My new '59 Star Chief has landed (PICS)

[Centurion]

I turned five years old during late August, 1958. My parents were driving the third, consecutive Pontiac which they had purchased new -- a '56 Chieftain 2-door Catalina. My interest in all things automotive had already awakened, and my earliest recollection of the new car introductions remains the new '59's from GM and Ford. (Chrysler had a weak dealership presence in my rural Oregon hometown.)

When I got my hands on the brochure for the new Wide Track '59 Pontiacs, I went nuts, and began begging my parents to purchase one of the sensational new models. I even entered the contest from the General Mills cereal boxes, where the grand prize was a '59 Pontiac.

The '59 Pontiac dreams abated. My parents replaced the old Chieftain with a new '61 Buick, sticking with the brand through their final passenger car purchase in 1989.

As the years passed, I continued to love the '59 Pontiacs, although my collector car interests led me elsewhere. In the 1980's and 1990's, I test drove a couple of '59 Pontiacs, but they were never the right cars at the right time.

But I began to pay much more attention to all the '59 General Motors cars after acquiring my '59 Buick Electra in 1998. It would be that same year that I first saw a Canyon Copper / Cameo Ivory '59 Star Chief Vista, and I immediately admired the beautiful car. I saw it once again at a Pontiac / Buick show in 1999, and a final time in about 2004.

I had obtained the owner's contact information, including him in my e-mails every year for the '59 General Motors "Imagination in Motion" driving tours I've organized here in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. Year after year, I was disappointed that the beautiful Star Chief was a perennial "no show".

This year, the owner replied to my e-mail, indicating that the Pontiac would be offered for sale. He asked me to pass the word along, but I caught myself, realizing that I was the best candidate to become the Pontiac's next caretaker. My wife was fully onboard with the idea.

When I test drove the car last Sunday and saw it for the first time in about nine years, we realized that the water pump is leaking. One of the local Buick Club members loaded the car onto his trailer for me last night, so you'll see Rick in some of the photos working on securing the car to the trailer for the 35-mile transport to my home.

The car is a 67,000-mile original, built in the Kansas City (Fairfax) Buick-Olds-Pontiac assembly plant, where my '59 Buick was also born. Like my Buick, this one was sold new in Oregon and the original Oregon plates come with the car. The interior is nearly perfect, and the engine compartment is completely correct and presentable. I had no opportunity last night to shoot any interior photos, but will do so this weekend. The only authenticity issue is the coved panel between the taillamps, painted Cameo Ivory to match the roof. The seller indicated that he had fully investigated this, and is convinced that the car was painted in this manner from the factory. (Neither the seller nor I have seen another '59 Pontiac finished with the contrasting color rear panel.) The local '59 Pontiac expert in the Pontiac Club indicates that some cars were, in fact, delivered this way, although he has no documentation to support this idea.

Can't wait to park it in my garage alongside the '59 Buick.

And, here it is in the garage with the Buick!

[Guest]

Congratulations on your new 59 StarChief Vista hardtop. Would be interested in hearing your evaluation of how much better the Pontiac accelerates with it's four speed hydra-matic and wide track handling compared to the narrow track Buick and dynaflow transmission. FYI my father special ordered a 59 Catalina for street / strip usage with the "420A" 389 Tri-Power engine, heavy duty hydra-matic 4 speed and a 3.08 posi for the street and a 3.90 and 4.10 for the strip. Our car was the only Catalina I know of with the exception of Harley Earl's wife's Catalina that was special ordered with a Bonneville hardtop tri-tone leather interior. I received my drag racing licence in the car at age fourteen and two years later my street licence in it. Glad you found your dream, I wish I had mine back, I sold it in 1969 to help buy a 1969 H-0 LeMans ( I still have) and unfortunately in 1978 I went looking for the car only to find out it had been shredded by Kleen Steel three months before I started looking.

Enjoy your new ride!

[Bleach]

I have seen '59 Pontiac's painted in the contrasting color matching the roof so I would have no doubt it being original. It's a beautiful car. Enjoy every moment with it you can.

I can't wait to see more photos of your new acquisition.

