Pontiac design chief Frank Hershey devised the distinctive silver trim that runs down the center of the hood and trunk lid of this car, and this was the catalyst for the model receiving the Silver Streak name. The trim theme was introduced in 1935, and it continued to be used in various guises until 1956. This 1938 model is listed for sale here on eBay. Located in Middletown, Connecticut, it comes with a clear title. Bidding is currently sitting at $1,551 for this classic, but the reserve has not been met.
The body of this Pontiac appears to be in pretty reasonable condition for a car of this age. There is some rust present in the bottoms of the doors, but otherwise, it looks solid and quite straight. The center of the grille has some minor damage, but I think that this could be repaired. The rest of the external trim appears to be present, but some of it will require restoration. That distinctive silver trim that provided both the name and the visual identity of the car is also present.
The interior is in remarkable condition for a car that has been sitting unloved for decades. The seat upholstery looks to be in good condition, and the dash appears to be complete but will require some restoration. Likewise, the door trims will also require restoration, but we don’t have any indication of the condition of the headliner. In all honesty, the interior is actually fairly serviceable and could pretty well be used as it is.
Under the hood is the original 222.7ci side-valve six that when new produced 85 hp. This is backed by a 3-speed manual transmission. Unfortunately, this engine hasn’t run in 20 years. The seller does not indicate whether or not it turns freely. If it does then it is entirely possible that it could be made to run again with only a bit of tinkering and tweaking. We do know that the brakes are inoperative. After such a long hibernation it is probably fair to expect that the braking system will require a reasonable amount of maintenance to bring it back to health.
The Silver Streak design helped to differentiate the Pontiac models from those being offered by Chevrolet, and it helped to disguise their shared sheet-metal. This Silver Streak is original and appears to be complete. Placing a value on this particular car is quite difficult. There have been very few 4-door Silver Streaks of this vintage on the market in recent times, and neither Hagerty or NADA are able to provide a price guide. With those factors in mind, it will be interesting to see what this car actually sells for.
I had a friend with a car just like this. I helped him redo the brakes, and to my surprise, being 60 years old( at the time) drum brakes hadn’t changed one bit. Great by 1938 standards, but 50 mph was about it. But for 1938, this was a darn nice car and still is.
To next owner: don’t care what motor you plop in here, but by all means, PAINT the darn thing.
I love Pontiac’s Silver Streak theme, and this is a nice car, but it’s about a decade too early to pique my interest. I’m guessing the reserve is pretty high.
1938 and a column shift? Is that right?
Looks pretty obvious from the photos that it’s column-shift. I think that was a new option on ’38s.
Pontiac invented the column shift, a new feature for 1938
Looks as if someone installed their own custom spedo in the dash.. Ingenuity at its best !!!
Dad’s favorite watering hole was across the street from Freeman Pontiac in Mt Morris MI. They had a Silver Streak and the Pontiac indian head in beautiful neon in the windows. Those signs enthralled me, I knew as a pre teen that this car had to be one elegant special machine. It took two of those hard starting str8 8s with burned exhaust valves to learn the value of the reliable Chevy 6. But I sure as hell wish I had those neon signs for my garage. Hell, I’d love to just have a color pic of them
I’ve been to a few watering holes in Mt. Morris. Freeman Pontiac was one of my favorite sites to see while riding down N. Saginaw St on the school bus in the earlier years.
I had forgotten that Freeman’s moved down on Saginaw St south of town. The place that had the neon was on Mt Morris Rd, first place east of the railroad tracks and across the street from Sparky’s Tavern……That would have been in the early/middle 50s
The 1938 Cadillac 60s also came with 3 on the tree for the first time. Guessing that it was a GM innovation for that year
General Motors did!
Just bid on it.
Wish me luck
Chris
In the side on picture, does the rear wheel look to be too far forward in the wheel arch or is it just me, perhaps broken ‘U’ bolts, busted shackle, etc., and the axle housing has shifted/twisted forward ??
Hey Chris, were you the lucky bidder on this one?
Good luck, Chris !
My father had one of these 1938 Pontiacs. He junked it in his cousins junkyard. I don’t know what year that was, but his cousin used it to push other cars around the junkyard, thus, putting a big dent in both fenders and the grill.
When I was about 8 years old he pulled it out of the junkyard and put it in one of the barns that we had. I loved playing in that car. The back seat was huge! The interior was a red plaid. That I hated.
When I was about 11, (1964) my father decided to do something with it, so he got it running, and I drove it from the barn to the house. After awhile it went back into the barn.
I guess I was around 20 when he finally sold it.
Those back suicide doors harks back to a different time chauffeur driven liveried driver elegant woman or taxi cab
I just took a closer look at the steering wheel. The steering wheel in my father’s 38 Pontiac was a chrome bango. Was that an upgrade option? Does anyone know?