I got moist just looking the thumbnails

My new favorite DOTS. Thank you.

Ahhhh, when cars were built with pride.

Got to love Bakelite. Almost 60 years of weathering and it's still pretty much crystal clear.

I welcome my new glowing indian head jet plane overlord to my new desktop picture.

She's a beauty. Some of the best I Love Lucy episodes were the ones when the Ricardos and the Mertzes crossed America in their '55 Pontiac convertible.

Or, as Ricky called it, "Puntiac".

Hmm, a jet with a face one it...

Since Bob "Maximum" Lutz is born from jets, could this then be his father?

Pontiac: Born from jets... with glowing indian heads.

Gee Murilee, can you sneak back at night and get us an after dark shot of this hood ornament when it is lit up? That was the classiest feature of these wonderful hood ornaments.

This would be even better if loving restored to its original glory. The hood ornament is incredible.

I actually drove a '51 Chieftain a couple of times.
The flathead eight and single barrel carb combined with three on the tree transmission was just a bit shy of neck snapping in the go fast dept.
But these cars sure had a boatload of style!
The tiny rear window isn't original. I'm guessing the top came from our friends at J.C. Whitney.

Pontiac needs to embrace its Native American heritage [en.wikipedia.org] Chieftan is way cooler than G_.

Sweet car. Hope the owner fixes the convertable before rain destroys the interior.

My grandmother (maternal) had a 63 Catalina (or Bonneville, it was a long time ago) and it had the indian head as the high beam indicator. Not nearly as cool as the hood ornament but I always thought it was pretty sweet. And it had a big ass motor.

My street isn't nearly as interesting as your street...

This car raaaaaaawks!

I live in the snow belt, so I have to live vicariously through your DOTS photos. You have yet to let me down!

jim

If your car doesn't start you can call the Pontiac Manitou for help.

that hood ornament is mind blowing.

It's too bad that this isn't in the GM studios for comparison instead of a Camry. Wonderful cohesiveness for so many intricate details.

I like how you used the undesireable 'sunroof' to your advantage for the interior shot!

@biminitwst: I think the tiny rear window was stock if you opted for the glass instead of the plastic. They didn't yet have the fancy folding glass of the 1960s. Although, I'm pretty sure you could still zip that window down, for maximum ventilation.

And I could have bought one of these in twice as nice condition a few years ago for 10 grand. Why didn't I buy it? Oh yeah, I didn't any money...

Also, I think only the Chieftan came as a convertible. Silver Streak (if you mean the chrome on the hood and deck) was applied to all Pontiacs. Streamliners were the fastbacks (kind of), akin to the Fleetline series for Chevy; though notch sedans also had the moniker.

I walk by this one all the time, its even better in person. I often wonder why the owner hasn't fixed her up. It does have California historical vehicle plates on it. Maybe thats why they haven't restored her. I love this ride!!!!

In the name of all that is holy, someone rescue this car and restore it to its original glory!

Awesome. Thanks, MM!

Ah, this one I like! and that ornament is F A N T A S T I C !

I'm in love. This car needs to find its way to my car-port, where I will lovingly nurture it without destroying the patina experience has blessed it.

I would make some semi-transparent enhancements, such as seat heaters (and probably a whole new electrical system), a decent stereo (with nothing 'modern' visible), suspension/structural enhancements to support the style of driving I enjoy, and lastly period inspired mods to the straight 8 (and glasspacks!)

I can see myself right now, cruising around South Lake Union, breezing by all the SLUT riders, parade-waving my way to lunch on the waterfront.

Good times.

It's a Chieftain; Streamliner was the fastback body style on sedans only.

I love it! This car is awesome art deco-eyness overload! Better than watching an episode of Batman: The Animated Series from the engine room of a Raymond Lowey Streamliner Locomotive parked in the lobby of the Chrysler Building.

Ah, a rust-free Chieftan. I'm must be dreaming!

American classic indeed.

@lemondriver: In the name of all that is holy, someone rescue this car and restore it to its original glory!

I agree totally.

Let's go steal it!

Does it shed a tear when I don't peel out, and a ear to ear grin when I do?

@TPSreports: No!!! It's current state (with the exception of the top) is how it should remain.

Hose it off...maybe wax it. There will be no frame-off, numbers matching, vintage bolt-finding nonsense here.