[Centurion]

Thank you both for your kind comments. My focus with the old cars is driving-type events, and I organize and host an annual 1959 General Motors "Imagination in Motion" Tour. I select a route on the rural highways -- often with plenty of curves, hills, varying road surfaces, etc. -- and we generally run anywhere from 100 to 200 miles on the day tours.

Read through this topic, to get a flavor for our annual event and the cars that participate:

http://forums.aaca.org/f213/pacific-northwest-1959-general-motors-imagination-357625.html

I've pushed the Buick on these tours, and, during last month's tour, I found that my Electra and a Tri-Power Star Chief Sport Sedan tended to leave the other cars well behind, probably reflecting a more aggressive driving style more than anything else.

I think many people have heard that the early Dynaflows were slow off the line, and generalize this point-of-view to all Dynaflow Buicks. By the late-1950's, they were responsive and remain perfectly driveable in modern traffic. I have owned a number of cars with THM400's, and, guess what, I've never felt that my '59 Buick was sluggish or slow by comparison. I'm not timing the cars at the drag strip, however, so this is simply my observation from driving.

In any event, I do look forward to getting on the road with the Pontiac. The two cars are set-up remarkably similarly, with the exception of transmission, and have similar mileage.

1959 Star Chief Vista: 389-cid 4-bbl, Hydramatic, dual exhausts added, Coker bias ply tires and full coil suspension, axle ratio not yet researched.

1959 Buick Electra: 401-cid 4-bbl, Triple Turbine, dual exhausts standard, Coker bias ply tires and full coil suspension. 2.73 rear axle ratio.

I'll shoot lots of photos when I have a chance, probably a few weeks from now, although we'll soon be in the midst of lousy weather, and I promise to provide a full driveability report!

Edited September 17, 2013 by Centurion (see edit history)

[cjp69]

Congrats Brian, looks great next to your 59 Buick. That is the way the garage is supposed to look, lol!

[Guest]

The 1959 Star Chief and the Catalina both when ordered with Super Hydramatic have a standard 280hp 2bbl 389 with the 472 cam and 10:1 compression and a 3.08 open diff 9.3" pumkin. The option 4bbl for the street is identical spec. sans the 4bbl and 300hp. The Hydramatic with a 3.97 first gear and a second of 2.55 is a real stump puller. The Super Hydramatic's 2nd gear of 2.55 is way lower than a T-400 or a T-350's first gear and literally blast off the line.

My Catalina with 3.08's at wide open throttle would shift from 1st to second at 15mph and with 4.10's would be out of first at 7mph. The car ran consistent 13.90-93 seconds at 102mph in the quarter mile.

FYI due to split torque in the Hydramatic when the trans is in fourth gear only 25% of the engine power is driving the fluid coupling and 75% is in direct mechanical connection to the tailshaft, that means that single coupling and dual coupling ( Super Hydramatic) are the most efficient automatic's made until automatic's came with a lock up converter. It's no wonder a 59 Catalina won it's class in the coast to coast Mobil economy run with a 389 420E 215 hp economy engine and Super Hydramatic at over 21mpg average.

BTW saw your thread in Performance years forum today.

D.

[Centurion]

The local owner of a Bonneville Vista (Cameo Ivory with Sunset Glow interior) dropped by for a visit last night, so we shot a few photos. I neglected to shoot any interior photos, but will share these with you all.

This view reveals the different stainless treatment between the Bonneville and Star Chief series cars; the peaks of the Vee'd tailfins on the Bonneville are fully trimmed, but only the outer fin receives the peak molding on the Star Chief:

[TG57Roadmaster]

Time's running out for pics of the interior...I mean before winter sets in.

Glad you're enjoying your new beauty, and we all look forward to seeing

its original set of Star Chief "threads."

TG

Edited October 7, 2013 by TG57Roadmaster (see edit history)

[Centurion]

Thanks, Tom! I'm working way too much, so not having sufficient opportunity to shoot '59 Pontiac photos!

Love those "rocket tail" ads for Fisher Body; thanks for posting the Canyon Copper / Cameo Ivory Vista.

[aussiecowboy]

What a stunning car! You've done well.