Pontiac!

Look at those glorious alloy wheels; only Pontiac had them.

“If you grew up in the '50s and '60s, you know what real performance cars are.”
So says the owner of a '61 Pontiac Catalina two-door hardtop in my May 2010 issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine — #68.
The issue is doing a full treatment of Pontiac.
I grew up in the '50s and '60s, and indeed Pontiac was the siren-song of performance.
And to me the 1961 model is the apogee of the breed.
And the 1961 Catalina pictured reflects consummate taste.
It's four-on-the-floor, and the 348 horsepower 389 engine.
Not the killer 421, but a monster.
It's amazing to think before the 1955 model-year, Pontiac was a GrandPop's car, like the '52 Chiefton pictured at left.
Pontiac was introduced in 1926 as a cheaper companion to GM's Oakland, much like Cadillac's LaSalle.
But unlike LaSalle, it succeeded; enough where Oakland was abandoned.
At first it was a small step up from Chevrolet; a Chevrolet, but with a large fluted chrome center-strip on the hood and trunk, and a different motor.
The Chiefton pictured has a straight-eight flat-head.
Even Chevrolet's Stove-Bolt six was overhead-valve.
Pontiac was foundering, so Bunky Knudson (“NUDE-sin”) was brought in to stoke the breed.
Knudson was a hot-rodder, and wanted to hot-rod Pontiac.
A new V8 motor was brought to market in the 1955 model-year, but Knudson still had a long way to go.
The chrome trim-strips disappeared in the 1957 model-year, as did the lighted clear amber hood ornaments of Chief Pontiac.
Pontiac was shedding its droll image.
Triple two-barrel carburetion was made made available in 1958, and Pontiacs raced NASCAR.
Unfortunately, the '58 Pontiac was the bloated car introduced in 1957 as GM's Buick/Oldsmobile/Cadillac. Pontiac went with it for 1958, as did Chevrolet, a dreadful mistake.
The '59 Pontiac was even worse, but they debuted Wide-Track, essentially widening the tracking of the wheels so the cars cornered better.
The '59 Pontiac was ugly, but entrant Smokey Yunick started winning NASCAR races with driver Fireball Roberts.
1960 looked much better, fabulous.
But 1961 was better still, the best-looking Pontiac of all time.
By now, Knudson had transformed Pontiac into a hot-rod that appealed to youth.
I was so smitten I suggested my father get a '61 Pontiac, and was summarily laughed out of our house.
Automobiles were mere transportation, and my father only bought used.
A new Pontiac would be reprehensible; representative of rebellion.
The transformation was complete; so successful a high-school friend went to work for Pontiac.
He too had been smitten, plus his father bought a 1962 389 Pontiac four-door hardtop — not as gorgeous as the '61, but a Pontiac.
He claimed it was capable of 140 mph — 140 on the clock, but probably 125 or so.
He worked for Pontiac his whole life, but now Pontiac is gone.
Is it any wonder the first musclecars were Pontiacs; the G-T-O?
Pontiac tried to maintain the image Knudson left it with, but it was always a gussied up Chevrolet.
Yet compare a '61 Pontiac to a '61 Chevrolet, and I'd take the Pontiac, even if the Chevy was a 409.

• 389 or 421 cubic-inch engine displacement. A 421 is HUGE.
• The Chevrolet overhead-valve inline “Stovebolt-six” was introduced in the 1929 model-year at 194+ cubic inches. It continued production for years, upgraded to four main bearings (from three) for the 1937 model-year. In 1950 the Stovebolt was upsized to 235.5 cubic inches (from 216), and later upgrades included full-pressure lubrication and hydraulic (as opposed to mechanical) valve-tappets. The Stovebolt was produced clear through the 1963 model-year, but replaced with a new seven main-bearing (as opposed to four) inline-six engine in the 1964 model-year. The Stovebolt was also known as “the cast-iron wonder;” called the “Stovebolt” because various bolts could be replaced by stuff from the corner hardware.
• “Triple two-barrel carburetion” is three two-barrel carburetors in a row, fueling the engine. Usually an engine had only one carburetor, but triple deuces (so-called) enhanced engine breathing; but they were very hard to synchronize — get to work together. Triple deuces were a hot-rodding move. Often an engine had two four-barrel carburetors; although carburetors were enlarged so much, a single four-barrel could equal the breathing capacity of multiple carburetors.—Carburetors are no longer used. They are too sloppy. They were replaced by fuel injection, which is more precise.
• “GM” is of course General Motors.
• “On the clock” is of course on-the-speedometer; and speedometers at that time were notoriously optimistic.
• RE: “ 409.....” —During the 1961 model-year, Chevrolet introduced a 409 cubic inch displacement enlargement of their 348 truck motor. It was hot-rodded, and used to drag-race. (Drag-racing is start-to-finish over a quarter-mile.) —The 409 was a major step forward for drag-racing; the first time a manufacturer crossed the 400 cubic-inch barrier. But the 409 was overkill; its 348 base had been enlarged so much, it could be defective. Chevrolet replaced the 348 with its Big-Block V8. (The Chevrolet “Big-Block” was introduced in the 1965 model-year at 396 cubic-inches. It was made in various displacements: 402, 427 and 454 cubic inches. It’s still made as a truck-motor, but not installed in cars any more; although you can get it as a crate-motor, for self-installation. The Chevrolet “Small-Block” V8 was introduced at 265 cubic-inches displacement in the 1955 model-year. It continued production for years, first at 283 cubic inches, then 327, then 350. Other displacements were also manufactured.)