Here's a little bit of trivia for you: In 1960, there were five Pontiacs that ran at the Daytona 500. All five came in first through fifth. By this time, Pontiac was in the process of building their performance image. This race cemented it. I watched the race with my older brother. It was awesome.
Like that fact about Pontiac finishing in the top 5 at Datona 1960. Another interesting fact, as far as my research goes, what true production car and year won the most races at NASCAR events? The 1971 Mercury Montego. In 72' -73 David Pearson won 15 races in a 71 Montego. In the second Talledega race in 72, there were 10 71' Montego's in that race, and one of them won the race. You will notice either 427 or 429 c.i. engine designations on these cars, and may have been some with 351 Clevelands. There were a few 70 (not sure about 71) Montegos that were sold by Mercury dealers with 427's. One was on sale years ago in the Beaver PA area, a light blue. The 429's were mostly all Cyclones in 70' - 71'.
My Grandmother owned Pontiacs from 1950 - 1966 (a '50, '56, '60). She, with my Dad's help, ordered a Ventura 2dr. hardtop in the Spring of 1960. Dad suggested the 389 with a 4bbl and dual exhausts. So in July, 1960, my Grandmother took delivery of a longer, lower, wider precursor to the GTO. It was a real hot rod when Dad drove it. It was black with the tri-tone gray, gray, and white interior. I loved that car. A '60 Pontiac has been on my "win the lottery" list for years. Thanks for a great video.
The timing gear was not nylon, it was nylon coated aluminum. But yes, they failed usually between 35,000 and 50,000 miles. Changed a bunch to metal over the years. Most engines didn't freeze, the 389 was a non inteference engine. The big issue was when they failed was a shop didn't drop the pan and remove the debris. Now 59 or 60? I prefer the 60, far cleaner design. Good job on the review.
You are spot on; I worked as a line mechanic at a Chevy Olds dealer back then and changed my share of them too. The oil sump would be packed full of debris from the failed timing gear.
@@trh55 Yep, then when driving the oil pump would suck up some of the pieces and hold them on the pickup tube screen. The majority of the pieces (smaller) were caught by the filter. Many times a customer didn't want to go to the dealer, went to an independent and they just changed the gear (using the old chain also) to save a few bucks.
For 2 years on Saturdays I rode in one of these to YMCA swimming lessons. My best friend's father picked me up in his '60 Bonneville...Mom would not take me since women weren't allowed into the Y's pool area at the time & Dad worked on Saturdays. With the 389 4bbl. it was a much more powerful car than our '60 Chevrolet. Used to look forward to those rides every week.
This is a beautiful car. It also looks exactly like one our next-door neighbor had circa 1968. Brings back memories. I don't know if anyone would agree with this, but I always felt like the '59s and '60s should have been switched around. The 1960 models seem to have more in common with the '58s whereas the '59 had that split grille, which was resumed in '61.
I learned to drive in my dad’s 60 Catalina four door hard top. A lot of curved glass. Engine and transmission was from a 69 GTO Ram IV. I it was fast and huge. That car came with a very tall bumper jack.
I always thought this was a great, clean looking, design, but I don't think I even realized how many beautiful lines and interesting details that it actually has, until seeing it up close on here 👍 the interior does look nice and comfortable. It does look way long though, like a perfect cruiser!
Nice video, Jay! Thanks! (Thanks so much for incorporating my comments. Hope they are helpful.) My favorite part of your videos is the history, the model line-up, and all the photos and specs of the various models and trim options, body styles, roof lines. I'm sure it's a lot of work to gather all this material into a cogent presentation, but please know that is it greatly appreciated. Fascinating! Thank you!
I come from a constructive criticism background so I don’t take it personally I use the criticism to make each episode better.. after doing 175 episodes I can tell you that I cross reference no less than five sources and most of the time they all contradict each other the best information I generally goes usually from the advertisements themselves. It really means a lot to me this channel has come such a long distance in such a short amount of time if you don’t believe me go watch some of the earlier episodes they’re pretty dry.. lol I want to I will always wanted to format this channel in such a way that if somebody wanted to buy a car that was off the beaten path the big channels cover mustangs Camaros Firebirds and Corvettes not saying that we’re not going to cover that year because we totally are but there’s so much more to the Classic Car hobby than those four cars. I wanted to make a channel that dove in deep with everything that you could possibly want to know about the car as if you were buying this car for the first time
Jay, I came home from the hospital, as a newborn, in a 1960 Pontiac Star Chief Vista sedan, blue with a white roof. This will always be a special generation of Pontiac to me. Great video. I love how you showcase all the design features … many I never picked up on before. Cheers!
Thank you so much for sharing that awesome story what a great memory did you guys keep the car for a long time like do you remember it as a childhood car, i’m going to try to do that going forward is point out all of the lines because there’s so many lines that you just simply don’t see in these cars they’re all Sculpted rolling art it’s not like the appliance car that we have now yes some cars are sculpted now but they’re all bland..
