Pontiac for 1951
OK, back to basics! I was prompted to put this shot of this rather nice 1951 Pontiac up after seeing friend, and fellow photographer, Dan Healy's photos of his dad's Pontiac. See it here flic.kr/p/2sxGyRQ But his dad had taken out the venerable straight 8 engine out and replaced it with a Rocket 88 Olds V8 engine! Wow, on that!
Here's what I learnt on the 1951 Pontiac models which was very similar in looks and performance to Dan's father's 1952 model:
Pontiac celebrated its Silver Anniversary in 1951; it had been 25 years since the first car rolled out of the Oakland factory in Pontiac Michigan. The Chieftain line essentially carried over from 1950, although the Catalina was now available in “Deluxe” trim as well as the exclusive “Super Deluxe” package. Clearly, the Chieftain styling reflected the modern trend in post-war automobiles.
The predominantly horizontal grille-work of ’49 and ’50 was pleasantly updated with a gull-wing motif for ’51. An Indian head medallion featured prominently in the center of the grille opening, while the Pontiac name-plate was incorporated into the top arched grille bar attached to the hood. Pontiac’s famous Silver Streaks still adorned the center of the hood, rising from the front name-plate, up and back to the base of the windshield and then continuing on the deck lid to meet the rear name-plate and trunk handle. The standard hood ornament was a chrome-plated Indian brave; the deluxe ornament was fitted with a translucent amber Indian head insert and illuminated whenever the parking or headlamps were lit.
There were 8 distinct body styles available in 1951. The Super Deluxe Catalina was done entirely in two colors: Malibu Ivory and Sapphire Blue. The exterior could be solid in either color or two-toned light over dark or dark over light. The interior used the same color combination but the colors remained fixed; the top of the dashboard, steering wheel, lower door panels and carpet were Sapphire Blue, while the bottom of the dash, steering column and top of the door panels was Malibu Ivory. All models had Indian head medallions on either rear fender at the upper back corner; these were new for ’51. As with past practice, the deluxe models also had chrome headlamp trim rings, bright gravel guards, full wheel covers and belt moldings that dipped down just ahead of the “C” pillar on either side.
All 1951 Pontiacs rode on a 120” wheelbase chassis with 7.10x15 tires standard; larger 7.60x15 tires were available at extra cost on all except the station wagon and sedan delivery. The standard axle ratio on all Hydra-Matic models was 3.63:1 while the Synchro-Mesh models utilized a 4.10:1 axle. The available “mountain” and “economy” axle ratios were 4.30:1 and 3.90:1, respectively.
Pontiac had increased the displacement of their venerable straight eight to 268 cid in 1950 and carried it over for ’51 unchanged. The six cylinder engine received a noticeable change this year, its Carter WA-1 carburetor was replaced with a Rochester BC unit. The standard compression ratio for either engine remained at 6.5:1, as did the optional 7.5:1 “high-head” compression ratio. The standard eight was rated 116@3,600 and the “high-head” was 120@3,600; the standard six was 96@3,400 and the high compression six was rated 100@3,400. If you read the road test articles from this period you find that most of them commented on the available power and ease of acceleration up to and beyond highway speeds.
Sales of the 1951 models fell short of the record set in 1950; Pontiac produced 370,159 automobiles for this model year. Production began in late November of 1950 and the cars were introduced in early December to the public. Despite sales being down 26% from the previous year, it was the second best year in company history and Pontiac remained America’s 5th largest automobile company. The 4,000,000th Pontiac, a Catalina, was produced on August 11, 1951. The top of the line Catalina model pictured above sold new for around $2250 dollars. General industry estimates list total domestic hardtop production for Pontiac in 1951 at around 33,004 units, which includes the Catalina hardtops spread across the De Luxe and Super De Luxe trims.
Pontiac buyers preferred the straight eight over the six by a wide margin; 316,411 as compared to 53,748. The same is true for the Hydra-Matic transmission versus Synchro-Mesh, although to a lesser degree; 262,182 automatics were sold as compared to 107,977 stick cars.
Pontiac sure made some nice cars once....
