I don’t think I’ll start many disagreements by saying that Pontiac’s Golden Age began in 1959 with “Wide-Track” cars such as this Catalina Convertible, which factory literature heralded as “America’s Number 1 Road Car.” With a Tri-Power 389 under the hood, a Super Hydra-Matic under the tunnel, and a top that goes down, there are worse ways to spend your collector car piggy bank, and this one is for sale on eBay in Ocoee, Florida.
The famous “Wide-Track” advertising slogan certainly had some merit, and if the stories that Pontiac’s Bunkie Knudsen thought that the prototype looked like a football player wearing ballet slippers are true, he was right in demanding that something be done; after all, the 1959 models were very wide cars, spanning 80 inches, even though the Catalina’s overall length was a relatively trim 213.7 inches. Therefore, production track widths were widened to 63.7 inches in front and 64 inches in back; for the sake of comparison, a 1959 Oldsmobile of similar width had a 61-inch track, front and rear.
While the wide-track stance offered advertising fodder for generations, it’s the 389-cubic-inch V8 that made the Pontiac a jukebox hit (at least in its eventual GTO guise). The 389 was introduced in 1959 and ran through 1966 before being superseded by the Pontiac 400. The seller of this convertible doesn’t say if the three-carburetor manifold is original, but if it is, the 389 had a 10:1 compression ratio and a horsepower rating of 315. The Catalina’s standard engine (with Hydra-Matic) was a 280-horsepower 389 two-barrel, but upgrades were “why not?” cheap: the Bonneville’s four-barrel was a $20 option, and this Tri-Power cost just $81 extra. This example also has power steering and power brakes.
The upholstery, with its distinctive not-quite-symmetrical seatback pattern, matches factory brochures, and it covers the optional $81 six-way power seat. While it doesn’t have air conditioning, this must be one of the more fully optioned Catalinas you’ll see, as it also has the $48 power window option. I’d guess that this car is a decades-old restoration, based on the faded carpeting and general lightly-used appearance, so it should be a great “don’t worry too much about a stone chip” driver.
Another interesting feature is the “Autronic Eye” mounted on the dashboard, which dimmed the headlights in the face of oncoming traffic, street lights, errant jet fighters, kids with flashlights, and apparently just about anything in the road. There was a manual override that allowed the driver to disable the feature. If this thread at the Performance Years Forum is correct, the Autronic Eye was a dealer-installed option on Pontiacs, with a suggested list price of $49.75 (which most likely didn’t include installation).
The undercarriage is crusty but solid, so once again, it’s a nice driver rather than a show car. The fuel lines appear to be newer, so there’s hope that the Catalina was mechanically refurbished for the road at some point.
The Pontiac’s new-for-1959 styling was spectacular (if you like this kind of thing), and the Catalina, without the Bonneville’s gigantic rear overhang, shows it off the best in my opinion. Of course, potential buyers of this droptop will want to ask the selling dealer a few questions, such as tire age, mechanical history, etc., before placing a bid, but although 67 years have gone by, this could be your number 1 road car this summer.
Related Reading
1959 Pontiac Catalina: No Frills, Jet-Age Wide-Track Survivor – Options? I Hate Options (by me)
Car Show Classics: A Celebration of GM’s ’59 Models–Bats and Deltas, but No 88s (by me)
I like the correct WWs on it.
First year of the split grill. Went away in 1960. Then came back in 1961 basically until the end of Pontiac.
Agreed about the better proportions of the Catalina over the Bonneville.
Lovely, and $10k with reserve not met. Florida is a long way from me and the 59 is probably my least favorite of all the fantastic full size Pontiacs of the Golden Age.
Wide is wide, but that front view just might be ever so slightly exaggerated, don’t you think? 🙂
Surprising that someone with a penchant for power windows would be satisfied with a Catalina, and not a Bonneville. To each his/her own …….. on a terrific car.
The same could be said about the Canadian Parisienne and Laurentian with their styling despite being “Cheviac” or “Ponvrolet” with the Chevrolet chassis and engines. 😉 https://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/GM-Canada/Pontiac/1959-Pontiac-Brochure/slides/1959_Pontiac_Cdn-02-03.html
A “stunner”. Would prefer a “not white”, top though.
A good friend of mine spent years and spared no expense restoring a 59 Catalina to match the one he had as a kid. It’s one of those cars that just unfolds the closer you look at it. His attention to detail was amazing and he’s not a restorer, he did it in his garage after work and on weekends before he retired. Since then he has not babied it. He’s been all over with it, rain or shine. Despite the miles it still looks amazing.
I took this picture sneakily at a show last year as we were getting ready to leave.
That Buick next to him stole the show.
Nice.
Although I’ll take the 67 Chev in the foreground. (Special place in my heart as I had one way back in 86), I appreciate the fact that they went with the “chev Rallye Type wheels”, but those are a “Little” bigger than what looks ‘perfect’ (imo)
That interior looks a little off to me. A comparison with the brochure shows that this car tries to capture the theme of the odd offset design in the seat backs, but otherwise lacks all of the detail creases in the driver side seat back and the pleats on the seat bottom. This is one of those things that would bother me about the car, up to a point. That point being a low enough price and enough sunny days to enjoy it without worrying about drips from your ice cream cone.
When you need ‘just a little bit more’…….
This looks great, I’d prefer a coupe but a rust free rag top is always a nice find .
-Nate