1959 Pontiac Production numbers

In case anyone is interested here are the production numbers for 1959 Pontiacs.

Total:
382,940

Catalina:
2111 Sport Sedan 2-dr sedan : 26,102
2137 2-door hardtop : 38,309
2119 4-door sedan : 72,377
2139 Vista 4-door hardtop : 45,012
2167 convertible : 14,515
2135 Safari station wagon, 6-pass : 21,162
2145 Safari station wagon, 9-pass : 14,084

Custom Star Chief:
2111 Sport Sedan 2-door sedan : 10,254
2419 4-door sedan : 27,872
2439 Vista 4-door hardtop : 30,689

Bonneville Custom:
2837 2-door hardtop : 27,769
2839 Vista 4-door hardtop : 38,696
2867 convertible : 11,426
2735 Safari station wagon, 6-pass : 4,673

In addition, 380 Star Chief/Bonneville chassis's were used for professional car construction (hearse, ambulance, etc)- I am pretty certain this is in addition to the numbers above.

That's a lot of cars made for so few left. How sad.

Chevy and Ford both produced almost 1,500,000 cars each so it's no wonder Fords and Chevys are all over the place.

Here are the production numbers I have for all of 1959


1,462,140 : Chevrolet
1,450,953 : Ford
458,259 : Plymouth

382,940 : Pontiac
382,864 : Oldsmobile
363,372 : Rambler (calculated/estimated)

284,248 : Buick
156,385 : Dodge
149,987 : Mercury

142,272 : Cadillac
126,156 : Studebaker
69,970 : Chrysler

45,724 : DeSoto
44,891 : Edsel
22,309 : Metropolitan

17,269 : Imperial
15,780 : Lincoln
11,126 : Continental


It's interesting that Imperial and Continentals were listed separately than Chrysler and Lincoln. I think Imperial was actually it's own Make until 1962ish. But in 1959 Continentals were Lincolns.

Does anybody have any idea how many 1959 Pontiac Strato Chiefs were produced and where they were made?

No I don't but I'm going to ask around.

Very interesting! My '59 is style 2119 (4 DR sedan) The VIN 159K5140. VIN decoding is as follows:

1-Catalina (Series)
59- Model Year
K- Plant built- Kansas City... (Missouri or Kansas? I cannot find accurate info in this.)
5140-Series Production Number.

Prodcution started with Series # 1001, which means mine is # 4139 off the line. I found hand written numbers, in red paint, on top of the fuel tank that read 11-08-58 and some indescribable ones as well. I believe Production started in September of '58 for the '59 model year. This makes sense with the low numbered VIN and the date on the tank. My Great-Grandfather purchased the car new in Dec. 1958, just before Christmas, according to my Dad. Does anyone know for sure if the plant was located in Kansas or Missouri?

59 Blue Bomber.....Kansas City, Kansas was the BOP assembly plant. Kansas City, Missouri was a Chevrolet plant. Yes, the final assembly began in the first week of September 1958. My Catalina convertible has a VIN of 1086. The original block has a cast date of July 30, 1958......John

CATBIRD wrote:

59 Blue Bomber.....Kansas City, Kansas was the BOP assembly plant. Kansas City, Missouri was a Chevrolet plant. Yes, the final assembly began in the first week of September 1958. My Catalina convertible has a VIN of 1086. The original block has a cast date of July 30, 1958......John

Thanks John! I am learning more and more about these seemingly rare cars everyday! I was thinking it was Kansas for some reason, but now I know! If the VIN on yours is 1086, that means your is the 85th of the line! Pretty cool. The engine date of July '58 sounds about right, since pre-production of engines and other sub assemblies usually starts months in advance of actual production, to build stock. I spoke with an old timer, who worked for GM in the 50's and he told me they did not "store" finished cars in huge lots like they do today, but he said they would stock them for no more than a few days, then would load them directly on rail cars for shipment out of state and onto trucks for local dealers. I have yet to hunt down the engine numbers on mine, I should, because the engine and trans have NEVER been taken out of the car!! I need to find the #'s on the block.