@@What.its.like. we kept the car until November of 1965, when we traded it for a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville 4dr hardtop, gold with black vinyl roof. I remember that car much better, but the ‘60 Star Chief was a beautiful car. To this day, I tend to buy blue cars.
My family had one in the sixties.And yeah, a "Catalina"; I still have the chrome name-plates. We nick-named it, "The Shark". We could start it with a screw driver. Identical except the interior was grey and top was black. The plastic rear window (not Plexiglas) had a zipper. Lots of fun in High School. Thanks.
Excellent review of one of my absolute favorite year Pontiacs. One glaring error tho, and it happens quite frequently. The generator is on the right side of the engine, not the left as you stated. Right/Left side of a vehicle is ALWAYS viewed toward the front of the car as from sitting in the driver's seat.
What's always intrigued me is Pontiac's introduction of the iconic split grill on the 1959 model and then their abandoning of it completely in 1960, only to bring it back again in 1961 and then make it a trademark of Pontiac styling till the very end!
Ah yes, the Catalina. In 1970 my dad had a gold-metallic Catalina as a company car. Much more comfortable , polished road manners (for a large American car of the 60s, 70s) and luxurious, as compared to the Plymouth Fury and previous Ford Falcons that it replaced, to me riding around in that car was a pleasant cruise, going through Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah; on a long road trip- long ago.
Totally agree did an episode on the 68 Grand Prix I might change the thumbnail it was a highly requested episode ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
This is a gorgeous car! I think the '60 is a cleaner, more elegant design than the '59, and your commentary called my attention to several details I hadn't appreciated properly. My grandfather had a magnificent '59 Star Chief coupe, copper inside and out, that absolutely mesmerized me as a little boy, so that one is near and dear to my heart and I refuse to name a favorite. Your enthusiasm while reciting the power train data always makes me smile. And please tell me you're going to review that '68 Grand Prix! Red, no less! Be still, my heart.
I already reviewed the Grand Prix next to it I’ll send you the link but thank you so much it really means a lot =) ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
@@What.its.like. Clicked the link. Not only had I seen it and hit the like button, but I'd liked several comments as well. Too much egg nog, undoubtedly.
Fender skirts does better for 1959 Pontiac, as well as 1959 Mercury Park Lane (Turnpike Cruiser), and fender skirts does hide the rear wheels partially.
My neighbor had a 60 Bonneville 2 door with a 389/automatic. It belonged to his late grandfather and had 31K miles on it. Same color combo as the Catalina you showed! Fun fact - Pontiacs made in Canada were Chevy powered! Speaking of Chevy, they used the nylon tooth camshaft gear in their timing chain set for awhile. I bought a 74 Camaro from a young lady who said "It stalled at a traffic light" when it quit. When I looked at it, there was a score in the lower part of the timing cover where the chain fell down.... Paid 100 bucks for the car, replaced the chain and cover, and sold it for 600 bucks in the 80's.
Jay, The only thing we will actually change with new cars is their colours, man. (but we can't use the 'spread your legs' themes) Damn. So just the colours, everything else is electronic, even the secret ashtrays. When I was a kid, I realised that all cars were basically designed around their ashtrays, and since they've stopped it's all gone to shit. These are too gorgeous for words, oh these cars are something. The 57 Eldorado with the S.S. roof, but it went next level in the 60s. Hey, the Catalina instrument binnacle looks like the 60 Ford Falcon. Steering wheels were called Lucite, I believe.
Totally agree. Sorry for the delayed response it’s been a day I was in the presence of greatness.. 800 cars fir sale I wanted to do 30 cars ended up doing 12 but hey that’s 12 more than I had before today..
Hey Jay, you did it again, another gorgeous time capsule!!! This Catalina is stunning & best of all, it's a convertible!!! I really love the early sixties Pontiacs, my grandfather always drove Bonnevilles, he would get a new one every two or three years!!! That red Grand Prix in the background is spectacular!!! Thanks for sharing another exciting video!!! 👍👍🎄
This car looked epic in person like it was almost looking at a brand new one.. i’m so glad you enjoyed this episode I enjoyed making it =) I did review the Grand Prixhere’s the link to that episode ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
This car has always been my favorite car…really…so I was delighted with the selection and your awesome video!!!…I bought the Matchbox version of the 1960 Pontiac Convertible Coupe in yellow when I was nine years old (still have it) and that will have to do!...Jay, regarding your yearend show, could you shed some light on your best sources for the wonderful vintage car ads and photos?
Yeah for sure thank you so much I can let you guys in on the sources and where I get the ads most of everything is found from Google but I do have some sources that I can share with you guys that would be awesome =) i’ve also found that a lot of times the sources aren’t 100% on everything most of the information that I can 100% guarantee on is inside the ads themselves.. it’s just finding them in the early days it was harder than it is now I didn’t know where to go for the information.. some cars are easier to do than others
Excellent car. Thanks for showing her 😄. My sister had a 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible (white with a red interior 383 4V push button automatic) thinking that might make a nice car for you to review sometime.
