My favorite Pontiac year is 1959. And the Star Chief is my favorite model. So when I saw this 37,000 mile original on Craigslist, resplendent in the rare “Sunset Glow” color, I said to myself, “It’s a dream come true”.
Even the magazine ads for the all-new 1959 Pontiacs had a surreal, “dreamy” quality . . .
The highly-esteemed illustrations by commercial artists Art Fitzpatrick & Van Kaufman bent reality even further, exaggerating the low/wide proportions and portraying the cars in idealized settings–everything is beautiful; everybody’s cool! Great looking cars, great advertising–these bold, radically new Wide-Track ’59 Pontiacs were an absolute sensation!
Seller’s description:
“Gorgeous 1959 Pontiac Star Chief. 37050 original miles. 389 with two barrel and Hydromatic. Power steering and brakes. Working am radio. Never any rust. Mostly original paint in Sunset Glow and it’s in great shape. Nice chrome and beautiful original interior. Has the glitter carpet. American Classic radial wide whites and stainless dual exhaust. Runs and drives as new. Lots of documentation. Original window sticker and bill of sale. Heads redone with hardened valve seats and motor rebuilt. Excellent original condition with a few little flaws. It’s 65 years old after all. Gets big attention! $24500.” Location: Milford, Mass.
Inside, the fantasy continues. It’s not “a car”, but a futuristic jet fighter or intergalactic spacecraft (like in the ads!) Everything looks sparkling new and deluxe. You can see the “glitter” carpeting. (Pontiac called it “star-flecked”.) Power steering and brakes are included–“Dream-Smooth” driving!
Door panels are a work of art and in such good shape!
The “star” motif is everywhere–inside, outside . . . The stars represent outer space, sparkling newness, the speed of light, beauty, brightness–jewel-like brilliance!
Under the hood, the base 389 cubic inch V-8 with 2 bbl. “economy” carburetor. Consumer Reports stated that the optional 4 bbl. is not likely to be missed, since it provides even more “superfluous, wasteful performance”.
Somehow this Pontiac made it from Wisconsin to Massachusetts.
Original bill of sale. “WONDER TOUCH” power steering and brakes. “SUPER” Hydra-Matic!
Original invoice.
The Star Chief shares wide oval taillights with the top-of-the-line Bonneville. This is a wide, angry monster bristling with sharp points–enough to “stop a squadron of tanks” with “fins that are scarcely of this world” according to one automotive writer. LOL!
1959 Chevrolet Biscayne in Cameo Coral.
When looking at this ’59 Pontiac, it is inevitable that I should compare it to my ’59 Chevrolet. They share the same body shell, but the Pontiac has a longer wheelbase–plus stretched-out and differently styled front and rear sheetmetal; a different engine and suspension; and on the “Wide-Track” Pontiac the wheels are spread farther apart. The interior trim is completely different too. The Star Chief is 10″ longer than the Chevy, which succeeds in the almost impossible task of making the “gull-wing” ’59 Chevy seem compact!
Car shown before it was painted a correct two-tone.
But they’re the same color! Yes, I’m pretty certain that Chevrolet’s Cameo Coral is the same shade as Pontiac’s Sunset Glow. The various GM divisions used different names for the same colors. Oldsmobile called it Russet Poly and Buick’s version was Tawny Rose.
The Chevrolet cockpit, while Corvette-inspired, heavily sculptured and dramatic, lacks the sparkle and design sophistication of the Pontiac. Steering and brakes are not power assisted.
In Canada, you could get a ’59 Pontiac with a beefed-up version of this Chevrolet 6 cylinder engine, with Powerglide transmission in place of Hydra-Matic. As demonstrated here, it was a smooth, quiet, high torque powertrain that drove very nicely.
Well, there may be a few reasons . . .
Considering that in both Chevrolet and Pontiac you’re sitting in the same basic body shell, what do you get for the extra money spent “trading up” to a Pontiac Star Chief? A ’59 Chevrolet Biscayne starts at about $2300; adding Powerglide transmission, radio and heater adds $300, so about $2600 total. The featured Star Chief (as stickered) comes in at a rather princely $3854–a roughly $1200 difference!
So what are you getting for your extra $1200? A bigger car (externally) with different styling; a large V8; 4-speed Hydra-Matic instead of 2-speed Powerglide; power steering and brakes; a more sumptuously-upholstered and trimmed interior; chrome stars on the rear fenders and elsewhere; and the mildly upscale connotations of the Pontiac name. All very nice, but you pay a rather hefty price for all those goodies!
1959 Chevrolet Biscayne after two-tone paint job in Satin Beige over original Cameo Coral. It would have cost $22 extra to have the car painted this way when new.
Even now, the price difference between these two similar cars is considerable. The price I paid for the Chevy in 2018 (approximately adjusted for the recent hyperinflation) is about one-third the asking price ($24,500) for this Pontiac! Which makes me wonder–are the virtues this Pontiac has that my Chevy lacks really worth a $16,000 premium?
