Suspenders anyone? Not if your name was Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen. Elevated to the head of GM’s Pontiac division in 1956, his marching orders were to spruce up and modernize Pontiac’s image which meant stainless steel hood suspenders were going to get the bum’s rush. And by ’57 they were 86’d but they were still the Pontiac “thing” in 1955 when this Star Chief two-door hardtop was built. Let’s see what Bunkie found so offensive. This Poncho is located in Holtsville, New York and is available, here on eBay for an opening bid of $4,800. T.J. gets points for this discovery!
Being a Star Chief two-door hardtop puts our subject car at the top of the totem pole – it’s a desirable find – maybe not in the same sense as corporate cousin Chevrolet’s ’55 Bel Air hardtop, but this car has collectibility. As for the stainless trim, while it varied among the Star Chief/Star Chief Custom/Catalina as well as the various Chieftain models, they all got the suspenders. In the case of this Star Chief, it has also got the surface rust treatment, lots of it as it appears to be its main malady. Beyond that, there is some rust-through along with a few dents and creases. But those suspenders, and all of the rest of the extensive trim, still show well. The seller refers to “great patina” – I’m not sure how great it is – the entire affair looks just worn out. Nothing is said about structural integrity but having sat in storage for 40 years, prospective buyers would be wise to look it over, and under, closely.
The interior is a typical ’50s two-tone affair and the seller claims it to be leather. Period Pontiac literature mentions full leather or leather in a combination with fabric so I guess the claim is correct. Regardless, this Star Chief’s innards appear to be beyond redemption. The dash and instrument panel are pretty fair but the door and upholstery panels, along with the cool stainless steel demarcated headliner panels are going to need help. Interesting to note is the presence of power windows.
Speaking of needing help, the first-year 180 gross HP, 287 CI overhead valve V8 engine looks marooned in that engine compartment. The seller mentions that the fan and starter are missing but the distributor, wires, belts, hoses, etc are also nowhere to be found. Needless to say, this one, with its Hydramatic automatic transmission, is a non-runner.
Restorable? Of course. Worth the effort? From an economic return perspective, probably not. From a saving a great old, mid-century, fallen flag model perspective? You bet, suspenders notwithstanding!
Well worth restoring, but begs for a two-tone paint job of creamy white front end and lower sides, with the rust color on top of fenders/trunk. And yes–that IS real leather on the seats–or what’s left of it anyway. My grandparents had a `56 4dr HT Star Chief with leather.
Cool old poncho. I would hazard a bet those tail light lenses are pretty hard to come by replacements for!
Great old car. The 55 Pontiac had a 4 speed hydromatic transmission. It shifted once in low range, once in drive 1 and once in drive 2.
Yes, we had an Olds hydo behind a J2 motor. It would quick shift the 1 to 2 (first gear to 2nd) and the other 2 were automatic, a 4 speed. I believe “Ohio George” ran this where he could manually shift all gears. They were very popular in drag racing.
This was way back in the mid 70’s but my brothers were junking cars and they had gotten some mid 50’s pontiacs or it could have been oldsmobiles. Anyway, these cars had clutch pedals with automatic transmissions. I remember tearing apart the motors to sell for cast iron, it was worth about 35 bucks a ton compared to the less than 20 a ton for the bodies, had to give the hauler half for taking them in but these did have a clutch disc with the automatic trans, what the heck was I tearing apart for 10 bucks a ton?
GM never made a 4 speed Hydramatic Transmission with a manual clutch. B&M, who specialized in racing transmissions in those days, sold a “Hydro-Stick” Transmission which did use a manual clutch. They also sold a “Clutch Flite” using Chrysler’s Torqueflite Transmission.
Every time I see a 1955 Pontiac, I think of Lucy and Desi driving to California.
Maybe IF the engine ran. Maybe IF the interior was good. Maybe IF it was rust free. Maybe IF the glass was intact. Or some combination of the above. $8000 more than the asking gets you a good driver, a bit more gets you something close to a show example.
Fitting that it is parked beside a pile of debris. At least the seller pulled if off the trailer before he took the pictures.
A ’55 Pontiac was the first family car I remember, and that was likely in 57 or 58, as my dad never bought a new car. I do not remember what you’re referring to as “suspenders”. Were they only on the upscale models, or am I just not remembering them at all. I do remember the green color; not a bit about the interior.
Had a 55 2 door sedan , solid vehicle , standard trans ( went through 8 junk yard trans in 2 years ) , want my 2 dr. post poncho back !
I believe Pontiac referred to them as silver streaks. They were a brand defining statement similar to Buick’s portholes. In any case Bunkie saw them as an outdated trim for an old man’s car. As he is famous for saying: you can sell an old man a young man’s car but you can’t sell a young man an old man’s car. So bye bye streaks. It’s too bad the time and money involved to even bring it up to driver quality would leave you upside down.
I wanted one of these since I was a young kid. Finally bought a nice one from a guy that just wanted it to go away. Got a great deal. Played with it for about 6 months and let it go. Guess I would have enjoyed it more 50 years ago.
My Uncle Leo Murphy used to rework the quarters and tail lights on these old Ponchos and Buicks to look like a 56 Clipper or 54 Merc.. totally takes the car from ugly to wow.. Paul Gill would paint them.. He loved to tint the primer so it looked cool if you drove it while still working on the body… They were friends from the 60’s till they passed a few years ago..