My new '59 Star Chief Vista (Pictures)
 

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.


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

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Congrats! Looks very clean.....enjoy!

WOW what a nice example!
My first car was a 59 Star Chief
paid $35 for it in 68,with 50 K on it.
Not many options on it,speed minder,reelout trunk light(still have it) PS,PB auto,radio and BU lights.
Yours is sure a keeper

Thanks, Poncho60 and Cammer-6! This car has the reel-out trunk light as well. Padded dash, radio w/ rear speaker, and clock. I'm unsure of other options, but hope to discover them all after a little more investigation.

Absolutely stunning.

The styling of entire 1959 GM lineup was simply incredible, your Pontiac and Buick are both perfect examples.

Enjoy.

Bart

Gorgeous car! It's funny how we can 'imprint' on a particular car at an early age - I was six or seven when my dad bought a '61 Catalina, and from then on 1961 Pontiacs were my favorite.

Stuart, love those '61 Pontiacs also. Still remember the first one I ever saw on the street (Bonneville Vista), and I thought it was stunning. I went with my folks to look at the new '61's on the showroom floor, and there was a new Catalina sedan that I thought was perfect. I remember drooling over the brochure!

What a nice looking car.... Congratulations

WOW!

Curb feelers too!

NICE!!!!
Interior shots please!!!!! :D

Love all the 59 GMs. Great garage shot of the Poncho & Buick. Now build a larger garage to house more 59 additions. Start looking for a 59 Chevy, Olds, and Caddy.
Awsome Pontiac you have. Great color.

Tim, it would indeed be fun to have all the '59 GM cars!

Thanks, all, for your kind comments.

SWEET!!!

Like your car.My 1st car was a 1959 Sunset glow Bonneville vista 4-door my dad gave me that he ordered new and I still remember picking it up when I was 5 years old and I still have it and want to restore.Been buying up NOS parts for it and have all options on it including tri-power.Only options I dont have is power windows speed warning speedometer, bucket seats and AC.These cars ride nice and awesome looks.Love all the chrome on these old cars.I always wanted a convertible but they are too high priced now for me.Enjoy your car.Buick looks nice also

Thanks for your reply. A Sunset Glow Bonneville Vista is, in my view, the ultimate 1959 Pontiac. If you ever have opportunity, would love to see photos of your Vista! Or, feel free to drop me an e-mail at: [email protected]

I just posted photos of my new padded dash.Will try to find the photos of my car and post them.Might take a couple of days.

Posted photos of my 59 Bonney on here.

Does your car have the glass fuel filter on it.Ive seen some with it but I dont think mine ever had one but maybe my father had it replaced.i now have tri-power on it and all the ones Ive seen have the glass fuel filter.Is yours a 2 barrrel carb or a 4 Barrel carb.Thanks

My car has the 389 4-bbl. I haven't had any time to look over the car carefully, but will try to check it out this weekend for you.

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.

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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:

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Looks good.Thanks for the photos

Lets get these pictures over to AACA too! Don't forget to tell your buddy about the reason not to put skirts on a 59 Pontiac, or any GM product with Sweep cut" rear fender styling!:attention

Yesterday, we enjoyed a beautiful fall day here in the Puget Sound area, and I celebrated by getting out in the recently acquired '59 Pontiac Star Chief Vista.

This was really my first fun outing with the '59 Pontiac, and it runs better-and-better with some exercise and fresh gasoline!

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The car came to me with a beautifully-matched set of vintage luggage:

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Gold threads in the original carpet:

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Pontiac's accessory reel-out trunk / trouble light:

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Original Oregon license plate and the license plate frame from Bowman Pontiac, Oregon City, Oregon:

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Your Starchief looks to be in really great shape! Thx for the added pics. I'm partial to that body style myself as I have a 60 Ventura vista myself...not quite as cherry as yours though.

Poncho60, would love to see photos of your Ventura Vista. Please point us to any photos you have posted here.

I like the luggage - it really goes with the car.

Great photos.I dont think Ive ever seen the inside of a starchief.Seen some Catalinas.How about some underhood photos also.

Don't want to sidetrack your thread, but since you asked, here are a couple. Mostly stock except for the wheels / tires and some sun gauges.

Just beautiful, Poncho60! I love that Coronado Red on the '60 GM cars.

cballweg, I haven't done any cleaning under the hood. And I don't think the engine was refinished back in 1994 in the correct color, but here are a couple of shots for you:

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Just imagine, cballweg, how great your Bonneville Vista will look one day soon!

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OK don't want to be critical, but four barrel carbs. have a hard fuel line which reaches past the carburetor and fastens to the rear. They also have a different air cleaner with a round snorkel. That picture sure looks like a 280 HP 2bbl.
Your interior is a time capsule and seems perfect! I like the close-up picture of the StarChief script on the rear Quarter......dotting the I with a star! Even though I'm a Pontiac nut I never remembered that one! What a great car!

u47, I haven't looked at the carb yet. When I bought the car, I told seller I figured it was a 2-bbl car, but he insisted it's a 4-bbl. You're correct, I'm sure, but I'll confirm later this week.

The carb -air cleaner setup is exactly like the one on my 60...it's a 2 barrel setup.

Thanks, Poncho60! That's great information.

Your 60 looks great.Back in 1976 I bought a 60 Coronado Red Catalina 2 door sedan with 75,000 miles for $75 that I put Crager wheels on.Had a white top and no radio with a rubber mat without carpet.Wished I would have kept it.Was a 2 barrel 389.

