During the 1959 sales year, Pontiac had 23 variations of it's 389cu.in. engine. This was accomplished with one block casting, one head casting, and four intake manifold castings. Different pistons, camshafts, carburators, and machining processes account for these variations in horsepower and torque. Many of these engines were built for export, where gasoline quality was poor, and therefor had very low (7.
compression. Several engines were built for special service such as police and taxi vehicles. These won't be included in the following pricing information since they weren't normally marketed or available to the general buying public of the United States. There are however, nine engines that are of interest to us. The four standard engines listed below did not appear on the window stickers.
All Bonneville engines with manual transmissions were 260hp, 4bbl, 8.6:1 compression
All Bonneville engines with Super Hydra-Matics were 300hp, 4bbl, 10.0:1 compression
All Catalina and Starchief with manual transmissions were 245hp, 2bbl, 8.6:1 compression
All Catalina and Starchief with Super Hydra-Matic were 280hp, 2bbl, 10.0:1 compression
All other engine options were listed on the window sticker with the price as below.
PA TEMPEST ECON. ENGINE-NO CHARGE
PC FOUR BARREL CARBURETOR.....................$ 24.19
PX TRI-POWER CARBURETION.......................$ PRICES DETAILED BELOW
SUPER HYDRA-MATIC BONNEVILLE........................$ 90.30
SUPER HYDRA-MATIC CATALINA & STARCHIEF.......$200.50
MANUAL TRANSMISSION BONNEVILLE...................$233.30
MANUAL TRANSMISSION CATALINA & STARCHIEF..$243.00
PK TEMPEST 420A ENGINE-4BBL CARB...........$ PRICES DETAILED BELOW
SUPER HYDRA-MATIC BONNEVILLE.........................$233.06
SUPER HYDRA-MATIC CATALINA & STARCHIEF........$254.24
MANUAL TRANSMISSION BONNEVILLE....................$276.06
MANUAL TRANSMISSION CATALINA & STARCHIEF...$297.24
PM TEMPEST 420A ENGINE-TRI-POWER..........$ PRICES DETAILED BELOW
SUPER HYDRA-MATIC BONNEVILLE.........................$320.35
SUPER HYDRA-MATIC CATALINA & STARCHIEF........$330.55
MANUAL TRANSMISSION BONNEVILLE....................$363.35
MANUAL TRANSMISSION CATALINA & STARCHIEF...$373.55
Although these prices seem strange at first, Pontiac established them, making some initial cost and price assumptions;
1. If you bought a Bonneville you had already paid for a 4bbl engine.
2. If you wanted to upgrade a Catalina or Starchief to a 4bbl engine the price was option PC above.
3. If you bought a Hydra-matic transmission you had already piad for a high compression engine in any model.
4. The standard manual transmission was not considered strong enough for any engines but the 8.6:1 compression.
5. Manual transmission prices for options PK, PM, and PX reflect the use of a heavy duty 3 speed sourced from??? Probably Buick or Oldsmobile.
6. Options PK, PM, and PX all had a 10.5:1 static compression ratio.
7. The 420E engine was available on any model and body style but required the Super Hydra-Matic transmission.