Sometimes a car is too interesting to not feature it because of blurry photos, this is one of those times. This ultra-low-mileage 1968 Pontiac Catalina is listed here on eBay in Sewell, New Jersey. Bids are over $3,000 and the reserve is met! Thanks to Matt W. for submitting this one!
The third-generation Catalina went through a couple of big design changes. Some of us prefer the earlier design with stacked headlights and some of us prefer the later design, such as this ’68 with the “beak” grille and horizontal headlights. In 1971, Pontiac changed to an even bigger car and a lot of the charm went away, in my opinion. It was almost like they made them bigger for bigger’s sake – gone was the sexy, smooth styling that they had enjoyed for decades.
And those tail lights! Fantastic. The seller says that this incredible car “is an original West Coast Car.” It has “14,000 Original Miles, Sitting in the garage for over 25 years.” Now that’s a low-mile car. In looking at the underside photos, there is some rust to deal with which seems unusual for a west coast car with 14,000 miles that has been in storage, but I guess it could happen.
It’s always unusual to see these big, seemingly luxury cars without power windows, we’re so spoiled by options on vehicles today. You can see the ubiquitous triple-gauge cluster there hanging off of the bottom of the dash and even though the photos aren’t the best everything looks pretty nice. Well, other than the headliner which will have to be repaired and there appears to be some splits on the passenger seat and the top of the back seat.
This is Pontiac’s 400 cubic-inch V8 which would have had around 290 hp. The seller says that it “runs great” but it needs “a little tender love and care”. What are your thoughts on this car? Have any of you owned a “beak” Pontiac?
This ‘Cat probably still has at least 8 of its 9 lives. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
That’s my first car right there, you could comfortably fit 4-6 ppl in the trunk ! It would benefit from a set of rally wheels IMHO, but that’s just me !
A lady at church had a gold two door 68 Catalina. Long flowing lines. And a huge trunk like someone else mentioned.
I also love the long flowing lines of this car (from the side). Cool tail lights. However, not a big fan of the “beak”.
I owned a 68 Pontiac Grand Prix my first car with the 428 , awesome car and only paid $100.00 for it
I purchase a new 68″ Bonneville in this color, no vinyl top. The Bonneville had fender skirts. If you didn’t want to take them off to wash the wheels, you had to wash the bottom half and drive it forward to reveal the other half. It had a white interior, my mother in law had a container of black hair dye that leaked of which I wasn’t able to remove the stain. I just got out of prison for shooting her – just kidding. lol In about two years it rusted out on the lower area of the front fender right behind the wheel well. Had it repaired.
In high school (1976) I had a 69 Pontiac Bonneville with fender skirts. They were kinda tricky to get off and on.
My mom had a 1972 Chevrolet Caprice with fender skirts. Yep, that was the trick, wash and clean the bottom part of the rear tires then pull forward or back up to clean the rest. But it looked so much better with the skirts.
The old Pontiac hood ornament doesn’t do anything for me but not a deal breaker. The floor pans look a little crispy. I had ‘68 LeSabre which shares the basic design, had floors that had similar problems. The rear frame doglegs had serious rot at that point. I would look closely In that area. Cool car tho.
Nice car but sorry, I don’t buy the claim of “14,000 original miles”! Remember, these cars only had a 5 digit odometer, so they can’t display 100,000+ miles. I’d believe 114,000 miles on this car, which is still low mile for a 50 year old car!
Regarding classic Pontiacs I have 2 :
1976 Pontiac Ventura coupe blue ext w blue int with 121 original miles I guess could be only one with this mileage in world 260 v8, PS, PB, Factory AM radio, rally wheels with all documentation & window sticker I paid 12K for it.
1977 Pontiac Bonneville Landau Coupe (base non brougham) brown ext with cloth beige int 8K original miles 350 4B, Tilt steering, PS, PB, power windows, Factory AC, Factory AM/FM radio with all documentation window sticker & manuals I paid 11K for it.
My late father in law had the Gran Prix version of this car. His was a blue
ragtop in need of a resto. The original 428 cube engine was still with the
car, and ran great but sadly, the M-22 4-speed transmission that came with
the car when it was bought new was long gone. I was surprised to see that
the clutch pedal was still in the original position on the floorboard. I still
recall that his car had the “beak” grille, hidden headlamps, and those gill type
turn signals located just above the headlamps on both front fenders. It also
had the Gran Prix side trim mounted midway between the rear edge of the
front wheel arch and the leading edge of the door on each front fender too.
