Help!1959 Bucket seats
 

Was there ever an option where you could order bucket seats in a 4-door or a station wagon?Ive only seen 1 bonneville sation wagon with buckets seats that may have been installed later on and never seen them in a 4-door or anything else but a bonneville convertible and never seen Bonneville 2-door hardtop or a catalina convertible with them either.Thanks

In 1961, those hard shell bucket seats were a regular option only in Bonneville convertibles, but they were available as a special order option in other cars. I've only seen them in Bonneville and Ventura two door hardtops, but theoretically they could have been installed in any other body style. I can only assume it was the same situation in 1959 - someone who has a dealer's album or salesman's handbook for 1959 may be able to confirm or deny that.

thanks for your reply.

cballweg…..according to the Pontiac dealer album for 1959 they were only available as an extra cost option on Bonneville convertibles……John

Thanks,I was wonderting about this but back in the day you could just about special order anything but on these maybe not but thats maybe why ive never seen them on anything but bonney convertibles.

I've never seen any on anything but a Bonneville (1960 I'm referring to here). I'm pretty sure I saw them in a 60 Bonn 4 dr hardtop WAY back before I was even out of school (45+ years ago) which makes me think they were original factory installed as there was probably no interest in all this stuff way back then. Just my observation.

The only thing I can think of for a 4-door car the seat backs would not tilt forward for rear seat passengers whereas all 2-doors and convertibles would have to tilt forward so I dont know if they would have made a special bucket seat that would not tilt for a 4-door.Just a thought.

You're kidding, right?

Not kidding. What I was getting at was that this was probably in the 1965-69 timeframe. The car I was referring to (4 dr hardtop) was that dark brown Mahogany color with the tri-tone red interior.....which I have never been fond of. I was thinking that it would be very unlikely back then someone would replace the front bench seat with buckets and that they would also have them re-upholstered to match the color scheme / pattern, or that they found a set with the exact factory color match. That's why I tend to believe that this was probably a factory installation. Not implying that there was no interest in messing with cars back then in general....just referring to this particular instance.

If you are a POCI member look up David J. Evans in LaMarque, Texas and call him and ask him your question. He specializes in and is pretty much the expert on the early Bonnevilles '57-'61. He has all of the dealer albums, etc., etc. and probably owns a couple of bucket seat '59 Bonnevilles as we speak.

A couple of years ago Todd Zimmerman acquired and then sold a '59-'61 era (I don't recall exactly which year it was) hard back bucket seat Buick station wagon which was an original car solid but in need of restoration. Not a Pontiac I know but if you could do it with a Buick back then I bet you could have with a Pontiac.

Thats interesting.Maybe the 59 bonneville station wagon on e-bay was an original bucket seat car.That car was loaded and even had a power antenna,windows and AC.

Well, never say never. Harley Earl's wife's special ordered 1959 Catalina with a mostly Bonneville interior and factory buckets. see the link;
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/stagi...terior_Web.jpg
Although my dad's special ordered 59 Catalina didn't have buckets, it did have a tri-tone Bonneville interior along with a 420A with a solid lifter cam ( in the trunk at delivery ) and hand built in the Pontiac tool room like all nascar engines were, plus a heavy duty Super Hydramatic with external oil cooler.
Most, if not all Pontiac dealers in the L.A. area (west coast for that matter) had cars that were made in South Gate CA. Our car was ordered at A.E. England Pontiac in Hollywood CA., but was built in Michigan because of the engine and shipped by rail to the west coast. After six years of my dad racing it, it was handed over to me at the age of fourteen ( got my IHRA licence driving it ) and my regular licence in 1967 in it. I sold the car in 1969 and in 1978 went looking for it to restore. Sadly, I missed it by three months as it went to Clean Steel in Wilmington and was shredded. In my picture book on the car the first page is a picture of me in front of it with the dealer plates, and the last page is a copy of the affidavit from clean Steel stating it's date of demise.

There is no dark brown mahogany in 1959. see the link;
http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorli...ntiac-pg01.jpg

I have seen that car.

One other thing to remember is that NOTHING was written in stone back then! That Bonneville Vista could have been built for some PMD Executive. If you look under the car, you will be able to tell if the buckets were added.

See my first post / response......I was referring to 1960...not 1959, just for the record.

That's why I said never say never. As Bunkie Knudsen has said "there is always a way to do things"

The particular car you mention is now located in my area of Washington state, and is undergoing restoration. This car is one of approximately 300 built -- 1960 Buick Invicta Custom Estate Wagon, with the leather bucket seat interior patterned after the 1959 Buick "Texan" wagon shown at the Chicago Auto Show. The car was actually produced as part of a low-volume production run and had many unique features, and was not simply a matter of someone wanting bucket seats in a regular wagon.

