Introduced in 1954, the Star Chief was sandwiched between the basic Chieftain and snappier Bonneville (which usually rode on a longer wheelbase) for most of its life. This 1957 convertible is one of only two drop-tops offered by Pontiac that year and sold in much greater numbers than the Bonney (12,789 copies vs. 630). A restoration was started (perhaps many years ago) but stalled due to financial reasons. Located in Freeport, Texas, this unfinished project is available here on eBay, where the seller’s reserve is unmet at $10,100.
The Star Chief was a Pontiac fixture for a dozen years, eventually becoming a series of its own. Signature identification included several star-like trim pieces placed here and there over the car. The 1955-57 redesign followed that of the Chevrolet’s from the same period, with later editions powered by 347 cubic-inch Pontiac V8s, of which we assume one is in the seller’s car. The owner provides few details about this rare ragtop other than mentioning its on-hiatus restoration.
We surmise that the prior work to this car was to the chassis and body, which may have included new red paint (it may be okay, though we see some chips). New floorboards were probably part of the equation, but we don’t know how bad things may have been prior. The tattered interior was excluded, as was the canvas top that is all but a memory now.
The seller does not say if the Poncho runs, so we have to assume it does not. The trunk is full of parts, both old and new, but we don’t know if anything important is missing. I would be hard-pressed to submit a bid without more information. The kind you will only get by grilling the seller.
Underside pics would be nice. I think its parked on a lift already so . . .
Dad bought one new. It was a blue and white four door. Fender skirts, I think it was the nicest car he ever owned.
This would’ve been a very good looking car in 1955 or even 1956. But by 1957 it should’ve been all new as in longer lower and wider and looking much more space age. It did not. His car works Model year is an impressive. It’s like why do people think a 1957 Chevy is so fantastic what they could have a 1957 Plymouth fury or 1957 Ford Fairlane? GM was out of state with design philosophy. By 1959 they finally were longer lower and wider. Unfortunately, we went into a recession.
Say what?
I would rather have this Pontiac than 3 or 4 Plymouths
The most incomplete complete restoration I have ever seen.
The “full description ” is the most vague I’ve seen. Too many questions on this for me to look and look away.
A few years ago at a local show a guy showed up with a black ’57 Poncho. It wasn’t a Starchief as it had a split chrome strip and no stars. The strip was lime green between the chrome strips with a green and white interior. It had the rare option of factory a/c. A beautiful 6 year restoration project it was.
Even the cheapest Chieftains had stars on the side – three of them – instead of four as the Star Chief and Bonneville had. One without them means they were removed. I don’t know why they would unless they were customizing it into something other than factory – whereas they would probably removed the front chrome fender jets too. In ’57, I think you had to special order factory A/C – even on the Bonneville. My ’57 Chieftain I bought used in ’65 had factory A/C, which had been special ordered along with other options the Chieftain did not come stock with – like dual exhaust, which mine had too. It was very typical for 50’s and 60’s cars to be purchased on paper with the options of choice and then wait for the car to arrive from the factory. That system gave every buyer the feeling of having their own “special” car, which was a lot nicer than just buying whatever was on the lot.
I stand corrected, Al. To be honest, I don’t recall the star details; seemed it didn’t have any, but I probably don’t remember them.
This may come up as twice posted, but I stand corrected, Al. To be honest, I don’t recall how many stars it had down the sides. I just remember how sharp the lime green was between the chrome strips down the side and the a/c. I haven’t seen the car since at any shows since.
I rather have a Pontiac than a 57 Chevy. 57 Ford’s are nice also. Just not enough said in the ad to really think about it.
My first car when I was 16 in ’65 was a ’57 Pontiac Chieftain, and I was a teenager crazy about cars, so I paid attention to every model showing up on the showroom floors ever year.
The fire-engine red paint job on this ’57 was poorly done. You can see they didn’t even include the headlight cowls in the paint job, which reveals the original color – the deeper rust-red color of that year – NOT fire-engine red, which is also evident in the darker rust-red as seen on the exposed interior metal.The over-spray is everywhere and the paint appears thin in several areas – like an old $29.95 quicky paint job. It was most likely a two-tone color (the darker-red / white of that year) from the factory as most all ’57 Pontiac’s were then. The only solid-color ’57 Pontiac’s I have ever seen in factory paint were fire chief’s car in fire engine red and station wagon hearses in solid black, and I seriously doubt any fire chief ever had a convertible. This one has a LOT of question marks all over the place on it – the amateur paint job is just one of the glaring problems.
My ’57 Chieftain had dual exhausts with the tailpipes ending in open slots on the back bumper where this one has chrome plugs in that part of the bumper – like the cheapest Chieftains had – not the Star Chief and Bonneville. It’s hard to believe this Poncho came with single exhaust from the factory. The back bumper was most likely replaced without any regard to what the old bumper was like. Fortunately, the plugs can be removed if they want to do this classic right by installing a dual exhaust correctly.
The ad says the car has had a “full restoration”. If THAT is a full restoration – there’s plenty of bondo-buggies out there that could claim the same. — The interior is literally “shot” – the dash is a whole new from-scratch project, the seats need a complete cushion and upholstery replacement and it looks like the frames may be badly rusted. The door panels are missing – and they are very hard to find now – and would have to be fabricated from scratch – if they are not somewhere in all the “fully restored” pieces in the trunk that most likely would have to be fully redone into the original pattern. The door hardware that can be seen is pitted and would have to be sand-blasted and re-chromed, which is not cheap. And then there’s the convertible top that’s toast and you can’t see enough of its frame to make out what shape it is in. The top was most likely motorized on a Star Chief and there’s no mention what shape the motor is in. — And there’s no way to tell what shape the glass is in by looking at the ad.
I’m obviously over-sensitive about restoring this 50’s classic, but this “full restoration” is abominable!.– IMO, it’s not worth the asking price of $10K, as there’s just too many big bucks that will have to go into it to bring it back anywhere close its original glory.