UPDATE 01/09/2024: Some sellers will immediately relist a car following an unsuccessful sale, but others will leave things as they assess the best time to make another attempt. This 1964 Pontiac Catalina falls into the second category. We last saw it in June 2023, and little has changed. The seller previously set a BIN of $21,500 but didn’t taste success. The approach is different on this occasion, with the seller choosing the auction path that has attracted intense bidding. The Pontiac is listed here on eBay in Shabbona, Illinois. The auction action has pushed the price beyond the reserve to $14,500. The rest of the details remain the same, and if you wavered the first time, this could be your chance to right that wrong!
06/23/2023: Maybe I should have entitled this post “Catalina 4-Speed Redux” after publishing this ’64 Catalina two-door sedan review earlier in the month. We’re in similar, but different, territory with this Catalina two-door hardtop. It’s more of a stocker and in original condition. It’s just not configured as one would expect. Cars like this are real gems. There’s nothing like them being made today, so they’re always worth a review. Barn Finder Dr. Ron gets a nod for this find!
So, instead of being a two-door sedan, this Catalina is a two-door hardtop that utilized Fisher Body’s creased steel convertible top design and was represented by an output of 74K copies instead of the sedan’s considerably lower count of only 12K units. That roof design was ubiquitous across all GM marques, except Cadillac, and was first introduced in ’62. This Catalina truly looks original and presents well, though you can denote visible areas of fade afflicting the unrestored Yorktown Blue finish in places. The body is sound appearing, with no evidence of rust in the lower extremities, around the windows, or in the cowl. It seems complete, with no signs of missing trim. Want to see more? Here’s the YouTube video.
The powertrain is surprising as the four-speed manual transmission is perched behind the standard 283 gross HP, 389 CI V8 engine, and not something with more sporting intentions. I guess that the engine has been detailed, as it’s a bit too clean to have any real age or mileage accumulation. The mileage recording is 77K miles, but there’s no claim of authenticity. The motor looks completely stock, with power steering that will lighten the driver’s load. The car runs and drives extremely well, and the previously-mentioned YouTube video confirms the motor sounds as sweet as a nut.
The interior is mid-’60s GM all the way. It’s a standard bench seat configuration, and that shifter is so spindly that it gets easily missed. The tri-tone blue vinyl upholstery is in nice shape, though the driver’s side of the bench seat bottom is experiencing some seam disorder. The carpet, headliner, door panels, wheel, and dash, in particular, are in remarkable condition. It’s hard to find fault here, and the interior really needs very little attention.
Oh, for the days when you could configure a car like this! I imagine it was a customer order, as it seems unlikely that a dealership would have ordered a bread-and-butter Catalina and then outfitted it with a four-speed manual transmission. Whatever the case, I’m glad that someone did, and it’s fantastic to see that this Catalina has survived 60 years and maintained its visual dignity. So, with the reserve now met, are you tempted to pursue this classic further?
Seems like a good deal but not many pictures or much description. Always liked these”boats”. Drove one in my earlier days. Nice car.
IMO that faux-convertible roofline is the only sour note in the styling. It’s too bad they didn’t make wider use of the Grand Prix roofline.
I happen to think the roofline makes the car. Same roofline as the Chevy Impala hardtop. To each his own ,I guess.
That roof was also featured on the Oldsmobiles and Buicks.
I have a 63 GP which is way better looking , roof lines and squared front end versus 64 rounded but this car is a good looking car and I’ve always liked the convertible roof line on all GMs during that time
Good write up J.O.
Cool Catalina stik shft.
I saw a Cherry 🍒 bomb 💣 other day on a 2008ish V6 mustang, the “Cologne” 4.0 not the newer powerhouse 3.7.
Anyways it was a single muffler, and had a great 👍 sound actually 😎
Had two on my ’59 Chevy Bel Air, 283, three-on-the-tree …. had a lot of fun with that car – both foolin’ with the engine and the grils … :)
Cherry bombs, Thrush mufflers, back in the day.
Now its “Flowmasters” that I hear mentioned as the consummate aftermarket muffler. Are these “Flowmasters” all that different from the oldies?
Just asking. Curious.
Massively! Flowmasters are just loud. Glasspacks have tone. The Flowmasters have more performance qualities but glasspacks have charisma.
thrush hush !
You will never see designs like that again because they’re not interested to what John Q Public needs or wants. They only care about less quality but more money 💰 💴 💵 and more quantity.
The day of car design,build, make and manufacture have long since passed from this so called new age of design building make and manufacturing, there was careful planning, considerations construction, design and pride and proudness of what was offered to John Q Public of what was really needed and wanted back then.
Back in the day back then there were true artisans, designers, builders, makers and manufacturers, tool and die fabricators, whatever tool or tools ⚒️ 🧰 🛠️ the car builder needed the factory fabricators would sit down with the builders, engineers, makers, manufacturers and mechanics to figure out whatever tool or tools needed to make the job and work more efficiently cost and effective.