With regard to the 1959 Bonneville Safari wagon sold a few years ago and finished in Cameo Ivory with Sunset Glow roof, I am quite certain that the bucket seats had been added to that car. I recall some discussion about this car at the time that it was offered, and one individual had first-hand knowledge of the car.

Thanks for the info on this.I remember the 59 Pontiac wagon on ebay a few years back

Does anyone know if you could get an electric power bucket seat or not in 59?I know they had the power bench seat but not sure if there was a power bucket seat?Ive never seen one on e-bay for sale.Thanks for any replies to this.

cballweg…..not according to the general sales brochures, accessorizor, dealer album, order form, service manual, or Master Parts Catalog……John

Thanks for the reply.

great thread - thanks for sharing the knowledge, folks!

The 59 Bonneville wagon you are referring to was restored by Bernie Fritshaw of Canada and is now owned by Bob Knutson of Washington state. The buckets were added. Pontiac did not offer a power drivers bucket seat for the hard back buckets (58 - 61)

Thanks for the info

I have a 59 Bonneville coupe that I installed correct bucket seats in. However, they were only available from the factory on Bonneville convertible. Still I have to believe it would have been possible to get the local Pontiac dealer to install factory bucket seats in any 59 Pontiac if you insisted on it when you ordered the car and were willing to pay extra of course. The 59 Bonneville wagon with bucket seats mentioned in this topic was owned by a gentleman who stored it in Phoenix and it was sold at the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction about 7-8 years ago. I have pictures of my 59 Bonneville coupe and this Bonneville wagon parked together. Both have identical bucket seat interiors in Sunset Glow. Also both had white exteriors with Sunset Glow roofs.

Hi,
You are correct that the Bonneville wagon in that article is owned by a man who has a place in Scottsdale. His name is Bob Knutsen. His home is in Idaho and he has a portato farm. Those bucket seats came out in 1958 Bonneville convertibles but also became a mid year option in 58 Bonneville hardtops. I've had 2 of the coupes with bucket seats. Although I've never seen a 59 Bonneville hardtop with them, I feel certain that they were available. I've seen them in 60 & 61 Bonneville hardtops so I can't imagine that they would have discontinued them for 1 year. They were also available on 60 & 61 ventura hardtops. They wre options on 59, 60 & 61 Eldorado convertibles and Sevilles. They were options on 59, 60 & 61 Buick Electra 225 convertibles and standard on all 59, 60 and 61 Buick Invicta Customs. They wre also standard on all 61 Oldsmobile Starfires. Hope this helps.

Thanks Joe!
 

I was not aware that bucket seats could be factory ordered on 58 Bonneville coupes. Strange that Pontiac would not promote it as an option on Bonneville coupes in any of their literature in 59. By the way I had the pleasure of driving your friends former 59 red Bonneville convertible (with bucket seats) in last years Berkley CruiseFest Parade and Woodward Cruise in Michigan. The current owner loaded it to me for the event.

Thanks for the info.If you can,could you post photos of your coupe and the interior?

dfw7849.You can post photos on here by clicking on post reply and then go down to additional options and click on manage attachments and you can download photos from you files on your computor so you dont need to go to another page .Hope this helps.Thanks

These are the buckets I installed in my 59 Bonneville several years ago. They are out of a 61 Olds Starfire. The hardback seats are the same on all 58-61 GM full size cars. However, the tracks are different. I used the tracks from a 59 Pontiac bench seat which required some cutting of the sheet metal on the underside of the bucket seat but it is in an area not normally visible. The car was two tone white with a Sunset Glow top when I installed the bucket seats in 2007but has since been repainted with the colors reversed. Also a correct a 59 Tri-power and Sunset Glow floor mats have been added. I have an extensive collection of 59 Pontiac memorabilia and am always looking for more.

59 coupe and wagon with bucket seats
 

These are pictures of my coupe and the wagon discussed in an earlier thread. Both cars were in a BOP show at the Scottsdale Pavilions in Arizona. Note that the station wagon has add-on AC, power windows and Autronic Eye. The last picture of the wagon interior was taken at the Barrett-Jackson Auction.

Very nice car you have.I wish my 59 had the bucket seats.I installed about all the options on my 4-door hardtop but not the bucket seats since they are so expensive and hard to find.Photos of my car are on another thread on here along with a copper 59 starchief.I installed a power antenna,rear seat speaker,power bench seat,tri-power,fenderskirts,windshield washer,trunk light,underhood light,tissue dispensor and litter basket,power steering,power brakes and was ordred with spinner hubcaps.Mine still needs restored and was my 1st car that my father ordered new.Thanks for the great photos.

