The 1940’s had its fair share of sedans, and coupes, but what about this cool Streamline style Pontiac Silver Streak? Sleek styling in the rear and a classic styled front end with plenty of interesting style cues. This Silver Streak is in need of tlc, but looks to be a solid start to an interesting project. Priced at $4,000, we think this would make a great project for someone. Find it here on craigslist out of Azusa, California.
The engine bay is a little empty and dry, but the heart remains. Although still present, the condition of the engine and transmission is unknown. The inner fenders look solid, and the top of the fenders look clean as well. There appears to be an issue with the hood hinges and their internal spring mechanism. The condition of this car looks to be fairly reasonable. Rust looks to be a minimum, although the seller mentions that the front floors and the trunk floor need some work. We think with some time and patience this could be a cool patina mobile, or even a full on restoration candidate. The bright work on this car is really unique and lends to the Silver Streak name. One interesting feature of this Pontiac is the factory rear wiper. Very cool to see it is still present. Also there is a nice aftermarket aluminum windshield visor with this Silver Streak.
The exterior of this Pontiac is a much easier pill to swallow than the interior. The interior needs a lot of love. The dashboard is rusty though the gauges and components appear complete. The steering wheel is dry and cracked but manageable. The seats, doors panels, carpet, and headliner are rough. Though most if not all of the door panel and interior components appear to be there. If you wanted to make this into a patina mobile, you would certainly be investing some time and elbow grease on this one.
Perhaps not the rarest car out there, this Pontiac Silver Streak is certainly a cool one. We can certainly envision this one being a patina mobile as the exterior just has a pleasant look with mild rust visible. On the other hand, almost all of the trim, is complete with this car, so it would also be a fantastic restoration car. The styling of this Silver Streak and the exterior trim really make this one cool Pontiac. What would you do with this Pontiac? Patina cruiser, or restore it?
Factory? Rear wiper. I don’t think so.
Googled and found a restored one with rear wiper. http://s65.photobucket.com/user/vwlarry/media/1948-Pontiac-Silver-Streak-back-po.jpg.html Another too! http://www.californiacar.com/jhponcho07.jpg So I guess it was very likely an option.
Yup, they exist. Just yesterday, ICON’s Jonathan Ward posted a tour on YouTube of all his upcoming Derelict projects, and one was a ’47 Poncho with not only the rear wiper, but heated seats! Pretty cool.
All have the potential to look new again. This one is no exception…
After my father’s 1940 Dodge got in trouble french-kissing a trolley car in Brooklyn, he bought a new 1948 Pontiac 4 door. For some reason he hated that car. He complained bitterly that the trunk leaked. So, he traded it in on a 1951 Kaiser Traveler, which was a pretty neat car for the time (basically a 4-door hatchback station wagon….looked like a sedan, but opened up like a wagon), but it too had its problems. Since neither car had any relation to the other, the only common factor was between the steering wheel and the driver’s seat. As I got older, I realized that it was the common factor in all of the cars he owned. A tool & die maker, he hated doing any personal mechanical maintenance after a week in the machine shop. The shoemaker’s children….
One of these drove by me every morning in the late 60’s while I was waiting for the school bus to high school. Nice, old [ to a HS kid] lady driving it to work. I looked forward to see it every day – great lines and condition.
I always had my thumb out trying to save my bus money, she never once glanced my way at that stop light – a young school boy nicely dressed in my coat and tie – I did get plenty of very cool rides but always wanted a ride in that Silver Streak!
A nice Silver Streak article:
http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2015/04/21/the-pontiac-silver-streak-story/
It has the Hydramatic also. 4 speeds, not much slippage loss. Nice.
Al
Great project, missing some lower right side trim and the deck lid is Chevy, it should have the wide trim from the hood continuing down it. Needs full restoration, maybe real brakes, these weigh a few ton. Good luck to whoever picks it up, hopefully they won’t part it out of change the looks.
It is way overpriced IMO. To begin with it a lower line 6 not the flathead 8 that was higher priced. And the condition leaves a lot to be desired for a $4,000. asking price for a car that never was that popular and never will be. The $1,000 1948 DeSoto http://barnfinds.com/barn-found-vintage-mopar-1947-desoto/ is in way better condition. At 3 times the money of this Pontiac that the ’48 DeSoto could probably bought for http://barnfinds.com/vintage-mopar-2-1948-desoto/?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_source=Newsletter+(Daily)&utm_medium=email&utm_content=titlelink is a way better deal because you would have at least double that in restoring the Pontiac plus the $4,000. purchase price. And have at the end of the day a $12-14,000. car.
Whippeter, thanks for the correction. I’ve learnt something.
So did I. Curiosity took over my ADHD, so I had to look…
Face it, unless you are a professional car flipper, there is no PRACTICAL reason to buy any of these barn finds. Any modern transportation appliance will give you better steering braking reliability and fuel economy than an old car.
There is ONLY ONE REASON TO BUY ONE- BECAUSE YOU FEEL IT. It’s not logical. Don’t try to pull that one on your wife. Owning it truly might bring you closer to family members, be it your dad or your kids or your partner. But don’t worry about the value as the number one consideration. Just buy it because you deserve it and you like it. Hopefully some of the pain will be fun too, after you get past it!
Al
Beautifully put, Al… spot on.
Still, that didn’t stop me from telling my wife last week that it’d be better to buy a ’53 Pontiac because it’d hold its value better than a used Honda. And whaddaya know – it worked!
With Loco – this was most likely bought way under a $1000…..let’s say $750 ? At that price maybe $1500 would be fair for this car….up to $2000 if you aired up the tires.
Lots of potential here. Great find, but its going to be a project of love!
Love these old cars from the late 40’s-early 50’s, but I can smell that interior from here.