1954 Pontiac

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH A 1954 PONTIAC STAR CHIEF CATALINA

By Mike Smith, POCI 7008

I wonder if any of you remember the absolute excitement of new car announcement days during the period from the
postwar '40's through the early '60's. Here, I will recount a personal experience which began in Beloit, Kansas (my
home town) on one particular announcement day in late 1953. At the time, I was a freshman in high school and had
been a car nut since I was a little boy. Dad had always driven Chevy's or Dodges, but several of our family friends drove
Pontiacs and I had developed a distinct interest in those Silver Streak machines. I guess several things fueled that
interest, the unique and powerful sound of the L-head straight eight, the lighted head of Chief Pontiac which adorned
the hood, the elegant Silver Streaks which were a part of all Pontiacs of the era and other "fancy" accessories you
didn't see on other cars, like a rear window wiper.

During my high school years I attended the announcement days for all makes of cars. It was always a thrill, but I was
not prepared for what was waiting for me at Beloit Motor Company on 1954 Pontiac announcement day. I was aware,
from the newspaper ads that Pontiac would usher in a new deluxe model for '54, to be called the "Star Chief". My
morning that day was fairly routine--I had been caught throwing a "spit ball" (I'll spare you a detailed explanation) in
Algebra class and had been brought to the front of the room to receive my "swat" with the teachers paddle--but the
impact had faded and, by lunchtime, I was excited about going downtown to see the new Pontiacs.

When we arrived at Beloit Motors and entered the showroom I beheld, what to me was the loveliest car I had ever
seen. It was a top-of-the-line Pontiac Star Chief Custom Catalina (a 2-door hardtop convertible as they were called in
those days) with a full leather interior. This magnificent car was color-coordinated inside and out in Maize Yellow
(about the color of a freshly shucked ear of corn) and Winter White. When I opened the door to look inside, the rich
smell of the leather interior greeted me.

You can imagine my envy when, two weeks after announcement day, the mother of a high school senior purchased the
Catalina for him as an early graduation present. For the rest of the school year I marveled at the beauty of that car
every time I saw it in the school parking lot. I yearned for one of those Pontiacs but was a freshman and too young to
drive. Besides, when I got a license a year later, a car less than ten years old was financially beyond my reach for many
years.

Having, from my earliest years, been an irredeemable car nut, in the mid-60's (as soon as I could afford it after college)
I started collecting cars. My first purchase was from a used car lot in Yakima, Washington, a 1941 Cadillac Sedanette in
very nice condition and at a cost of $350. Over the years, that Cadillac, a 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Deluxe Holiday
Coupe and a 1948 Buick Super convertible have come and gone. In the early 1980's, I bought a '55 Star Chief Custom
Catalina as a collector vehicle and a '55 Star Chief 4-door sedan for an everyday family car. But as much as I enjoyed
these cars, I had never quite forgotten my love affair with that '54 Catalina so many years before.

A local friend, Brian Jackson, and I occasionally get together to work on our Pontiacs. In August 1984, we were working
on Brian's '56 Chieftain and I mentioned to him that I would eventually like to acquire a '54 Star Chief Catalina. He is a
good deal younger than me, and didn't know much about '54 Pontiacs, so I gave him a short course, the last
straight-eight , the last L-head engine GM put in passenger cars, the first of the elegant, long wheelbase Star Chiefs,
and the last year for the "older" styling where the rear fenders still protruded from the body. Also, 1954 was the first year
for Pontiac factory air conditioning and it was the first of the American cars (along with Nash) to have the entire A/C unit
up front with through-the-dash vents. (At that time, other American cars had the evaporator located on the shelf of the
trunk with vents coming into the passenger compartment through the package shelf behind the back seat.)

I didn't think any more about our conversation until a couple of months later, when Brian called me one afternoon and
told me he had seen an ad in Cars & Parts for a '54 Catalina in Arkansas. I really didn't need another car at the time but
I wrote the man's name and telephone number on a scrap of paper and let it lay on my desk for several weeks. Finally,
one Sunday afternoon in October, I decided to call the fellow to see if the Catalina had been sold. The owner (a man in
his 50's) said it was still for sale and that it had been purchased new in Oklahoma City by his mother (at age 62). It had
been stored in her garage for years until he got it out and brought it to his home in 1982. When he told me the Catalina
had only 49,000 miles and still had excellent original paint, I got that unique feeling which comes when logic is about to
leave and emotion takes control. I asked about the color and he said "Oh, it's yellow, about the color of an ear of corn
on the bottom, and has a white top and a leather interior that's the same colors as the outside." My will-power was
gone! I asked about the price (which was reasonable) and requested pictures. It turned out that the gentleman was an
amateur photographer and he sent pictures of the Catalina taken from every imaginable distance and angle. After
looking through these pictures, I was dead meat. I promptly called the man, we negotiated the final price, and I sent a
deposit to hold the car until I could pick it up. In early November, as I was returning from a business trip to the West
Coast, I terminated my trip in Little Rock and bought that '54 Catalina. I could not have been happier had I purchased a
new Corvette.

Almost 31 years to the day after my love affair had begun, on Pontiac "announcement day" in Beloit, Kansas in the late
fall of 1953, I headed for Montgomery, Alabama (a 450-mile trip) in a wonderful example of the loveliest car I have ever
seen. That straight eight purred like a kitten and I could not count all the honks and waves I received on the trip. I will
never forget my stop for gas in Demopolis, Alabama. As I was filling the Catalina, all of a sudden the station owner
came rushing out to the pump wanting to look at it. Excitedly, he told me that he was in high school (as was I) when
these Catalina's were new. He related that for several years in the '50's, he worked after school and on Saturdays for a
Pontiac-Cadillac dealership. He said, "I always loved the new Cadillac's each model year but, when the '54 Star Chief
Catalina came out, I'd rather have had one of them than two new Cadillac's!" My sentiments, exactly!!