The Acadian was a compact car model produced by General Motors of Canada from 1962 to 1971. It was created to provide Canadian Pontiac-Buick dealers with a compact car model to sell, as the Pontiac Tempest was not available in Canada. The original plan was to base the Acadian on the Chevrolet Corvair, which was manufactured at GM's Oshawa plant, but it was later moved to the Chevy II platform and introduced in 1962. The Acadian was also sold in Chile, with models built in Arica. The brand was eventually discontinued in 1971.
History
In the 1960s, the Canadian government's Auto Pact prohibited the sale of certain US-made cars, so General Motors responded by offering Canadian-made models primarily for the Canadian market. The Acadian was a compact model based on the Chevrolet Nova, but with Pontiac styling cues and offered as a separate make. The Beaumont was a retrimmed version of the Chevrolet Chevelle, also offered as a separate make. Both the Acadian and Beaumont were discontinued in the early 1970s.