But the strangest thing I recall seeing was the “2+2” badge located just to the right of the Gran Prix script and a row of thin chrome bars below the
above mentioned script. The inside of the car boasted those Strato bucket
seats up front with woodgrain trim throughout. The dash on that car was just beautiful! I tried to buy the car from him, but no dice! Pop never sold a
car to family members. From what I saw then (1986) it must’ve been a very
special car when.
I would like to have another 1967 Grand Prix. I had a green one back in the ’80s.
I do not want the convertible however.
Lots of things in your story don’t add up. I would guess it’s your memory that may be mistaken, which can happen!
No Pontiac received the M22 till 1971 I think.
Is the floor rust from the inside out?
Too bad it’s a 2 door!
Who here believes this car has original miles?
There are so many low mile cars out now, I just can’t believe any of them.
People didn’t buy cars to put them away. People bought cars to drive them.
The ad says the car was stored for 25 years. That means it was driven for 25 years as well. 14,000 miles in 25 years is not believable.
Very nice for one of these,These aren’t around a lot now.
When you hand wash cars of this size..,you will be awhile..!
Another really nice old car that’s GREEN…!..LOL..
amazing how that seems to have preserved them all,
Iam surprised its not a 4 door…haha…!
While I like the looks of this monster, I shudder remembering my mothers 4 door version she bought as her first car after her divorce. Just a bloated boat!
I always liked the big Ponchos of this era. A buddy of mine had a fully-loaded ’68 Grand Prix, 428/TH400 that he bought off a friend of his family (original owner) just before the first Oil Shock. It was a great, if very thirsty, cruiser.
I see the floors on the green car are looking rather ‘holy’ and wonder what other surprises are in store for the buyer? I’m with the others who mentioned that this car has already rocked around the odometer clock.
I had a 68 bonneville 4 door…a 68 grand prix 400/4 mild build 485 rwhp…kept breaking motor mounts…67 catalina 4 door…that car was stock n wickedly fast…76,77 grand prix’s both 400 cars…78 bonneville brougham 400/4 mild build…true 160 mph car…redid the susp w the best at the time…71 firebird esprit…77 skybird baby blue…got wrecked by a friend…64 grand prix 389/4 w power glide…64 bonneville convertible 421/tri-power power glide 8 lugs…yeah i had a fair share of beaks…
Powerglide?
The Catalina was not considered a “luxury” model so typically these did not have power windows/seats etc. In fact it was the bottom of the line in the succession of “Full Size” Pontiacs behind the Executive and the Bonneville. All basically the same car although the Executive and the Bonneville had a longer trunk. My Dad bought a 68 Executive new in 68 and still contends it was the best car he ever had. Thing to watch out for in these are issues with the valve lifters and freeze plugs on the rear of the cylinder heads which are near impossible to replace without removing the heads
The old trick if you wanted to replace the freeze plugs without removing the heads was to cut a hole in the firewall and replace them that way. It was done on many brands of cars, not just Pontiacs. I have owned more than 1 car in which this was done.
I’m one who prefers the early 60’s Catalina’s. They just got so fat and bloated as time went on. I did own a later “beak” car, a 72 Grandville convertible in the 80’s with the 455 engine. Great fun piling in all my high school friends and heading to the drive-ins ! Those were great times. Loved that car.
68, Bonneville Convertible, 428, 8 lug, barn find Arizona Car, pretty clean, all power, just a little over the original price is what I paid!
Nice !
Can’t be original miles. Too much rust. Look closely at driver front fender – appears to have been fixed and doesn’t line up as it should with the door. I like these big sleds and have a 69 Impala vert Project.
That’s the last handsome full-size Pontiac, in my view, and even at that I like the ’67 better. Hope it finds a deserving home. Wish I had room…
I always wondered why Pontiac designed the ac/heat controls to look like a radio
There is nothing luxurious about a Catalina. PW is the exception, not the rule.
Years ago I had a 68 Bonneville conv. Triple black, buckets, console, 8lugs and loaded with options, even a/c. I tried finding another to no avail. None have shown up in p.o.c.I. either. I’m looking for a 67 gp conv. Project. Anyone have one?
I had a ’68 Grand Prix the same color only with a lime green vinyl top. ( it looked better than it sounds) I bought it with the intention of only keeping it for a month as my wife’s Vista Cruiser had just been totaled by a drunk on her way to high school. ( yes the drunk was a high school student) I drove that car for 3 years and drove it like I stole it.
One day I got in my car at the local Burger King ( it was raining) when a guy with a Datsun (B210 if I remember right) rolls up cross ways in front of me and proceeds to leave the car there. I roll down the window to explain that I am trying to leave and he flips me off. That “Beak” made a very large dent in the driver’s door from getting shoved all the way across the parking lot sideways. The dent was made larger when the parking curbs on the other side of the lot stopped our movement.