Factoid: Catalina Island is actually Santa Catalina Island. Like many place names in California, it is Spanish, in this case meaning “Saint Kathleen” (aka Catherine). Catalina is Spanish for Kathleen.
The 1960 Dodge Dart Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix actually competed one-to-one with the 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne, Bel Air, and Impala. The 1960 Catalina was bigger (longer/heavier) and more expensive than the Impala...thus it better competed with the 1960 Dodge Matador (very rare car). The "Sports Sedan" actually describes only the 1960 Pontiac 2-Door post sedans. All Pontiac wagons were called Safaris...regardless of trim level.
Thank you so much for all of that added insight as well as corrections I thought the matador went against the Bonneville because the Catalina is the entry-level model, wasn’t it you the other day the corrected me saying the Pontiac competes with Dodge.. and mercury it was a ford video Plymouth would compete with Chevy
@@What.its.like. The Polara was a higher trim model than the Matador...so the Polara (and the 122-inch wheelbase 1960 DeSoto) better competed with the Bonneville. The 1960 (and 1961) Dodge Dart used the shorter 118-inch wheelbase shared with the full-size Plymouths. Both the 1960 Matador and Polara used the longer 122-inch wheelbase and were considered upscale Dodge cars (both sold poorly).
@@What.its.like. Two different model lines of Dodges for 1960: Junior line: Dodge Dart (sold well with 118-inch wheelbase shared with Plymouth; built to compete with Plymouth, Chevrolet, Ford) Senior line: Matador and Polara (sold poorly with 122-inch wheelbase shared with more expensive 1960 DeSoto and 1960 Chrysler Windsor).
The 1960 Dodge Dart was in response to Dodge dealers whining that Plymouth was pulled from their stores as the value leader to get buyers into their showrooms. Walter P Chrysler started jis own car company in 1924 from the remains of the Maxwell car company. Chrysler was the near-luxury offering and was highly engineered. The brand was successful enough to allow Chrysler to buy the Dodge Brothers company after the brothers' deaths. DeSoto and Plymouth were introduced in 1928 and were positioned below Dodge in the model range. DeSoto was immediately moved upmarket between Dodge and Chrysler while Plymouth remained the bottom of the range. When the Great Depression hit in Oct 1929, sales of new cars tanked, obviously. Plymouth was paired with each of the other car lines on their showroom floors to allow buyers something people could afford and keep the dealer doors open. Plymouth was pulled from the Dodge stores in late '59 and the Dodge dealers pitched a hissy fit. The Dart was a hastily Dodgified Plymouth to keep the dealers pacified at the expense of Plymouth sales. This was the beginning of the end for Plymouth.
I had a 1969 Pontiac GTO with a nylon timing gear and it went bad. Cars had a 5 yr. 50,000 mile warranty back then and the gear went bad at 48,000 miles. They replaced it with a metal timing gear which sounded the same to me as the nylon gear. I think they used nylon to save money.
GM used nylon cam gears for decades more. Lot's and lots of failures. The Chevy 230 and 250 inline 6's used a nylon cam gear directly run by the crank gear. It was also permanently attached to the camshaft. It wasn't bolted on like the V8's. We never saw an engine ruined by the nylon cam gear breaking up. It breaks up in chunks which are too big to go through the oil pick-up screen and the engines were non-interference so no bent valves or push rods. We would use a claw grabber tool and pick out what we could, but we couldn't get all the pieces. We never had a comeback or ever saw a failure from the leftover pieces. Here's one for you. We had a car come in with obviously the typical timing gear problem. It was a little strange that all the parts were siliconed on(you know the original blue stuff) and could see that the oil pan had also been siliconed on. Lo and behold, someone glued the nylon timing gear back together, and ofcourse it didn't work. Whomever did it removed the oil pan to get all the pieces out. There was blue silicone sucked into the oil pick-up screen and even in the oil filter. We basically repaired it the right way and flushed out the oiling system. We put everything back using the correct gaskets and upgraded timing parts.
@@What.its.like. I forgot to mention, that car has the Cadillac-type shift quadrants with a dual drive. It is the 4-speed Jetaway HydraMatic. Maybe it's true that P-O-N-T-I-A-C was trying to fool some into thinking it was actually a Cadillac? LOL
Horrible ergonomics, fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Modern brands float my boat. Aesthetically the Pontiac is a work of art but who could afford it? Real world economics would price this way out of the ordinary man’s pocket, needless to say this gas guzzler was way beyond the Europeans and the developing nations. We can only be thankful these have been consigned to the dustbin of time. Survivor models are rightly purchased as museum pieces. Driving them off the car lot depreciates their value and can only be afffordable to loons and those who think these are some kind of investment for their grandchildren. I love this channel for all the wrong reasons. It’s car porn… all the best Jay, you are providing a valuable service for old duffers like me.
I was with my dad when he bought a 1969 Catalina brand new for $3000. It had a 400 c.i. engine and was not stripped down. Was the 1960 Catalina listed at $3000 for real? What was the real cost for the customer? Was it super loaded?