Today you don’t see that anymore if you do, you are very lucky to have and see those people who are artisans and craftsmen who still take care, pride and stand behind their work and thats rare very, very very, very very rare indeed very rare. That goes for every trade and trades individual from Culinary Arts to building trades to auto manufacturing.
You’re right, we’ll never see cars styled like these were. These days auto manufacturers look for 5 things. Good gas mileage, meet required safety standards, cheap to produce, simple for the United Auto Workers to assemble, and last just until the warranty runs out. Few exceptions, but not many.
My uncle had a beige 64 Bonneville two door hardtop. Pontiac was on a roll in those days! Throughout the 60s actually.
I definitely have to agree with Jeff L ,having owned a 62 Impala for the last 43 years
This looks like a nice car, but I’m confused by the $21,500 obo asking price. The same dealer just finished a no-reserve auction on 6/22/23 that resulted in a sale for $8,500: https://www.ebay.com/itm/195824525242?hash=item2d980d1fba:g:KNIAAOSwrOVkVv3g
Did the dealer buy his own car to stop the sale?
My guess is that the “winner” was a shill bidder tasked with staying on top at the end unless the reserve was met.
It’s kind of a shame about the price confusion since I think it’s a very neat car. However, I can’t imagine who would have originally ordered a full-size Pontiac with a bench seat, 4-speed, AM-FM, tint, power steering, and the base 389 with a 2-barrel and single exhaust. Exactly what was their intended use for the car?
I considered making an offer, but decided against it. The phony auction (and the seller’s feedback) makes me wonder if there’s much more to the story. It would help to see a photo of the trim tag and learn the car’s build / delivery history through PHS.
It’s a Dandy/
I love this car. The only thing I would change would be to add some good power disc brakes. Plenty of GO but not much Whoa.
Our family owned a ’64 Catalina 4 dr in the same blue color (no two tone), with the standard 389 engine off the lot. It had an automatic of course. Three years later he brought a beautiful ’67 Catalina demonstrator home for inspection. It was white with a teal roof, and teal interior. By then I had my drivers license. Mom must have said ‘No’ when he walked into the house, and back it went. I wanted him to buy it. With my coaxing he eventually bought a med. green metallic ’67 Buick LeSabre. He drove that car for five years. Styling wise, the ’64, and ’67 Pontiacs were my favorite years.
Gorgeous Poncho. All it needs now is those handsome 8 lugs!
Strangely optioned car, cause I would think in 64, a lot of older people still liked 3 on the tree, which I never did, and would have built this car with that, behind the base 389, and single exhaust setup we have here, but to order a 4 speed single exhaust base 389 is definitely different
This car is gorgeous.
During the mid-sixties, I drove a column-shifted Pontiac Catalina, 1960. A looker, fast for its time, it made me the envy of my teenage friends. A ’61 LeSabre followed and then a ’63 LeSabre. I loved all three, and wish I had any one of them now.
The 1960s, I think, represented the high-water mark of GM design, performance, and quality.
Great research and write up Jim!
Dad taught me to drive in our ‘64 Gulfstream Aqua Bonneville and that’s why I have an eBay “Saved Search” for these big Ponchos.
If anyone is interested in this car there’s a possibility to see more photos at the dealer’s website.
They always have more than a few classic cars and trucks at reasonable prices.
https://www.countryclassiccars.com/vehicles/674/1964-pontiac-catalina
Thanks for the link to the actual website Doc…Car has been SOLD!! No other details on how much it actually sold for?? That had to be a 1 of 1 Car based on the strange combination in the drivetrain? I learned to drive in a ’68 Lemans w/MANUAL STEERING! It was a Carousel Red (Orange)w blk interior similar to the interior (but blk) in the ’68 Le Mans listed here that is Blue. Same Console shifted 2spd Auto too! Got my DL in SC at 15! The Trooper gave me my license bc I parallel parked that beast perfectly! He said I missed a few signals, but if I could PP that old LeMans w/o Power Steering I could certainly have a license to DRIVE IT! The good ‘ol days like that are WAAAAY behind us, just as all these old 2dr Coupes on BF will NEVER be built like this again!! SADLY😕
Very nice Catalina, and a real bonus to have the four speed instead of the trouble prone Slim Jim automatic. A double win.
I owned a 64 Grand Prix back in the mid 80’s l, a beautiful car that got lots of looks. It floated down the highway and was fun to cruise around on Friday and Saturday nights and yes it had the glass pack mufflers. Still wish I had it.
A few comments…
– PHS would be a real plus
– The lucite steering wheel is in pretty good shape, most are in pieces
– That is not an AM/FM radio
– Photo’s look good, but it would require an in-person inspection or by a well qualified appraiser
Looks like it has 2 radios.
Pontiac had a heat and A/C control panel had that would fit in the same space as the radio and vice versa. Styling!