My largest complaint was that I had to keep the HVAC fan running full speed all the time to keep the passenger compartment pressurized so that the exhaust fumes coming through the almost non-existent rusted out trunk floor would not kill me. ( 400 Quadrajet would bury the speedo at will. )
Interesting that Pontiac arguably outdid the 1958 Edsel with that nose.
Even the tail lights on the 68 Pontiac are similar to those on the 58 Edsel.
That is the correct pontiac blue engine color…had too many to not recignize it…
When I see cars with low mileage claims and condition like this one, I mentally read the mileage with an X on the left, as you don’t really know what number belongs there…
In the early ’70s I worked at a Pontiac dealer. When ever we would get mail from Pontiac it would have a postage meter stamp of a ’68 Catalina front end with “Zero Defects” printed below. The only way to kill a V8 Pontiac of that era was to not change the oil or over rev it. The 400 Hydromatic of that era was also the most reliable. Those cars never had “Stupid Stuff” go wrong. Sane driving would give you 16 MPG all day long. Just think what what a current add on aftermarket throttle body fuel injection and overdrive transmission would do.
I have to get another one to try that out.
I had a 67 Ventura 2dr with 400 premium fuel engine and a THM 400 tranny (both bullet proof). Got it in 71 with 92k on the odometer. Drove it back and forth to College and then to work after. Had one of the first AM/FM radios I ever saw with a factory reverb, sounded awesome!!! Like someone else said it would easily bury the speedo. Drove it to Detroit to see my girlfriend (about 90 miles), once I hit the e-way never let it get under 90 miles an hour all the way and it got 15 mpg! I was impressed. Best car I ever owned!!
The pictures are not very good but I see an Stutz hood ornament, not an Indian, can anyone please with better sight check it?
My Dad owned a 68 Bonneville 4 door hardtop in this color with the black vinyl top…. in fact it was our “good” car in 1973 when I had to take my drivers license test on a rainy/icy Ohio afternoon. Only 1 rearview mirror to back that huge car down the required course, back window without defogger totally blocked by condensation and the sweaty hands of a 16 year old boy who wanted to drive more than breathe.
Somehow I passed and that night my Dad let me drive it with some friends to a school event….. of course we flipped the air cleaner to make the 4 barrel sound cool! Loved the Bonnie and was so sad when they sold it off to buy an Aunt’s 73 Catalina, which while it wasn’t as pretty as the Bonneville, it was an amazing car that we drove over 300k.
My grandparents were Pontiac Bonneville lovers thru & thru. From when I was a little kid, they’d buy a new one every three or four years. From their cool 64 all the way to their last one which was a 1985, he was Pontiac tried & true. When they announced a new body and chassis for 1986, and it was rounded and front wheel drive, my grandfather was pissed as hell ! Sold his last Bonneville and bought a Ford in protest. Broke my heart when they discontinued the Pontiac nameplate.
My parents bought one of those FWD Bonnevilles. I think it was a 1988 SSE. Not great.
These cars were the equivalents of the dinosaurs, good thing the meteor came in the form of the ’73 – ’79 “oil shocks”. I’m 72 & watched it happen. The U.S. automobile industry is better off for it.
Yes, they are now considered dinosaurs. But the 1968 Pontiac Catalina, Grand Prix, Bonni, and Executive was one of the best of it’s time. Yes old school, but the same build quality with today’s technology would be fantastic. With fuel injection, O2 sensors, lead-free fuel and an overdrive transmission these would be fantastic cars! 2 ton + cars getting 15 plus mpg at 80 plus mph on carburation, and no overdrive plus very long lasting mechanicals is a great old dinosaur. Please just appreciate it.
While at time the Dinosaurs were not to my liking, preferred pre 70 earl 60 Dinos, like 62 Cadilac 2,Dr coupe with very modified out to 430 cube engine, that ues at cruise70-80 got 15mpg.
Cruise nights in town, fill up tank twice, 24 gallon tank with Sunoco top gas, 33 cents a gallon.
These behemoths including all except MOPA R AND Chev were not bad drivers, comfortable as any luxo and for days when almost no one drove 40,000 miles a year, 3 or 4 sets of tires to do so , relatively inexpensive to buy and maintain, and even dealer mechanics took under an hour for tune up, vacumned out windhield cleaned, and some guy had a job pumping you gas for you.
A refurbished dino is a drive down memory lane, of what too many call the good old days, when every real man worked, real women took care of home and nurtured children,and a Sunday drive with whole family was holier than church meetings.
Fella near here has 68 2nd owner Grand Prix in better than new, when he is washing or driving 60 Rock and Roll mixes with power of exhaust tones.