The body and trim work on this car is far superior to the Pontiacs of the eighties till their eventual demise. I still see people driving Pontiacs from the 80's and following. Generally I see loose trim, deteriorating plastic around the windows, and piss poor styling. I see no problem with hitting your knee on the front door frame. it looks high enough. Compare that to Ford's fleet automobile, the Mercury Marquis and the Crown Vic. I have a 2004 Marquis, bought it new, and they have a protruding dash board that I was always hitting into with my knee when I got in the car. Some mechanic must have had the same problem, putting a dent in the protruding trim on the dash board. Compare that to older Ford's and Mercurys, my 77 Cougars have much more room for front seat entry. The Dash in the 77 Cougar is well designed, and properly angled to eliminate entry problems. The big problem with these older Pontiacs is 1. The horrible fuel mileage, which improved significantly by 1977 in the Grand Prix, which got about 21 to 25 MPG on the highway. 2. The inferior nylon timing chain. Engine problems are probably why so few of these cars were kept as they aged.
ua-cam.com/video/elFyV2zHYCE/v-deo.html (Albert Hammond, “It Never Rains in Southern California.”) Great review, but please do a review of the red Grans Prix in the background. I grew up riding around in one of those with my best friend and his parents. Got to drive it a couple of times.
The original Hyda Matic was a four-speed transmission and was replaced by a three speed automatic transmission later on this is the predecessor to the three speed transmission which was a four-speed transmission with a really short first gear en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydramatic This site is better check out this like three speed manual four-speed automatic www.automobile-catalog.com/make/pontiac/full-size_pontiac_6gen/full_6_catalina_sports_sedan/1960.html#gsc.tab=0
My dad had a '59 Catalina - so the nostalgia factor is strong on that one.....but the '60 is very nice too. I would not mind owning either one. At the 1:30 mark, the advertisement says, "Spread Your Legs"....with a picture of a beautiful woman. I know that they meant to infer "stretch" your legs with the ample leg room - but - even then....there had to be someone questioning the subtle sexual innuendo. Marketing should have thought it through a little better.....
Albert Hammond, it never rains in Southern California
Damned, > YOU'VE GOT IT! > I didn't see , when Jay dropped the vid! > Good Job!
Congratulations you are the first one to get it =)
Here's a little bit of trivia for you: In 1960, there were five Pontiacs that ran at the Daytona 500. All five came in first through fifth. By this time, Pontiac was in the process of building their performance image. This race cemented it. I watched the race with my older brother. It was awesome.
Awesome trivia thank you so much for sharing that =)
Like that fact about Pontiac finishing in the top 5 at Datona 1960. Another interesting fact, as far as my research goes, what true production car and year won the most races at NASCAR events? The 1971 Mercury Montego. In 72' -73 David Pearson won 15 races in a 71 Montego. In the second Talledega race in 72, there were 10 71' Montego's in that race, and one of them won the race. You will notice either 427 or 429 c.i. engine designations on these cars, and may have been some with 351 Clevelands. There were a few 70 (not sure about 71) Montegos that were sold by Mercury dealers with 427's. One was on sale years ago in the Beaver PA area, a light blue. The 429's were mostly all Cyclones in 70' - 71'.
My Grandmother owned Pontiacs from 1950 - 1966 (a '50, '56, '60). She, with my Dad's help, ordered a Ventura 2dr. hardtop in the Spring of 1960. Dad suggested the 389 with a 4bbl and dual exhausts. So in July, 1960, my Grandmother took delivery of a longer, lower, wider precursor to the GTO. It was a real hot rod when Dad drove it. It was black with the tri-tone gray, gray, and white interior. I loved that car. A '60 Pontiac has been on my "win the lottery" list for years. Thanks for a great video.
Thank you so much for sharing that story =) glad you digged this episode
The timing gear was not nylon, it was nylon coated aluminum. But yes, they failed usually between 35,000 and 50,000 miles. Changed a bunch to metal over the years. Most engines didn't freeze, the 389 was a non inteference engine. The big issue was when they failed was a shop didn't drop the pan and remove the debris. Now 59 or 60? I prefer the 60, far cleaner design. Good job on the review.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight =)
You are spot on; I worked as a line mechanic at a Chevy Olds dealer back then and changed my share of them too. The oil sump would be packed full of debris from the failed timing gear.
@@trh55 Yep, then when driving the oil pump would suck up some of the pieces and hold them on the pickup tube screen. The majority of the pieces (smaller) were caught by the filter. Many times a customer didn't want to go to the dealer, went to an independent and they just changed the gear (using the old chain also) to save a few bucks.
@@richardwarren7492 As I recall, the oil light would come on when they hit the brakes.
@@trh55 Yep, I saw that but only once.
What a great example. One of the better looking 1960 cars. I prefer the 1959.
I miss our ‘59 Star Chief we had when I was 9 years old. I still remember dad saying “it has 300HP” all 7 of us piled in and went for a ride.