...and glasspacks...although I guess it only needs 1 glasspack on account of the straightness of the 8.

(dual exhaust on a straight engine is really dumb)

Does the rear window on that canvas top zip out on open up so you can motor 5-windows down?

MM - if you could stick a ruler in one of those shots of the Indian, I'm sure one of us could work up a mold from the scale dimensions... That'd be classy on my '96 Accord.

@FreeMan: Why make one of those when you could have this?

@Mad_Science: I'm with you. This thing is in pretty terrific original condition. If there's no rust, don't mess with it. New top and you're done.

Except the glasspacks/cherrybombs/straightpipes. Why does everyone here want a stupid-ass loud car? Performance exhaust systems are for performance cars used on a track. This has 'cruiser' written all over it and doesn't need to be be noisy to be cool.

@Murilee Martin: That Art Deco design is beautiful. I want that hood ornament as a paperweight, hope some clever entrepreneur will make replicas. Looks like an Easter Island statue.

Is this the Viva La Bam edition?

Straight-8... *sigh*... - JSMITH53 - I'm with you on this one...

Many Pontiacs of this era had an optional under the seat auxiliary heater. One of those would heat your seat, Bret.
@Bret:

@Mad_Science:
gotta agree. Hose it of, lightly scotch-brite it, and then clear coat it with a semi-gloss. Preserve the patina.

@Murilee Martin:

Or this [www.jcwhitney.com]

I know - this is gonna get me executed....

When I was growing up, my family had a 49 Chieftan convertible that my grandad bought for my grandmother on the occasion on my youngest aunt's birth. They liked it so much, he bought himself a 50 sedan in this exact color.

I remember that when I was about 13, my aunt dug them out of the junk in which they were buried in the garage and had a local hack mechanic get them running again as a present for her parents, then she ended up driving the 49 for a while.

The first time I saw them running, in the heart of the malaise era, I was amazed that any car could have that much style and class, and getting to cruise around in the convertible briefly and totally illegally was about the coolest I've ever felt.

Why can we not make in volume new cars that look just like this, but with modern engines, frame rigidity, and suspension? We *invented* cruising, dagum it, and we should take it back. I think if GM, Ford, or Chrysler were to create new\ultra retro brand just for building cruisers, it might just revive the US auto industry. Start it as a fairly limited production company to test the waters and build hype.

Harley has been playing that game on the motorcycle side of things for years now, and it's worked well for them.

like wow baby, that is just cool, I'm gonna get one so I can become a middle age hep cat.

@crevans: That's an interesting idea, although there's no way a car company could successfully take it as far as H-D has. But, the basic idea is one that I'd like to think that the Big 3 are starting to embrace, that commuter capsules aren't their strong suit, but they can build cars that resonate strongly emotionally.

And, yeah, that Pontiac is teh awesome. Well, that level detailing, trim-wise, is teh awesome at least. I was showing that to my roommates, they didn't think it rolled out of the factory like that.

@crevans: I'd like to see Detroit make all-new non-retro stuff that people want to buy. Stuff that looks so good that they'll be doing retro versions of it in 40 years.

To do that, Murilee, you would have to throw safety and aerodynamics (gas mileage) out the window. Where do I sign up?

I used to have a '53 Buick Special with the straight 8 engine (with the Dynaslush, er, Dynaflow tranny) and it was sweet. It was a marvel to watch running when I had the valve cover off to adjust the valves.

@Murilee Martin: Exactly! The idea of retro new cars is more appealing than the reality. The new Beetle, the new Mini (that one is okay), PT Cruiser, HHR (Chevy's ugly PT Cruiser), SSR (that other weird Chevy retro truck thing), the Thunderbird, Plymouth Prowler...
...and now the Mustang, Camero, Challenger, they are all retro inspired, if not simple copies of past cars. Detroit doesn't have any new ideas, so all they can do is rehash the old ones. It's pretty lame. Actually, the Dodge Magnum/Chrysler 300 line is a pretty daring shape, although it is heavily inspired by Bentley, and the cars are junk quality. At least it's a unique shape. What else, the Crossfire is almost good looking but it's unique in looks....uh....that's all I got.

Oh, the Ford GT. Now that's original...wait, I can't talk smack about that car...that one is pretty tight.

In 40 years, I'll be searching for a rust-free, good-running Aztek and wonder why I didn't buy one new...I'll also have alzheimers.

~jesse