The 59 Pontiac has a much wider 😉 appeal for me. HS best friend’s Mom drove a metallic green Star Chief after their 57 DeSoto. Now both DeSoto andPontiac (like so much else) are Gone With the Wind. IMO 59 Pontiacs were the best of the GM lineup. A fun fact. The dash featured two ashtrays in chrome. One had a P. The other one had a C. When their car was returned from detailing, the two were reversed. For a brief time the car was a C O N T I A P 😁 🤣 . Now that IS a one of a kind.
With all due respect for the Chevy, I truly appreciate the Pontiac alot more for what you get. The trim, the extra length, the wide-track design all add appeal.
The Pontiac chassis is an entirely different design from the Chevy. Other than the “body shell”, it’s a completely different car.
They simply took a Pontiac body which was designed for a wide-track frame and dropped it onto a narrower Chevrolet frame for the Canadian market
I will confess that I prefer the toned-down 1960 versions of both cars, but if you seek peak late 50s extravagance, the 59s are the way to go.
I think the Pontiac gave the 1959 buyers a lot of value for the extra money. I think even the basic Catalina got you a 389 and the same Hydra Matic found in Oldsmobile and Cadillac. And, of course, all that glitz!
I love this!
This is also the era when Hydra-Matic Pontiacs got higher compression ratios and hotter cams. A Catalina with the base 389-2V and Hydra-Matic had 280 hp (although you could get a special low-compression 2V economy engine as a no-cost option) — you’d need to step up to a 348 to get that kind of power on a ’59 Chevrolet.
A “basic” Catalina gave you a 3-speed manual. The optional Hydramatic was significantly more expensive than the Powerglide.
Yeah but however in the Great White North, Canadian Pontiacs like the Laurentian and Parisienne was only a “Cheviac” or a “Ponvrolet”. I saw some scans showing the 1959 Canadian Pontiac. https://oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/GM-Canada/Pontiac/1959-Pontiac-Brochure/slides/1959_Pontiac_Cdn-01.html
In the Canadian Pontiac brochure referenced above by Stéphane Dumas, the Strato-Chief interior exactly matches my Biscayne interior. The embossed patterns in the vinyl aren’t nearly that prominent in real life!
The chrome (stainless??) side trim on the Pontiac – the swoosh, the stars, the Star Chief lettering – are easily worth the price premium. Just to look at, even without experiencing the V8, PS/PB, etc. Those details, more than the body shape itself, really make it stand apart from the Chevy. And a ‘59 Chevy isn’t exactly plain.
I feel like quoting the price spread between a relatively basic Biscayne and a fairly loaded Star Chief isn’t exactly fair. A four-door Impala sedan with similar equipment would sticker for well over $3,300.
I was going to say the same thing, comparing to the low end Chevy isn’t very fair. It was pretty common for a loaded up top model GM to be in the same ballpark price wise as the lowest priced model from the next brand up the ladder. That is why when small dealers sold more than 1 GM brand they skipped a rung, hence the Chevy-Olds dealers, Olds-Cadillac or Pontiac-Buick and occasionally GMC.
The comparison had nothing to do with “fairness”. He clearly pointed out what one got for the extra dollars. It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison, and properly done.
The real point here is just how expensive it was to get a new car with a few comfort, convenience and power accessories, but not even including a/c. My take away? We talk much too often here about car prices using the base prices, when in reality they did not represent what the majority of buyers were paying.
Indeed. A proper comparison would be a 1959 Catalina (not the stretched Star Chief) with an Impala. Base price for a ‘59 Catalina sedan was $2,704, and $2,598 for the Impala. You got a lot for the extra $106, including a standard 389 V-8 instead of the 230 six. Automatic transmission was extra on both but the Pontiac’s ($231) was a 4 speed Hydramatic instead of Chevy’s 2 speed Powerglide ($199). Add in the higher prestige of the Pontiac and it was a pretty good deal.
The base Catalina was comparable to the Bel Air in trim, upholstery and otherwise, not the Impala.
Have to agree. Impala always had nicer trim than the base Catalina, Olds Dynamic 88 and Buick LeSabre, even though the standard drivetrains were stouter on BOP. However, Catalina, Dynamic 88 and LeSabre all offered an optional custom interior trim group (Ventura trim on the Catalina) for about $100 that closed the gap somewhat. This gave you chrome window frames and some additional interior goodies.
Some interesting marketing here by GM. They wanted to lure you into the upmarket brands by touting they were only a few dollars more, but made this possible by cheapening content on the base models.
The 230 first became available, early in the following decade.
