Pontiac's 1955-1958 2-door wagons (& one for sale)

[Pontiac59]

Found a '55 Pontiac that I've discovered is a Chieftain 860 Colony wagon, factory 2-door, not a Canada model but one of 8670 produced that year. They made these until 1958, low production but they did build more than the Safari that everyone is familiar with. This model has a plain B-pillar; it's very obscure. Going to make this one available for sale in the spring. I'd like to find a 1958 version, though. Anyone familiar with these cars?

[rocketraider]

Other than that they were built using Pontiac mechanicals and front sheetmetal on Chevrolet wagon bodies, no. There's a 55 4-d Chieftain wagon here, with Pontiac-style taillights made to fit the Chevy pods. Even the rear wheel openings are unmistakably 55 Chevy.

I'd like to see how they grafted Pontiac-style taillights onto a 58 Chevy body. I think I may have an idea what they looked like from the custom taillights in an AMT 58 Chevy model kit I built years ago.

[Pontiac59]

Not sure the '58 doesn't have it's own unique stamp for the quarter. Fender lines are similar but the rear lights are very different on this year. My book doesn't show any '58 wagon from the rear, however they seem to have a spear which looks different.

Only custom lights I remember in that kit were plain pods and lenses in a V shape which went in the same place as Chevy lights. It does appear from photos the Pontiac lights were at the upper fender as on the sedans and coupes.

[Aanderson44]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Found a '55 Pontiac that I've discovered is a Chieftain 860 Colony wagon, factory 2-door, not a Canada model but one of 8670 produced that year. They made these until 1958, low production but they did build more than the Safari that everyone is familiar with. This model has a plain B-pillar; it's very obscure. Going to make this one available for sale in the spring. I'd like to find a 1958 version, though. Anyone familiar with these cars?

</div></div>

Not a Pontiac restorer by any means, but I have been a "factory stock" model car builder for decades--really get into doing the conversions of kits to get the cars that were never made in model kits.

Yes, from 1950-onward, Pontiac station wagons were always built around the same bodies as used by Chevrolet (keep in mind, while the lower-body sheet metal is the most visible on the entire car, it's just a "skin", not truly the body structure itself). Through 1956, all standard Pontiac station wagons used the same sheet metal skin from the firewall back as on a Chevrolet, the exceptions being the 55 and 56 Safari's, which had their own Pontiac-styled rear quarter panels and taillights. Beginning in 1957, Pontiac went to their own rear quarters on all station wagons, including the Safari.

In the years 53-56, Pontiac's "conventional" station wagons used various chrome bezels to fit the expected round, bullet-shaped taillight into the Chevy rear quarter panel's taillight openings.

The '58 Pontiac station wagons used an oval taillight bezel similar in style to the passenger cars and Bonneville, but it was narrower, in order to clear the tailgate opening, having a smaller, oval lens in it. This enabled Fisher Body Division (who built all GM bodies) to use the same rear quarter panel as any 58 Pontiac 4dr sedan, with only the requisite trimming and re-strikes needed to make a panel that would fit a station wagon body.

Hope this helps!

Art Anderson

[Guest]

There are several ads for sale on ebay that show the rear of the 58 Pontiac wagon. Also, there is another listing for an NOS pair of backup light lens for a 58 wagon for sale. If you search using "1958 Pontiac" they will come up.