Brian,Thanks for the underhood photos but still cant see if glass gas filter.They are right also about your car being a 2 barrel.The 4 barrel on my 59 before I switched to tri-power had the bigger air cleaner and gas line to back of carb.Your setup looks just like the 60 catalina I had with 2 barrel carb.Im not positive but I believe starchiefs and catalinas came with 2 barrel carb motors and 4 barrel and tri powers were optional.

cballweg, thanks. I also thought that the Star Chief had the standard 2-bbl, so was surprised when the fellow I bought the car from claimed it was a 4-bbl. I know these photos are not adequate for you, but I'll get some more detailed shots.

The 4 barrel air cleaner for that vintage (59-60 for sure) is totally different than the 2 barrel. The snorkel is round and the same dia the whole length. The snorkel is part of the main air cleaner body and the lid comes off by itself. On the 2 barrel air cleaner the snorkel is part of the top. I have a completely restored 4 barrel setup for my 60, but have never gotten around to making the conversion. This is all based on my comparison between the 2 setups.

I also forgot that my Grandfather had a white with red interior 60 Catalina 4-door vista besides a 53 Pontiac and a 67 maroon ventura.

The 59 Catalina and StarChief Standard engine with Super HydraMatic has 10.0 compression, the great all round #472 cam, the large 2GC 2bbl. Carburetor and 280HP.
FYI that cam is used in the 4bbl. 300HP engine and the 315HP TRI-Power engine. In other words better breathing makes more HP, although the TRI-Power engine comes with dual exhaust automatically.

All i can say is WOW those sure are great looking Pontiacs, Thanks for the photos.

My 1st 60 was a Catalina vista...Bristol blue & white top......grey / white interior + the rubber mats. I really loved that car, but it wasn't the hot setup for driving Chicago traffic by the time I moved there in 1970. Enough about the 60s...back to the 59 focus.

The 59 StarChief is a car in transition. Once the flagship of the Pontiac line, the 57 marks the first year that it's #1 place was down graded and will eventually be eliminated in the 1966 model, you will recall 1965 the car is called StarChief-Executive and in 1966 just the Executive. 1959 StarChief does not have a Convertible, two door hardtop, or a Safari wagon. Just a 2 dr. sports sedan , 4 dr. sedan and a four door hard top. The 2 dr. sport sedan is gone in 1961. All part of Knudsen's original plan to eliminate any Indian name besides the name-symbol "Pontiac" to the cars. Gone are names as Chieftain, SuperChief, StarChief and the Indian head except in the high beam indicator for trademark purposes at the time.

U47, yes, it's very interesting to observe what was happening with the Star Chief series in '59. Despite sharing the larger body with the Bonneville, Pontiac was careful to avoid overlap in body styles, with the exception of the Vista 4-door hardtop.

The local owner of the '59 Bonneville Vista (solid Cameo Ivory shown earlier in this topic) had described the '59 Star Chief as a "Bonneville with Catalina trim", but I do not believe this is an accurate description. Perhaps Pontiac was being careful not to lose any existing Star Chief loyalists, because the car seems to me to be only slightly downgraded compared to the Bonneville series. The interior lacks the fancy tri-tone vinyl, the passenger side assist handle, and the bright headliner moldings, but still strikes me as a significant step up compared to the '59 Catalina. In my view, there was a far greater difference between the Catalina and Star Chief than between the Star Chief and Bonneville, allowing room for the introduction of the Ventura in 1960. Was the Ventura regarded as a separate series in 1960, or was it essentially a trim option on the Catalina series?

60 Ventura was a separate line in the "catalog / lit". Only consisted of 2 & 4 door hardtop (vista).

Yes you are correct, and the the Ventura is a separate series for 60-61 and then becomes a upgraded trim option on Catalina afterward. The 62 Grand Prix essentially took the Ventura concept of 60 & 61 and raised it even higher. I mentioned my dad's special ordered Catalina with the NASCAR hand built 389 Tri-Power and complete Tri-Tone leather Bonneville interior. Perhaps there was enough pressure to make a more luxurious interior Catalina/short wheelbase and hence Ventura and later G/P. I know one thing, our Catalina just made it into the garage. A seven inch longer Bonneville or StarChief wouldn't have fit!

Dual exhausts were an extra cost option on all engines in 1959 except for both versions of the 420A. Even the 315hp Tri-Power came standard with single exhaust……John

Confirmed, as you all figured out before me, that the car has the 2-bbl 389. The dual exhausts were added to the car in 1994.

cballweg was asking for some fuel filter photos, etc., so here goes. As noted previously, when the top-end was rebuilt and the engine painted, I don't think the rebuilder picked a correct color match for the Pontiac blue engine paint.

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That baby blue color comes on some 57 and all 1958 to 1965 V-8's is correct on your 59 389" " Tempest " V-8.
The original name for the Pontiac V-8 in 1955 " is the Strato Streak " V-8 and becomes the Tempest V-8 from 1958 to 1960 and then the " Trophy V-8" from 1961-1964.
FYI, 59 will be the last year for the superior "reverse flow" engine cooling and 59 is the first year for block motor mounting.

Thanks for the gas filter photos.The one I seen from a post on here with tri-power had the filter up on top of motor in front of the carbs but yours is probaly correct position for a 2-barrel carb and the paint is the correct color on motor also.The metallic draker blue came out in 1966 I believe or close to that.