Source for some of the information listed above came from Charlie Bolten, Bob Graves, and Ronn Pittman
Pontiac for 1951
OK, back to basics! I was prompted to put this shot of this rather nice 1951 Pontiac up after seeing friend, and fellow photographer, Dan Healy's photos of his dad's Pontiac. See it here flic.kr/p/2sxGyRQ But his dad had taken out the venerable straight 8 engine out and replaced it with a Rocket 88 Olds V8 engine! Wow, on that!
Here's what I learnt on the 1951 Pontiac models which was very similar in looks and performance to Dan's father's 1952 model:
Pontiac celebrated its Silver Anniversary in 1951; it had been 25 years since the first car rolled out of the Oakland factory in Pontiac Michigan. The Chieftain line essentially carried over from 1950, although the Catalina was now available in “Deluxe” trim as well as the exclusive “Super Deluxe” package. Clearly, the Chieftain styling reflected the modern trend in post-war automobiles.
The predominantly horizontal grille-work of ’49 and ’50 was pleasantly updated with a gull-wing motif for ’51. An Indian head medallion featured prominently in the center of the grille opening, while the Pontiac name-plate was incorporated into the top arched grille bar attached to the hood. Pontiac’s famous Silver Streaks still adorned the center of the hood, rising from the front name-plate, up and back to the base of the windshield and then continuing on the deck lid to meet the rear name-plate and trunk handle. The standard hood ornament was a chrome-plated Indian brave; the deluxe ornament was fitted with a translucent amber Indian head insert and illuminated whenever the parking or headlamps were lit.
There were 8 distinct body styles available in 1951. The Super Deluxe Catalina was done entirely in two colors: Malibu Ivory and Sapphire Blue. The exterior could be solid in either color or two-toned light over dark or dark over light. The interior used the same color combination but the colors remained fixed; the top of the dashboard, steering wheel, lower door panels and carpet were Sapphire Blue, while the bottom of the dash, steering column and top of the door panels was Malibu Ivory. All models had Indian head medallions on either rear fender at the upper back corner; these were new for ’51. As with past practice, the deluxe models also had chrome headlamp trim rings, bright gravel guards, full wheel covers and belt moldings that dipped down just ahead of the “C” pillar on either side.
All 1951 Pontiacs rode on a 120” wheelbase chassis with 7.10x15 tires standard; larger 7.60x15 tires were available at extra cost on all except the station wagon and sedan delivery. The standard axle ratio on all Hydra-Matic models was 3.63:1 while the Synchro-Mesh models utilized a 4.10:1 axle. The available “mountain” and “economy” axle ratios were 4.30:1 and 3.90:1, respectively.
Pontiac had increased the displacement of their venerable straight eight to 268 cid in 1950 and carried it over for ’51 unchanged. The six cylinder engine received a noticeable change this year, its Carter WA-1 carburetor was replaced with a Rochester BC unit. The standard compression ratio for either engine remained at 6.5:1, as did the optional 7.5:1 “high-head” compression ratio. The standard eight was rated 116@3,600 and the “high-head” was 120@3,600; the standard six was 96@3,400 and the high compression six was rated 100@3,400. If you read the road test articles from this period you find that most of them commented on the available power and ease of acceleration up to and beyond highway speeds.
Sales of the 1951 models fell short of the record set in 1950; Pontiac produced 370,159 automobiles for this model year. Production began in late November of 1950 and the cars were introduced in early December to the public. Despite sales being down 26% from the previous year, it was the second best year in company history and Pontiac remained America’s 5th largest automobile company. The 4,000,000th Pontiac, a Catalina, was produced on August 11, 1951. The top of the line Catalina model pictured above sold new for around $2250 dollars. General industry estimates list total domestic hardtop production for Pontiac in 1951 at around 33,004 units, which includes the Catalina hardtops spread across the De Luxe and Super De Luxe trims.
Pontiac buyers preferred the straight eight over the six by a wide margin; 316,411 as compared to 53,748. The same is true for the Hydra-Matic transmission versus Synchro-Mesh, although to a lesser degree; 262,182 automatics were sold as compared to 107,977 stick cars.
Pontiac sure made some nice cars once....
Source for some of the information listed above came from Charlie Bolten, Bob Graves, and Ronn Pittman