The bucket seats cost me 4.5k$ for my Bonneville. That includes the seat cores, paint, and upholstery. I installed them myself. Please tell me where to look for the pictures of you car. Since your dad purchased the car new perhaps you still have the window sticker? If so, please scan it and post it. 1959 was the first year they were required by the government.
I also have put many factory options on my 59 coupe, all are factory correct. This is my sixth 59 Pontiac. I have the correct front radiator screen. factory AC shroud, six blade AC fan, tri-power (with correct under fender vacuum reservoir), red under-dash emergency brake flasher. glove box light, rear seat speaker with correct fader control switch (they are different on 2 door and 4 door cars), NOS hood emblem, power antenna on rear fender, fender skirts, and spinner wheel covers. Waiting to be put on is a Speed Guard speedometer buzzer, Magic Cruise, and the ultra, ultra-rare remote control mirror (NOS in the box). The original spare is still in the trunk of this car.

...inquiring mind wants to know...
 

DFW, would you please post pics of this tire, or at the very least, share the tire brand and model (if it has one) and the size cast into it?

Original Spare tire
 

I believe this tire to be the original spare on my 59 Pontiac but naturally I can't prove it since I or someone in my family is not the original owner. However, when I purchased the car I was told that the tire was original by the seller and he in turn said the person he purchased the car from was the original owner. This is no proof of course but the tire does look very similar to the pictures I have seen from 1959. Also the rim absoluely looks brand new which would help support at least the possibility of it being the original spare. Until definitively shown otherwise I believe this to be an original 59 Pontiac spare tire. It is an 800x14 Firestone Deluxe Champion. Perhaps someone who knows more about this subject can comment.

not to hi-jack this thread, but..
 

Those pics are great.

Presently I am researching the OEM tires as supplied on the 1962 B-body Pontiacs (Cat, Bonne, etc.). US Royal seems to be the supplier for the '62s. There is no reason to believe that the '59s used Firestone tires.

Is your car a factory A/C car?

What letter is the VIN on your '59?

Thanks again.

I just updated it so its on the top of this webpage and should be one under this thread and titled photos of my 59 sunset glow unrestored Bonneville.I also installed a NOS emegency brake flasher and have the correct nos rear speaker for a 4-door car and a rebuilt wonderbar seek scan radio.The only thing I dont understand about your car is the black rims but should be white since you had a white car.The rims were always painted the same color as the car and mine are sunset glow.I too have an original worn spare white side wall tire in my trunk but cant remember what brand it was.I also have a part of the Pontiac add on under dash AC in one photo but need more parts for it.I almost bought an NOS remote mirror on e-bay for $250 I believe but it didnt match the passenger side mirror my father ordered on the car which matches the drivers mirror.All my add ons were mostly NOS also with exceptions of power steering,brakes,tri-power.Installed a 59 olds power antenna since i couldent find the pontiac one but do have the correct dash switch.Windshield washer is the correct nos one also and not the electric add on one.

DFW also check out at the top of this page My new starchief vista which is a tread on a 59 starchief with some nice photos of a starchief and a bonneville.Sorry my father didnt keep the window sticker

DFW I also just posted at the top of this page a thread titled my new padded dash which shows the interior of my car.

Wow, lots of questions which is great! First the rims on a white car are black NOT white as it came from the factory. My car's paint code is "CC" which is Cameo Ivory body and top. Plant code is "C" for Southgate CA. The picture I posted showing the new Sunset Glow paint job was taken shortly after it was done in 2008. Since then I have changed to Sunset Glow colored rims and installed the correct rear view mirrors. My car does not have factory AC but one of my previous 59 Pontiacs did (a StarChief 4Dr sedan). It was my daily driver back in the mid 1980s in Phoenix, AZ. Also I believe it is entirely possible that 59 Pontiacs came from the factory with Firestone Tires.

"Also I believe it is entirely possible that 59 Pontiacs came from the factory with Firestone Tires."

Possible I guess, I know my 59 Catalina came with U.S. Royals.

One last trivia fact is that there were two types of rear seat speaker switches in 59. The two door cars had a conventional fader switch, while the four door cars had a multi-position switch.

My 59 Catalina sport coupe ( hardtop coupe ) came with a front, rear, front and rear speaker switch.

I always thought the glove box light and ash tray lights came standard on the Bonneville which mine has and came with the car and asked my father who ordered the car but he doesnt remember.Does anyone know if these were standard or an option?My father didnt order too many options on the car except the spinner hubcaps and maybe the push button radio.Not sure if the push button radio came standard or an option either but since then I added a wonderbar seek-scan radio and I also have a sportable radio that goes into the glovebox but dont know if it works since I dont have the wire harness for it or the bracket that mounts it into the glovebox.There are some of these listed on e-bay now if anyones interested but none have the bracket or harness for them

Speaker switch and glove box light
 

I am not that familiar with 59 Catalinas 2 dr hard tops. U47, is your rear speaker mounted on the rear package tray (facing up) or is it behind a grill at the top center of the rear seat back? I know the 59 Catalina convertible has the rear seat speaker behind a grill on the rear seatback but I am not sure about the Catalina 2 dr HT. However, I seem to recall the Catalina 2dr HT rear speaker was mounted in the package tray?

