To my parent's generation, 1960 was their "2000". A time so far off in the future it didn't seem possible that they'd ever get there. When they were kids, they'd dream of a space age future full of cars that were jet powered and would whisk them to where they were going seemingly in the blink of an eye. When 1960 came around, what did they get? Cars like this Pontiac Catalina. I found this on Marketplace recently for sale down near Akron. Asking price is $30,000. I know. Wow.
1960 came and went and with it, another semi-reboot for General Motors. And the results were, umm, mixed. Cadillac and Chevrolet benefitted greatly from the model year calendar flip, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac? Welp, in my opinion, not so much. GM's full-sized middle children didn't hit their stride design wise until 1961.
Pontiac first used "Catalina" in 1950 to denote their version of the GM A-body hardtop on their Chieftan series; they added it to their Star Chief line in 1954 and Super Chief in 1957. Thus, through 1958, all Pontiac two- and four-door hardtops were "Catalina's".
In 1959, Catalina became its own distinct model replacing the Chieftan and Super Chief as Pontiac's "junior" models below the Bonneville. Trust me, you're not alone here thinking that Pontiac's model name schematics were a tad wonky in the '50's. Chieftain, Star Chief, Super Chief, Bonneville, Catalina and so on.
Our '60 Catalina here part of GM's infamous class of 1959 models that were, without question, some of the most outrageously, if not ridiculously over-styled automobiles of all time. Seemed Harley Earl and company lost their minds when they saw Chrysler's new-for-1957 models in the fall of 1956 and rushed like hell to redo their 1958 lineup smearing every ounce of cream cheese frosting they could muster onto their designs, but they didn't get to the church on time. So, what were supposed to be the mad dash '58's became the '59's. The rest, as we say, is history.
Good news was, Harley Earl was retiring and his protege, Bill Mitchell was put it in charge. Mr. Mitchell, whom I adore, did his best to tone down the '59's for 1960 but there was only so much he could do with the albatrosses he was given. So, if you're not a fan of a particular 1959 GM vehicle, chances are you wouldn't like the 1960 models.
Curiously, for 1960, Mr, Mitchell and his team dropped the distinctive, pinched, split-grill motif that was introduced on the '59's. I know I'm not alone being a fan of it since it came back in 1961 and was a styling staple of all Pontiac's right to the bitter end.
Without it, again, just my two cents here, our '60 Catalina here is rather generic looking old barge. it could be a Ford or a Mercury, a Chrysler or a DeSoto. One that's in pretty good shape too although, what's with the back window on the convertible top?
Thirty-grand seems all the money in the world for this thing although I'm jaded because I've had my fill of hard to drive, ill-handling, under powered jalopies. I never thought I'd be "that guy" but here I am!
To my parent's generation, though, we have to remember that they grew up not only at the end of the horse and buggy era, but the cars they first experienced were spindly, sputtering Model T type cars that rode like wagons with square wheels. Cars like this big Poncho rode like they were on clouds and when you closed up the windows and had the top up, were the picture of modern perfection.
I guess their jet age dreams did come true.
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