That’s awesome =) do you remember what it rides like does it is it floaty is it a really floaty experience or
Always liked the '60 Pontiacs. This convertible is absolutely gorgeous.
This car was like looking at a brand new example.. It was absolutely stunning in person
1959 for sure. Back wings, taillights and cool dashboard. 👍
I love that 1960 Cat Conv - it's sleeker, more stylish (imo) - for only a few dollars more than a Chevy you could own one of these -
I know right =)
For 2 years on Saturdays I rode in one of these to YMCA swimming lessons. My best friend's father picked me up in his '60 Bonneville...Mom would not take me since women weren't allowed into the Y's pool area at the time & Dad worked on Saturdays. With the 389 4bbl. it was a much more powerful car than our '60 Chevrolet. Used to look forward to those rides every week.
Thank you so much for sharing that awesome story it was a great memory with all of us =)
This is a beautiful car. It also looks exactly like one our next-door neighbor had circa 1968. Brings back memories.
I don't know if anyone would agree with this, but I always felt like the '59s and '60s should have been switched around. The 1960 models seem to have more in common with the '58s whereas the '59 had that split grille, which was resumed in '61.
I learned to drive in my dad’s 60 Catalina four door hard top. A lot of curved glass. Engine and transmission was from a 69 GTO Ram IV. I it was fast and huge. That car came with a very tall bumper jack.
=)
I always thought this was a great, clean looking, design, but I don't think I even realized how many beautiful lines and interesting details that it actually has, until seeing it up close on here 👍 the interior does look nice and comfortable. It does look way long though, like a perfect cruiser!
The lines make this car both the 59 and 60 look great but to me the 59 is a bit over the top
@@What.its.like. I totally agree!
Nice video, Jay! Thanks! (Thanks so much for incorporating my comments. Hope they are helpful.) My favorite part of your videos is the history, the model line-up, and all the photos and specs of the various models and trim options, body styles, roof lines. I'm sure it's a lot of work to gather all this material into a cogent presentation, but please know that is it greatly appreciated. Fascinating! Thank you!
I come from a constructive criticism background so I don’t take it personally I use the criticism to make each episode better.. after doing 175 episodes I can tell you that I cross reference no less than five sources and most of the time they all contradict each other the best information I generally goes usually from the advertisements themselves.
It really means a lot to me this channel has come such a long distance in such a short amount of time if you don’t believe me go watch some of the earlier episodes they’re pretty dry.. lol
I want to I will always wanted to format this channel in such a way that if somebody wanted to buy a car that was off the beaten path the big channels cover mustangs Camaros Firebirds and Corvettes not saying that we’re not going to cover that year because we totally are but there’s so much more to the Classic Car hobby than those four cars. I wanted to make a channel that dove in deep with everything that you could possibly want to know about the car as if you were buying this car for the first time
Jay, I came home from the hospital, as a newborn, in a 1960 Pontiac Star Chief Vista sedan, blue with a white roof. This will always be a special generation of Pontiac to me. Great video. I love how you showcase all the design features … many I never picked up on before. Cheers!
Thank you so much for sharing that awesome story what a great memory did you guys keep the car for a long time like do you remember it as a childhood car, i’m going to try to do that going forward is point out all of the lines because there’s so many lines that you just simply don’t see in these cars they’re all Sculpted rolling art it’s not like the appliance car that we have now yes some cars are sculpted now but they’re all bland..
@@What.its.like. we kept the car until November of 1965, when we traded it for a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville 4dr hardtop, gold with black vinyl roof. I remember that car much better, but the ‘60 Star Chief was a beautiful car. To this day, I tend to buy blue cars.
My family had one in the sixties.And yeah, a "Catalina"; I still have the chrome name-plates. We nick-named it, "The Shark". We could start it with a screw driver. Identical except the interior was grey and top was black. The plastic rear window (not Plexiglas) had a zipper. Lots of fun in High School. Thanks.
That’s awesome what happened to your “shark” glad this channel could bring back those memories =)
Love the '59. Fins, sharp.
1959 all the way for me. Love the frontend treatment.
=)
Always thought the bubble tops were beautiful.
Excellent review of one of my absolute favorite year Pontiacs.
One glaring error tho, and it happens quite frequently.
The generator is on the right side of the engine, not the left as you stated.
Right/Left side of a vehicle is ALWAYS viewed toward the front of the car as from sitting in the driver's seat.
Thank you for pointing that out
What's always intrigued me is Pontiac's introduction of the iconic split grill on the 1959 model and then their abandoning of it completely in 1960, only to bring it back again in 1961 and then make it a trademark of Pontiac styling till the very end!
I know right it’s very intriguing
@@What.its.like. I would prefer the 59 front paired with the 60 rear.
Ah yes, the Catalina. In 1970 my dad had a gold-metallic Catalina as a company car. Much more comfortable , polished road manners (for a large American car of the 60s, 70s) and luxurious, as compared to the Plymouth Fury and previous Ford Falcons that it replaced, to me riding around in that car was a pleasant cruise, going through Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah; on a long road trip- long ago.
