June 16: A different Pontiac

There she is, the famous in her own mind, Car Modeling Cat, the CMC. The dear little furball and I just finished making a model of one of my favorite old cars. A car that is generally disregarded by fans of the recently guillotined Pontiac brand. The year was 1960 and when the new models were introduced, surprise, surprise the 1960 Pontiac was a complete departure from the year before. Unusual in that designs typically had a two year life span and the 1959 model had been totally new. By the way, totally new in those days generally meant it, at least in terms of the body design.

Come September of 1959, this is what came out from under the wraps at Pontiac dealers across North America......

  If only those cars back then were as wide as they were depicted in the ads, we wouldn't need suvs with seating for seven. Just throw all-wheel drive under the car and load 'em up, Poncho.

Anyway, I always liked this car, although I'm probably in the minority. The year before the front grille was split, which unknowingly started a Pontiac tradition........

.........which was skipped for the '60 model year, before becoming Pontiac's signature front end until the brand's demise in 2008. Why the '60 wasn't split? Who knows, but the answer is no doubt hidden away on some site on the internet.

Back to the model the CMC and we just completed.......

Picture perfect right down to the gold Bonneville script on the front grille. I mentioned the width in the ads, but some other dimensions were also extreme and were for real......

......like that very long back end on the this top line version. There was the better proportioned and less expensive Catalina, which fit only a six pack of bodies in the trunk, unlike this Bonneville, in which one could load a full dozen.

Do you know how hard it is wandering around our apartment building looking for the appropriate place to photograph these finished models? Believe me, when I tell you, sometimes it is frustrating (tough life?).

For 1959 Pontiac introduced a wheel option that was also to become a Pontiac signature piece. That was the famous 8 lug wheel, which the CMC and I have on our model...........

 This wheel ran from 1959 until 1968 and is reasonably expensive, if you are looking for a replacement today. Anyway, it's all history. What is important (at least to us) is that we did a good job with a car that we both like and enjoyed making.

 So, there you have it, two months in the making and the CMC and I have something we both can enjoy, the 1960 Pontiac Bonneville.........

 Until next time......