The article claims that Pontrevrolet’s six-banger was a “beefed-up” Stovebolt. There was nothing “beefed-up” about it. They simply dropped in a light-duty truck’s 261
Gorgeous Pontiac. I can easily see what makes the Pontiac more expensive and it is also why I would gravitate to it. I like chrome. Just compare the front and rear bumpers of the Pontiac and the Chevy. My god so different. The Chevy’s front bumper looks no different than the front bumper on my 65 F100. The Pontiac’s bumper, especially the rear, are from a different world.
I grew up not far from the original selling dealership. They were located almost next to Allis Chalmers tractor company. It’s surprising that this car survived. Wisconsin has never been friendly to vehicles due to our winters and the heavy use of road salt. This car appears like it’s 1961 or 1962. Truly amazing. I love the color and remember it.
As was often the case, Consumer Reports was wrong. In normal driving the four-barrel carburetor was more economical than the two-barrel, because of its smaller primary venturis. Yes, when you opened up the throttle some more, the secondaries opened up and the engine consumed more fuel. But with the four-barrel, the opportunity was there. You didn’t have to use it.
Consumer Reports always recommended the smallest engine, even if it was a Six.
Serious question: Is there a contemporary side-by-side road test showing the hi-po engine getting better mileage? Because Consumer Reports reported (ha) the the 420-E “economy” engine in their test car got absolutely terrible gas mileage–9.8 mpg in traffic and 12.6 mpg overall, despite the 2 barrel carb, different valve timing, and a lower numerical axle ratio. It isn’t too hard to imagine the 4 bbl high compression version doing about as well.
Consumer Reports, along with their competitor Consumers’ Research, added that the economy engine needed premium fuel to keep from knocking heavily. That would have annoyed the heck out of me.
Great representation of the 1959 GMs. In my opinion, a much better look than the Buick that year.
Had my Dad been a GM man, he would have gone more for the Chevy, saying “Who needs all that extra space?” It would have been three on the tree and a six banger.
A friend’s Mom was driving him to school sometime in the mid 60s in one of these Pontvolet’s. Somehow both wheels on the left side were running along at nearly 45 degrees negative camber. That must have been some kind of repair bill.
My father brought home a new 59 Bonneville
Sport” 2 door hardtop in late 58. It was fully loaded. Even Tri-Power. Traded his 56 Ford Victoria (no Crown) 2 dr hardtop. I was all of 7 at the time and fell in love with it. Still love 59 Pontiacs. Hayell, srill love ALL Pontiacs.
Had a white 59 Bonneville convertible. Factory bucket seats tri-power and three speed on the column. Sold it in 64 for $250.00. Would like to know how many they made like it. Oh the ones you wished you kept.
As a new-born I came home from the hospital in my father’s 1959 Catalina 2-door hardtop which was also sunset amethyst but with a white top. The car was in his possession until he replaced it with a 1964 Catalina (again 2-door hardtop with the Ventura trim). Neither had the highest rated engines. Both had the 389 with a four barrel and automatic transmissions; Hydramatic in the ’59 and the less robust, but still adequate “Slim Jim” in the ’64.
In contrast my uncle (father’s younger brother) had a 1959 Impala 2-door hardtop; white with a red interior. At that young age I really didn’t consider the differences between the two. I do recall that looking at the rear end of either car was rather unsettling though.
As a kid the 59 Pontiac was a breakthrough; before it came along I thought PMD produced cars primarily for older folks. The widetrack, split grille, and overall dynamic look seemed so right for the time. The 60 was a step backward that was corrected in 61 when the split grille became a Pontiac trademark for years to come. Today the rear styling seems overdone and I like the 59 Olds better.
The 59 Chevy was surprisingly popular in small town Midwest where I grew up, despite its far-out rear styling. The new full model line-up for Impala offered a lot of glamour and prestige for the money. The two-tone and color choices on your Biscayne really make the car. When new most Biscaynes sold in our area were totally stripped down and in pretty drab single colors. Our rural postal delivery man had one, Powerglide, radio, and heater only, nondescript color. Worlds away from a two-tone dolled up Impala with twin rear antennas, V8 crossed flags, whitewalls with wheel covers. Good times.
I painted my Biscayne so it would match the brochure image, which is Satin Beige over Cameo Coral. Chevrolet described the Biscayne sedan as providing “beauty on a budget.”
I wish more ’59 Pontiacs had survived, but then I wish that about a lot of old cars I’ve loved. 382,000 were made; can’t remember exactly when or where I last saw one. When I was a little kid a neighbor had a green Catalina sedan, but that was in the early 1970s. A long, long time ago . . .
Chevrolet brochure:
The Craigslist posting has already been deleted. Assuming the Pontiac sold, it sold quickly! Glad I saved the photos!
A really pretty car .
I can’t imagine building one for the selling price of this beauty .
Sadly Chevrolet Division didn’t offer the Hydramatic with the 235 i6 engine except in light delivery trucks and Canadian Pontiacs ~ the coupling made for a very nice driving and fuel sipping car .
My first thought was : my monitor must be going, that sure looks like Coral / Salmon to me .
-Nate