And to think only a couple bucks more than a Chevy
Beautiful, sculptural design - quite a change from the '59! That red '68 Grand Prix in the background looks great.
Totally agree did an episode on the 68 Grand Prix I might change the thumbnail it was a highly requested episode
ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
Maybe it was made in '72, but : COME ON Jay, I've CALLED IT!!!!!!!!!!
This is a gorgeous car! I think the '60 is a cleaner, more elegant design than the '59, and your commentary called my attention to several details I hadn't appreciated properly. My grandfather had a magnificent '59 Star Chief coupe, copper inside and out, that absolutely mesmerized me as a little boy, so that one is near and dear to my heart and I refuse to name a favorite. Your enthusiasm while reciting the power train data always makes me smile. And please tell me you're going to review that '68 Grand Prix! Red, no less! Be still, my heart.
I already reviewed the Grand Prix next to it I’ll send you the link but thank you so much it really means a lot =)
ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
@@What.its.like. Clicked the link. Not only had I seen it and hit the like button, but I'd liked several comments as well. Too much egg nog, undoubtedly.
very nice Pontiac , Justin
Thank you I’m glad you dig this episode =) if you like 40s and 50s cars that’s coming next week
I loved the 59 Pontiac.
=)
Stunning beauty
Thanks for sharing all your videos with us. Your Great 👍 👏👏👏👏🤜💯💯
I appreciate that thank you for digging the channel =)
Thanks Jay, for a great video. For me is this 1960 Pontiac Catalina outstanding!👍
I still can’t get over how much different the 60 years from the 59 they are night and day
Fender skirts does better for 1959 Pontiac, as well as 1959 Mercury Park Lane (Turnpike Cruiser), and fender skirts does hide the rear wheels partially.
My neighbor had a 60 Bonneville 2 door with a 389/automatic. It belonged to his late grandfather and had 31K miles on it. Same color combo as the Catalina you showed! Fun fact - Pontiacs made in Canada were Chevy powered! Speaking of Chevy, they used the nylon tooth camshaft gear in their timing chain set for awhile. I bought a 74 Camaro from a young lady who said "It stalled at a traffic light" when it quit. When I looked at it, there was a score in the lower part of the timing cover where the chain fell down.... Paid 100 bucks for the car, replaced the chain and cover, and sold it for 600 bucks in the 80's.
Great story =)
Extremely attractive.
I like the 59 better as I am a huge fin fan.
Jay, The only thing we will actually change with new cars is their colours, man. (but we can't use the 'spread your legs' themes) Damn. So just the colours, everything else is electronic, even the secret ashtrays. When I was a kid, I realised that all cars were basically designed around their ashtrays, and since they've stopped it's all gone to shit.
These are too gorgeous for words, oh these cars are something. The 57 Eldorado with the S.S. roof, but it went next level in the 60s. Hey, the Catalina instrument binnacle looks like the 60 Ford Falcon.
Steering wheels were called Lucite, I believe.
Totally agree. Sorry for the delayed response it’s been a day I was in the presence of greatness.. 800 cars fir sale I wanted to do 30 cars ended up doing 12 but hey that’s 12 more than I had before today..
Hey Jay, you did it again, another gorgeous time capsule!!! This Catalina is stunning & best of all, it's a convertible!!! I really love the early sixties Pontiacs, my grandfather always drove Bonnevilles, he would get a new one every two or three years!!! That red Grand Prix in the background is spectacular!!! Thanks for sharing another exciting video!!! 👍👍🎄
This car looked epic in person like it was almost looking at a brand new one.. i’m so glad you enjoyed this episode I enjoyed making it =)
I did review the Grand Prixhere’s the link to that episode
ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
@@What.its.like. thanks for the link Jay, another thing I like about these Pontiacs is the translucent steering wheel!!! 🤶⛄🎄
That one had a wood wheel if I remember correct aftermarket
Keep up the good workz you guys. I love this stuff.
Thank you so much =) it means the world to me
Hey Jay, nice job on the video!
Thank you totally glad you dig this episode there’s a lot of cool stuff coming next week especially if you like 40s and 50s
1959 was the first year of the “wide track” chassis. And those “spinner” hubcaps were popular with hot rodders and were frequently stolen.
Thank you so much for sharing that information =)
My favourite grille on a car...period. ...any make any model any year.
Great find, Jay 👍 Very handsome design. Tail lamps looks like four jet engines on afterburner.
Totally agree this car was super clean it was like looking at a brand new one
This car has always been my favorite car…really…so I was delighted with the selection and your awesome video!!!…I bought the Matchbox version of the 1960 Pontiac Convertible Coupe in yellow when I was nine years old (still have it) and that will have to do!...Jay, regarding your yearend show, could you shed some light on your best sources for the wonderful vintage car ads and photos?