The second radio is the heater control, styled to match the radio. Pontiac had some really nice dashboard designs in the 60’s
Dad had a 64 Catalina sedan with factory ac and seatbelts. That car was run off the road and went end over end several times. Both my Dad and then stepmother were bruised up pretty bad but not broken He replaced it with a 67 Grand Prix. The 64 was that beautiful aqua color and the 67 was white over black. Loved those Pontiacs back in the day.
I like the car, and I like original/authentic looks, but wish someone wouldn’t have added the wheel opening moldings which weren’t available even optionally on Catalinas then and probably resulted in someone drilling holes.
I bet the holes were already there if the mldgs were standard on another model. I know they were on all Buick models whether the moldings were standard or not, Also, someone apparently added a Chevy rear antenna. The only rear antennas on Pontiacs were their electrics, which this does not appear to be..
I noticed the same odd wheel opening bright moldings – which did not come on Catalina’s at all as it was the base model Pontiac. They are nothing but rust-makers anyway and the fine crispness of the body styling looks better without the moldings. Also, the floor mount stick shifter is odd too. – This Catalina probably started with the shifter on the column as others did – and somewhere along the line, it was moved to the floor to make the car “cooler”. The worn out shifter boot would be a low cost thing to replace before taking photos of it, so that’s odd that it wasn’t too. And the driver’s vent window handle appears to be broken, which may be a bit difficult to find in good condition now. The buyer should look closely at this survivor to be sure there aren’t other modifications that may not have fared so well.
I had the exact same car in the 80s. Metallic tan with cream top, 44K miles, got it from the original owner. It was an automatic though. Even with that 2 barrel it was wicked fast. Sold it to a guy – his girlfriend got mad at him and torched it. Pity…
“..it seems unlikely that a dealership would have ordered a bread-and-butter Catalina and then outfitted it with a four-speed manual transmission.” — What??? — I guess most people were either kids or not born yet in the mid 60’s, because I see comments like this a lot about the Catalina. I guess most people don’t know and realize that the Catalina was Pontiac’s base model – very “base” – if you didn’t spruce it up with a special order, which a lot of people did because they could get a “Pontiac” starting at a very affordable base price. Manual transmission with the shifter on the column was how the base Catalina came with the base vinyl seats and no PS, no PB, and no air conditioning. The dealer would install an AM or AM/FM radio if you wanted it, but the base model came with no radio either. If you wanted any of that, you had to order it that way. Single exhaust V8’s with 2 brl carbs were also part of the standard base model Catalina. Pontiac pumped out 389 cu engines like popcorn, because they were so extremely popular due to its GTO reputation, but if you wanted a screamer 4brl 389 with dual exhausts – like in the GTO – you were not going to find it in a Catalina unless it was specifically ordered that way. And if you ordered all those goodies on a Catalina – you were over the cost mark of a Star Chief or possibly even a Bonneville that came standard with most of those things – yet you still had the “base-price” Catalina nameplate on the car – meaning your neighbors still thought you couldn’t afford the higher priced Pontiac’s, which is why decked out Catalina’s are very few and far between – and most of those are after-market custom jobs. This Catalina is like most of them – base model with a few goodies added – nothing more – but it is in excellent condition for its age. (Note: my parents bought nothing but Pontiac’s starting in 1949, when I was born – and me and my brother did as well as our first cars when we came of age – so there’s not much about Pontiac’s we don’t have first hand experience with.)
How could you not love the front-end on this ’64 Catalina. Perfection.
Even 60 years ago, stick shifts in large cars were rarely seen. My aunt had a blue 64 Bonneville convertible with white seats. I rode in it as a curious and car crazy 8 year old when it was new. Despite all the comments here about what is right or wrong with this car, remember it is 60 years old and in better shape than about three-quarters of the fat, out of shape Americans waddling through Walmart. And what Ivan said about quality and building items what people want is never more true today. Think about this. Imagine a 60 year old Kia: It won’t exist.
Base models – like the Catalina – the Biscayne, etc, did come standard with manual transmissions — as most all other base models at the time – before and after did for many years. — Most dealers would order their base lot models with automatics as it didn’t up the sticker price much – and they were more popular. But – what “dealers” do does not mean anything about the way cars come standard from the factory. — Bonneville was the top decked-out model Pontiac at that time, and it couldn’t even be special ordered with a standard transmission, so of course all of them came with automatics and almost every other option available at the time. One of the only things that wasn’t “standard” on the Bonneville was A/C, because people in the far north states didn’t need it and so for them it was a high-cost item they didn’t want to pay for. Most dealers south of Minnesota made sure their top and mid models had A/C – or they would sit on the lot forever until they took a loss on it. The Pontiac Star Chief was the mid model that had a lot of goodies standard that didn’t come on the Catalina, but not all the goodies that came standard on the Bonneville. And that’s just the way it was – although what people did to to change that by special ordering a car created a lot of cars that didn’t fit the standard factory way of doing things.