Juan Crivello,
my grandfather, bought the car in September of 1946 in Villa Maria, Provence
of Cordoba, Argentina. He was the first owner of the car. The car wasn't
used that much because Juan liked to drive it only on the weekends. After
many years in 1981, I bought the car from Juan. I paid $1,000. You might
think that is a small amount of money, but in those days, because of inflation,
it was good money. Just like my grandpa I drive the car on the weekends.
It is really a pleasure, I love it. I'm the only one in the family who
drives it. Nobody feels safe driving the car because they say it is too
big.
The car is part of an antique
car club here in Villa Maria. It has been in many car expositions and it
has won some prizes. Every year I run in a race. Last year I finished in
third place. It is the only Pontiac here in Villa Maria and it's pretty
famous because it's always very clean. I like to wash it every weekend
and sometimes I wax it. I like to see how it shines when it is clean.
This year I did some repairs
to the engine because it was about to stop working, but now it runs like
it always did. I also repainted the right side of the car. I actually had
the work done by someone else. I'm not interested in selling the car right
now. I have received many offers but I did not accept any of them even
though good money was offered. I really would like my sons to keep the
car.
Osvaldo Bonetto
At this point I would like
to thank Osvald's son Luciano who acted as an interpreter and go between
for the many emails we sent back and forth. I also would like to see Osvaldo's
sons keep the car. It was my wife's grandfather's 47 wagon that got
me involved with Pontiacs and the old car hobby. I hope one of my two daughters
marries someone interested in keeping the history alive! -Don
More about this Pontiac:
Osvaldo's car has 72,000 original miles and the
pictures that his son sent me are quite impressive. It looks to be totally
original and in great shape. The first time I was contacted about this
car Osvaldo was asking about "amortaguadores", which I later learned are
shock absorbers. Luciano sent along with the pictures, a photocopy of
the owners manual in Spanish.
One reason it took so long to get this page online
is the fact that there are no I.D.plates on the car. I supplied all of
the numbers I could by looking at the photos. It is not known when the
plates were removed or by whom. Luciano tells me that the police provided
a number to identify the car because they could not find any numbers either.
This situation is what inspired the page with the picture of the engine
compartment that shows where the numbers are located.Click
here to see that page. Luciano did find the numbers 6-30646 on the
engine. Does anyone know what they stand for?
The great photos also should motivate
me to get busy on our "Photo Album" page. For now I am including another
photo here that shows a scene that has been occuring all over the world.
Everyone loves road races and parades especially with vintage Pontiacs!
- Don