Yeah for sure thank you so much I can let you guys in on the sources and where I get the ads most of everything is found from Google but I do have some sources that I can share with you guys that would be awesome =) i’ve also found that a lot of times the sources aren’t 100% on everything most of the information that I can 100% guarantee on is inside the ads themselves.. it’s just finding them in the early days it was harder than it is now I didn’t know where to go for the information.. some cars are easier to do than others
Excellent car. Thanks for showing her 😄. My sister had a 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible (white with a red interior 383 4V push button automatic) thinking that might make a nice car for you to review sometime.
Does she still have the car where are you located
Factoid: Catalina Island is actually Santa Catalina Island. Like many place names in California, it is Spanish, in this case meaning “Saint Kathleen” (aka Catherine). Catalina is Spanish for Kathleen.
Thank you so much for filling us in on that =)
Due to the shape of the grille, the 1960's Pontiacs were nicknamed, "Coffin Noses".
Read information I didn’t know that.. I’ve heard of coffin cords
Great vid. I was thinking that there was a spare tire well under where the spare tire was sitting????????
No spare tire well.
The 1960 Dodge Dart Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix actually competed one-to-one with the 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne, Bel Air, and Impala. The 1960 Catalina was bigger (longer/heavier) and more expensive than the Impala...thus it better competed with the 1960 Dodge Matador (very rare car). The "Sports Sedan" actually describes only the 1960 Pontiac 2-Door post sedans. All Pontiac wagons were called Safaris...regardless of trim level.
Thank you so much for all of that added insight as well as corrections I thought the matador went against the Bonneville because the Catalina is the entry-level model, wasn’t it you the other day the corrected me saying the Pontiac competes with Dodge.. and mercury it was a ford video Plymouth would compete with Chevy
@@What.its.like. The Polara was a higher trim model than the Matador...so the Polara (and the 122-inch wheelbase 1960 DeSoto) better competed with the Bonneville. The 1960 (and 1961) Dodge Dart used the shorter 118-inch wheelbase shared with the full-size Plymouths. Both the 1960 Matador and Polara used the longer 122-inch wheelbase and were considered upscale Dodge cars (both sold poorly).
@@What.its.like. Two different model lines of Dodges for 1960:
Junior line: Dodge Dart (sold well with 118-inch wheelbase shared with Plymouth; built to compete with Plymouth, Chevrolet, Ford)
Senior line: Matador and Polara (sold poorly with 122-inch wheelbase shared with more expensive 1960 DeSoto and 1960 Chrysler Windsor).
The 1960 Dodge Dart was in response to Dodge dealers whining that Plymouth was pulled from their stores as the value leader to get buyers into their showrooms.
Walter P Chrysler started jis own car company in 1924 from the remains of the Maxwell car company. Chrysler was the near-luxury offering and was highly engineered. The brand was successful enough to allow Chrysler to buy the Dodge Brothers company after the brothers' deaths.
DeSoto and Plymouth were introduced in 1928 and were positioned below Dodge in the model range.
DeSoto was immediately moved upmarket between Dodge and Chrysler while Plymouth remained the bottom of the range.
When the Great Depression hit in Oct 1929, sales of new cars tanked, obviously.
Plymouth was paired with each of the other car lines on their showroom floors to allow buyers something people could afford and keep the dealer doors open.
Plymouth was pulled from the Dodge stores in late '59 and the Dodge dealers pitched a hissy fit. The Dart was a hastily Dodgified Plymouth to keep the dealers pacified at the expense of Plymouth sales.
This was the beginning of the end for Plymouth.
Thank you so much for sharing all the information =)
Jsyk Hun, there's a difference between spread & stretch....... or extend.
I had a 1969 Pontiac GTO with a nylon timing gear and it went bad. Cars had a 5 yr. 50,000 mile warranty back then and the gear went bad at 48,000 miles. They replaced it with a metal timing gear which sounded the same to me as the nylon gear. I think they used nylon to save money.
It always amazes me when companies cut corners like that like Ford with a Pinto..
It Never rains in Southern California. Albert Hammond.
It’s a great song about perspective somebody got it before you though
"It never rains in Southern California"
You got it somebody got it before you though
GM used nylon cam gears for decades more. Lot's and lots of failures. The Chevy 230 and 250 inline 6's used a nylon cam gear directly run by the crank gear. It was also permanently attached to the camshaft. It wasn't bolted on like the V8's.
We never saw an engine ruined by the nylon cam gear breaking up. It breaks up in chunks which are too big to go through the oil pick-up screen and the engines were non-interference so no bent valves or push rods. We would use a claw grabber tool and pick out what we could, but we couldn't get all the pieces. We never had a comeback or ever saw a failure from the leftover pieces.
Here's one for you. We had a car come in with obviously the typical timing gear problem. It was a little strange that all the parts were siliconed on(you know the original blue stuff) and could see that the oil pan had also been siliconed on. Lo and behold, someone glued the nylon timing gear back together, and ofcourse it didn't work. Whomever did it removed the oil pan to get all the pieces out. There was blue silicone sucked into the oil pick-up screen and even in the oil filter. We basically repaired it the right way and flushed out the oiling system. We put everything back using the correct gaskets and upgraded timing parts.