The reason I ask is because after further thinking about it I suspect that only 59 Pontiacs with a rear speaker mounted behind a grill in the rear seatback used a fader switch to control the rear seat speaker. I propose that any 59 Pontiac model that had the rear speaker in the package tray (facing upwards) used the 4-position rear seat speaker switch, not the fader switch. Assuming the Catalina 2dr HT has the rear seat speaker in the package tray, then the only 59 Pontiacs that have a rear seat speaker behind a grill in the rear seat are the Catalina and Bonneville convertibles and Bonneville coupe. Only these three models would have the fader speaker control. All three StarChief models have the rear speaker in the package tray. I don't know about the station wagons but suspect they probably have the 4-position switch.

With regard to the glove box light my 59 Bonneville coupe did not come with a light and I had to install an NOS one I purchased on eBay.

Thanks for the info on the glovebox and I didnt know that white cars had the black rims.I bought the NOS rear seat speaker that came with the 4 way switch off e-bay and the instructions shows the speaker in the rear deck and it says that this was for a 4-door car.I didnt know you could get a cruise control on a 59 either.DFW did you check out the other threads at the top of the 61 and older Pontiacs that I posted at the top of this site?Very interesting info and some nice 59s.

cbalweg, I saw the pictures you posted and your car looks very nice indeed! Part of the fun and rewards in this hobby is that we are always learning something new. As far as 59 Pontiac options there are a number of unanswered questions that may never be totally resolved. For example it is quite likely that 8-lug wheels and a vacuum trunk release were offered late in the 1959 model year. The trunk release is documented in parts books while the 8-lug wheels were probably added by the dealers to new 59 Pontiacs in an effort to move them off the lot when the 60s started arriving. Then there is the whole question of whether the black lines painted in the groves of the panel between the rear taillights is or is not correct. It's fun to speculate about such things as long as no one become hostile and we all respect each others right to their opinion.

...doing the best we can with the info available...
 

X2. One of the great parts of being into DarkSiders is that you seldom deal with "Corvette Guy" (no disrespect intended to Corvette owners/drivers - this group is different). We (Pontiac guys in general, and DarkSiders in particular) are doing the best we can to preserve the fantastic machines, and hopefully driving the wheels off 'em!

Some may say that I am an enthusiastic student of '62s (I would agree, BTW). While I have learned a lot about these cars in studying friends' cars and the roughly two-dozen I have owned in the last 25 years, there is always room for an exception to the rule.

Makes for redoing (and also judging!) a car like this a much tougher task.

Thanks for the tire info fellas.

DFW,i have some good news on the lines on the tail panels.My car has never been repainted in the back and was orderd new from my father and it has the black lines from the factory and I was told from a couple of guys at the pontiac oakland club meet in Dayton in 2009 that had concours winning 59s[one a sunset glow bonney convertible and the other a canyon copper catalina]that it depended on where your car was built as to wether or not it had the black lines and also my 59 had under the hood on top of the grills was silver from the factory whereas theres were painted black and I told them I knew my car was correct cause my father bought it new and they said this was also different depending on where the car was built which I never knew.Very interesting stuff and correct both ways.Hope this helps.

Don…..you are correct that the fader switch was used for Catalina and Bonneville convertibles, and Bonneville Sport Coupes. It was also used for all three Safaris. The other switch, with the choke coil was used on all other body styles.

Interestingly, the Magi-Cruise was not mentioned in any of the sales literature at the beginning of the model year. Nor was it listed in the October 9, 1958 Confidential Price List. It does appear in the April 1, 1959 price list. Unless there was a sales memo distributed to the dealers, their first knowledge of it would have been the July issue of the Service Craftsman News. All this to say that it was a late year option. The Craftsman News cautions that some factory installed units were shipped without the instruction tag attached to the knob.

I have seen seven cars still with their original paint in recent years (well six, but I'm including my parents new Cameo Ivory Sport Coupe.) I haven't seen all colors, but the ones I have, all had the black groves in the tail panel. This sample included Wilmington, Linden, and Kansas City Plants only.

While on the subject of the tail panel, take a good look at the alignment of the letters spelling out PONTIAC. I have yet to see a car that the A and C were in line with the rest. They are always slightly above the others. Another useless piece of trivia from my virtual cesspool of useless knowledge……John