59 Blue Bomber.....No, it was the 86th Catalina off the line. There was a Catalina with the VIN 1001. You should find the VIN stamped on the passenger side of the block, next to the timing case, a couple of inches below where the head and block meet. It should be your complete VIN and maybe an extra letter or two, that designate the particular engine (A, C, AN, etc.) I say maybe because very early cars didn't have the engine code stamped, instead having a decal on the inside of the driver side valve cover. It's been a couple years since I found the date casting of the engine, and I can't remember where it is. Another Senior moment!.....John

The date code on the block is by the distributor

Blue Bomber, the Kansas City plant is often known as the "Fairfax" assembly plant, since it's located in the Fairfax industrial area of Kansas City, Kansas.

Back when your '59 Pontiac was built, this was a B-O-P (Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac) assembly plant, and I've found it interesting that this plant supplied most of the cars shipped to the Pacific Northwest. (My '59 Buick was delivered new in Oregon, and it was also Fairfax-built.) There was another B-O-P plant in Southern California (Southgate), and a few of the '59's delivered in Oregon were built there.

The Fairfax assembly plant still exists, and currently builds the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse.

Do you know which dealership originally sold your Catalina to your grandfather? My family had a '56 Pontiac that my dad had purchased at Meadows Pontiac in Portland, and I know that this dealership was still active well into the 1960's.

Wow! Very Cool! My Great-Grandfather "Jig" as he was known, Purchased the car from The Ralph Hoyt Company, a very prominent businessman in Portland at the time, who was also a county commissioner and started one the largest preservation societies for both native and non-native species of plants, named in his honor; Hoyt Aboretum. Jig paid $2860.00 cash for the car around Christmas time in '58. He had the car undercoated and the wide whites turned in for $10.00! Not long after, His Son-in-Law ( my grandfather) bought a white '59 Catalina 4 dr. also. Not sure where that one is, since Grandpa "Wes" never kept a car for more than a few years until he would trade it in on a new one. I have not found much information on any specifics of the Hoyt dealership, but he had more than one brand franchise. The dealership was located on Burnside St. between Union (now M.L.K. Blvd) and Grand Avenues. The building and lot still exist, although as a used car lot. Dealers at the time supplied license plates and little key ring replica plates with the numbers on it. The car still bears the original plates-3P- 996, although a bit tattered, they are there! I still have the key ring Jig gave when I was a kid!!

59 Blue Bomber, it's great that you know a great deal of the history of your car!

Yes, the Hoyt name is very familiar to me, and Burnside was Portland's historic auto row area. The history of these vanished dealerships and the buildings that housed them is fascinating, and there's an effort in some cities to preserve some of this history.

You might be aware that the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has recreated a 1949-era portion of Portland's Sandy Boulevard to include the Breslin-Wallace Buick dealership:

http://thehollywoodstar.com/blog/2010/01/11/smithsonian-exhibit-captures-a-bit-of-sandy-boulevard-1949/

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/exhibition_14_5.html

I now live in the Tacoma area, and am involved with big Buick and Pontiac shows on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Please keep us all posted about your progress with the '59, and we'd like to invite you up when it's road-ready. We've organized some '59-only General Motors car events, and plan to do more in the future. Your car's history makes it especially interesting to all of us!

Centurion- Thanks for the invite. I have received a lot of great feedback concerning Grandpa Jig's Pontiac. I am waiting for a new fuel tank filter sock from ebay. That is the only thing holding me back from driving farther from the shop. I have a 2 gal. can in the trunk right now, so I'm limited as to how far I can drive. Once I get the motor dialed in, I will venture farther though. The engine runs smooth with only a little blow-by on the pass. side, but nothing to be worried about. I have rebuilt the starter, generator and water pump. Everything else is in pretty great shape considering the age of the car. The car has never been in any serious accidents, but there is a funny story about the front passenger door being damaged. According to my Dad, My Grandpa and Grandma were out driving and Jig made a left turn in front of another car at slow speed and the impending collision dented the front passenger door skin. Nothing serious, and my Grandma Violet, who never drove, quipped that these things always happen on HER side of the car. I guess little things had "occured" before, one was the mirror on the same side was knocked off going across the Bridge over the Sandy river in Troudale, OR. Apparently she saw this as a sign and began to sit in the MIDDLE of the back seat! Grandpa complained about her hats blocking his view!!