Thank you so much for taking the time and sharing all of that insight I really appreciate it I always do =)
@@What.its.like. I forgot to mention, that car has the Cadillac-type shift quadrants with a dual drive. It is the 4-speed Jetaway HydraMatic. Maybe it's true that P-O-N-T-I-A-C was trying to fool some into thinking it was actually a Cadillac? LOL
Albert Hammond, " It never Rains in California"
You got the name of the song as well as artist but somebody beat you to it
@@What.its.like. Yes, I've seen it , after I replied to you, sorry!
It’s all good I wish I could pin everyone that gets it that would be super cool
Song: "It Never Rains In Southern California" by Albert Hammond
You got it someone got the song before you
1960 - Especially if it happened to be a Catalina drop-top!
I personally favor the 1959 Catilina.
Horrible ergonomics, fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Modern brands float my boat. Aesthetically the Pontiac is a work of art but who could afford it? Real world economics would price this way out of the ordinary man’s pocket, needless to say this gas guzzler was way beyond the Europeans and the developing nations. We can only be thankful these have been consigned to the dustbin of time. Survivor models are rightly purchased as museum pieces. Driving them off the car lot depreciates their value and can only be afffordable to loons and those who think these are some kind of investment for their grandchildren. I love this channel for all the wrong reasons. It’s car porn… all the best Jay, you are providing a valuable service for old duffers like me.
Haha nobody has ever said that before, I never really looked at it that way but I guess it could be. Lol
You sound like a total t*** best crawl back under the rock you emerged from!!!🤔🧐🤨🙄😝🤪
All of them.
great answer =D
I will never forget my mom and dads bonniville
👍
59 over 60 any day.
The auto trans was a 4 speed.
Oh my bad that I put three speed automatic I knew it was a four-speed Hydra Matic
I was with my dad when he bought a 1969 Catalina brand new for $3000. It had a 400 c.i. engine and was not stripped down. Was the 1960 Catalina listed at $3000 for real? What was the real cost for the customer? Was it super loaded?
www.conceptcarz.com/s7037/pontiac-catalina.aspx
The body and trim work on this car is far superior to the Pontiacs of the eighties till their eventual demise. I still see people driving Pontiacs from the 80's and following. Generally I see loose trim, deteriorating plastic around the windows, and piss poor styling. I see no problem with hitting your knee on the front door frame. it looks high enough. Compare that to Ford's fleet automobile, the Mercury Marquis and the Crown Vic. I have a 2004 Marquis, bought it new, and they have a protruding dash board that I was always hitting into with my knee when I got in the car. Some mechanic must have had the same problem, putting a dent in the protruding trim on the dash board. Compare that to older Ford's and Mercurys, my 77 Cougars have much more room for front seat entry. The Dash in the 77 Cougar is well designed, and properly angled to eliminate entry problems. The big problem with these older Pontiacs is 1. The horrible fuel mileage, which improved significantly by 1977 in the Grand Prix, which got about 21 to 25 MPG on the highway. 2. The inferior nylon timing chain. Engine problems are probably why so few of these cars were kept as they aged.
I love how this model is sculpted the lines are in the body =)
Had a sixty
1973
Oil galley? No. Gallery is the word.
60best had a 59flattop partner had cat çvt bought new awesome car 🥴 the 57buick 8.4sec yes on timing gear fail
=)
I would get in that car tail end first then swing my legs in.
Some cars I’ve found one has to enter head first like the early corvettes when roof is on
ua-cam.com/video/elFyV2zHYCE/v-deo.html (Albert Hammond, “It Never Rains in Southern California.”) Great review, but please do a review of the red Grans Prix in the background. I grew up riding around in one of those with my best friend and his parents. Got to drive it a couple of times.
Somebody got the song before you
I already covered the red Grand Prix here is the link for that
ua-cam.com/video/flOChX_bopc/v-deo.html
3:48 there was no 4 speed automatic in 1960?!! it was 3 speed,lear how to read from script😂
The original Hyda Matic was a four-speed transmission and was replaced by a three speed automatic transmission later on this is the predecessor to the three speed transmission which was a four-speed transmission with a really short first gear
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydramatic
This site is better check out this like three speed manual four-speed automatic
www.automobile-catalog.com/make/pontiac/full-size_pontiac_6gen/full_6_catalina_sports_sedan/1960.html#gsc.tab=0
My dad had a '59 Catalina - so the nostalgia factor is strong on that one.....but the '60 is very nice too. I would not mind owning either one.
At the 1:30 mark, the advertisement says, "Spread Your Legs"....with a picture of a beautiful woman. I know that they meant to infer "stretch" your
legs with the ample leg room - but - even then....there had to be someone questioning the subtle sexual innuendo. Marketing should have thought
it through a little better.....
I saw that ad and was like that’s a little riskey I like it =)