The Firebird Comanches featured...
The Firebird Comanches featured a unique exterior look, including a whited-out tail panel called a "Kamm tail" and white-paint fender stripes. When new, Comanches were outfitted with Pirelli Cinturato tires (205/70R14 and 225/70R14), though this example rides on modern rubber.
Comparing his Comanche against both the one detailed in the vintage article and the one he had seen in person, Steve determined that his rare Firebird was more than just a documented member of this new tribe of grand touring, limited-edition F-bodies. His was optioned with all the qualities one should attribute to the tribe's chief, as evidenced by its L74 400 H.O./RA-III engine, M21 close-ratio four-speed transmission, 3.90 Safe-T-Track, power driver seat, power windows, and AM/FM radio. "Whether my Comanche was built as the ultimate dealer-showroom display or was special-ordered for a wealthy customer is unknown, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any options on the sales-order form that were left out," he says.
Subsequent research put Steve in contact with Chris Wilkin, the nephew of Grant Hamilton, who was a salesman at Grant Hamilton Pontiac and personally sold Comanche Firebirds when new. "Grant participated in many types of automotive challenges, such as rallies, circuit racing, and gymkhanas . . . [he] was instrumental in introducing the '64 Tri-Power GTO to the Montreal market. In 1967, he purchased the building of Parkway Pontiac on the outskirts of Montreal [which he renamed Grant Hamilton Pontiac]. The Comanche was solely [his] brainchild. [It] was conceived as a vehicle to differentiate Grant Hamilton Pontiac from other General Motors dealerships. He had an entente [a diplomatic understanding] with General Motors that it would not produce any like automobiles for other dealerships. Grant passed away at an early age in June 1991."
The WQ-code 400 was only put...
The WQ-code 400 was only put in 1,087 Firebirds in 1969. This example has been nicely restored by Richard Johns of Pure Stock Auto Restorations in Mt. Brydges, Ontario, Canada.
"This Comanche was in very good condition for its age," Steve recalls. "Its undercarriage had been undercoated when new, which resulted in the frame and floors being clean, at least by Canadian standards. The body had been repainted in the late '80s, in its original color, and it was in nice condition, too, however, the white Kamm tail and fender stripes had not been reapplied to the car. Its original interior was complete, but worn and in need of replacement. The engine bay's appearance had been neglected, however everything was largely intact, with no rust issues. Even the original two-piece brake rotors and ball joints were still in place."
Steve asked his brother, Richard Johns, owner/operator of Pure Stock Auto Restorations (www.purestockauto.com) in Mount Brydges, Ontario, to execute the restoration. "The Comanche's paintwork was still very presentable, so Steve and I decided to only redo what needed to be done to make the car a nice showy driver, without blowing the car completely apart," he says.
That constituted a minimal amount of metal work. "Three floorpan sections and the lower trunk pan were replaced due to water damage," according to Richard, followed by repainting the top surfaces-the Comanche hood, Endura nose, front valance, filler panel, upper rear quarters, decklid, and rear tail panel.
You may have heard of a leather...
You may have heard of a leather interior (code 293) offered in 1969, but a very limited number of Firebirds were optioned this way; all of them were custom interiors.
"I scuffed the paint, and then applied two coats of Dupont ChromaBase in Expresso Brown, followed by four coats of Dupont 7900S ChromaClear. Then I wet-sanded the entire car, starting with Norton 1,000-grit and progressed to 2,500-grit, followed by buffing using 3M products. Afterwards, I masked off the areas and painted the off-white Kamm tail and front-fender stripes, again with Dupont products," he says.
"The '69 Comanche that Early Birds had put me in touch with still had its original two-tone paint, so through detailed photographs, we were able to correctly document the exact locations of the fender stripes and Kamm tail color for my car," Steve adds.
Engine bay, undercarriage, and mechanical restoration followed. Richard pulled the entire drivetrain, including the rear axle and rear leaf springs, media-blasted the engine bay, subframe, and undercarriage; then taped them off and applied PPG DP90 Epoxy primer.
He bored the code-WQ 400 0.030 over and installed a ready-to-rock rotating assembly, consisting of a Pontiac crankshaft (turned 0.010/0.010), Ross pistons, stock polished-beam rods, and a Mellings "744" stock-replacement camshaft with 301/313 degrees duration and 0.413/0.413-inch lift. Date-coded No. 48 heads received Ferrea 2.11/1.77 stainless steel valves, new valvesprings, stock-replacement pushrods, and stock-replacement 1.5:1 stamped-steel rockers. The rebuilt engine was mated to its original long-branch exhaust manifolds, which, after reinstallation in the car, route the spent gases through a 2.5-inch mandrel-bent Pypes stainless-steel exhaust system, including X-style crossover and 14-inch Race Pro mufflers.