Pontiac Catalina

Pontiac does not build many cars like the Pontiac Catalina: a 2-door coupe / 2-door convertible / 4-door sedan / 4-door station wagon with 389 cuin V8, built from 1950 to 1981 at the height of the post-war boom.

The background

The Pontiac Catalina is a full-size automobile produced by Pontiac from 1950 to 1981. Initially, the name was a trim line on hardtop body styles, first appearing in the 1950 Chieftain Eight and DeLuxe Eight lines.

In 1959, it became a separate model as the "entry-level" full-size Pontiac. The Catalina was Pontiac's most popular model, available in multiple body styles, and served as the donor platform for the popular Pontiac Grand Prix, Pontiac 2+2, Pontiac Ventura, and the Pontiac Safari station wagon. When the second-generation Pontiac Tempest was introduced in 1964, lessons learned from the Catalina's introduction of the Grand Prix led to the introduction of the Pontiac GTO, to include the 389 cu in (6.4 L) Pontiac V8.

The engineering

Under the skin sits 389 cuin V8. The gearbox is a 3-speed manual / 4-speed automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 122 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Where it sits

Where it sits in Pontiac's history is not in doubt: the Pontiac Chieftain came before it; the Pontiac Bonneville followed it; it was built at Pontiac, Michigan, US. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Nissan Patrol, the Mini Mini, the Dodge Challenger. Its Pontiac stablemates include the Pontiac 2+2 and the Pontiac 6.

The money

There is no federal ownership record for the Pontiac Catalina — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.