haha wow that's awesome

I found the numbers on the front passenger side of the engine....Much to my surprise and amazement, they read 159K 5140. Same as the VIN on the car. Stamped right on the block. I changed the thermostat because of some heating issues, but it was stamped AC and was stuck open. Not sure if it was original, but I would not be surprised. I now truly believe the engine or transmission has never been out of the car as stated by the previous owner. My Dad says the whole time my Great-Grandfather owned it, nothing more than regular maintenance and/or tune-up's were ever done to the engine.

That's good news!

Thanks Starchief! I am very amazed that the car is in such "original" as built state. I don't think I could ask for anything more....until now...I have been running the car on a "borrowed" 2 BBL carb very similar to the original, but it is from a Chevy 350 truck. Today, Mark, who loaned me the carb, called my Wife's Dad and told him he was digging through his "stash" of parts and found an orignal 389 2 BBL with the choke and all the right vacuum fittings. I keep telling my Wife that's the reason I hold on to some things..Okay, most things! Well at least I'm not a hoarder and I don't don't have things lingering in the front yard or dangling from a tree waiting for the right vehicle to put it in. At least that's MY thinking anyway! Who can argue with that logic?? Well anyway, I do have quite the collection of cars & parts and all but my daily driver are stored inside. I would put the daily driver in the garage, but there is no room! Did I say I made some concessions? Hopefully the 389 2 BBL is in decent enough shape to rebuild and it'll be nearing perfect running order!

You can find correct 59 pontiac 2 barrels on ebay for fairly cheap

Thanks Starchief- But Mark has an original carb for me that I just need to get a rebuild kit for. He checked the numbers and it is a correct 2GC Rochester.

Good deal

59 Blue Bomber.....there were two different 2bbl carbs used on the 59 and later cars. The standard Catalina engine (280HP) had larger throttle plates and a larger base. It also had an idle air mixture adjustment screw on the rear of the carb. The other 2bbl had smaller throttle plates and base and no air adjustment screw. They were not interchangable as each used a different intake manifold. The smaller carb was used on the 420E engine (215HP), and with slight modifications as the center carb on Tri-Power (315 and 345HP) engines. The 420E was a no cost option on all 59 cars, but the Super Hydramatic was required. The Tri-Power engines were available as an extra cost option on any car, the price depending on the model and transmission ordered. The quickest way to identify the carb is to look at where the choke housing is mounted. If it is attached to the base of the carb, it is the larger unit. If it is attached to the top of the air horn, it is for the 420E or Tri-Power engines......John

Thanks Catbird. The carb I had on there was just to get the car running. It seemed to work just fine. It had the larger base that mounted from the bottom, it just lacked the vacuum ports in the right place. I used it because it also had the fuel inlet in the front of the carb. It is also a Rochester 2GC carb with two idle mixture screws in the front. I never planned on using it very long since lacked the proper choke mechanism and heat riser port anyway. The one I got from mark is the right size base plate, like you mentioned and will need a rebuild, of course, before I attempt to use. Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.

Are you sure they used a different manifold? The 59 GMC Pontiac motor I had had a smaller stromberg carb with a regular pontiac intake with an adapter on it.

No, the stock manifold is still on the car. More than one maufacturer used the Rochester 2GC carburetor. The "borrowed" carb fits and functions just like the one that belongs on the car. I used no adapter plate of any kind. It bolted right on. I will upload pictures of the carb I have been using and the new"correct" one when I have time. I have a 307 Chevy motor in my '72 Nova that uses a 2GC carb with the same bolt pattern as the 389 Pontiac.