 8-track player. Ron may have a little trouble updating his 8-track collection for road trips, but that likely doesn’t really matter…
His heart and his car are firmly rooted together in a large portfolio of very memorable family trips, so the old 8-track tunes are a better choice for Ron.
The car and the music belong together.
Jim Sutherland
More car stories at https://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/2-features/stories.html
