KiwiStarChief

I have seen that 2 door post on TM Chris, and thought he was a bit ambitious.

Hi Chris, I found this '57 Chieftain for sale on ebay, and note that it also has the stainless trim on the dash, same as yours. The brochure in my post above shows it without, so perhaps it was an option when the model was built. Who knows 65 years later? https://www.ebay.com/itm/403798764187?hash=item5e04482a9b:g:OMEAAOSwTYBi4DXL

Chris, the radio is a Wonderbar, which was the top option in radios for both Pontiac and Chevy. It has a flip down front where you can preset the station, so when you push one of the five buttons it goes straight to that station rather than turning the knob. In saying that, mine was toast when I got it, so I stripped the back off it just to keep the cool looking façade, and have a stereo in the glovebox. Another thing that intrigued me when looking at your photos, is that the Chieftain dash was painted and didn't have the stainless steel trim on the dashboard when it came out of the factory, as per the brochure below. I think a previous owner maybe had access to a wrecked Star Chief at some stage, as I notice that there is also a Star Chief badge on the left fender, and this should read Chieftain. Here is the link to the 157 Pontiac sales brochure in case you are interested. http://www.pontiacsafari.com/L1EarlyV8Pontiacs/57SalesBrochure/index.htm I love looking through all this history, as the 1950's was a prosperous and wonderful time in the US

Chris, I had to go out and take a look at my dash to see what the wheel is for, but it is not on mine, and has a blanking plate instead. It intrigued me so much that I had to track down what it is, and found this in the owners manual. Learn something new every day.

Chris, re the bonnet hinge, I have a used set that I purchased out of the US a couple of years ago to fix an issue mine had. I even restored one of them, before I found that mine were OK and it was just the springs. I just swapped over the used springs and all fixed. If you are interested let me know.

Hi there Chris, you lucky devil. I'm pleased you finally made it all work after all the discussion we had. You sure do have a lot of work ahead of you, so perhaps that will keep you out of mischief for a while. I wondered about the Corvette suspension you wanted a while ago, so now it all becomes clear. You have now just added one to the Carjam total of 7 by 1. Good on you! Any questions or info I can provide please don't hesitate to ask.

Wow! Talk about sensitive.

That sure is a sweet looking '58!

As has been said previously, depending on what you are looking for there is still '57 stuff out there. I regularly check ebay for '57 parts as a search, and there are all sorts of parts (NOS and used) always coming up.

Just came across this article in Hemmings about a '65 Pontiac with modern 8 lug looking wheels, and thought how cool the car looked. This is not a discussion regarding for/against big wheels that always seem to crop up on other forums, but jus a recognition of a cool looking vehicle. And here is the article all about how the big wheels alter the perceived size of the Pontiac. I thought it was worth sharing. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/06/15/how-oversize-8-lug-stype-wheels-and-tires-visually-tightened-up-this-65-pontiac-22-restomod?refer=news&utm_source=edaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-06-19

That's a sweet looking car, and it looks in pristine condition.

To see so many Poncho's in one place is amazing, so thanks for the pics. I really like the '57 2 door John Zink Co. race Pontiac, but presume it is a tribute car.

Great selection of photos thanks. What an unusual colour that is on the '57 Super Chief, as I've never one this hue before.

Thanks for the compliment Chris. Re BH, we might go down just for the Saturday, so will see as it gets closer.

This is the dash from my '57 Star Chief, complete with a repro 15" Bel Air wheel but with a '57 centre from a Canadian Poncho.

I did some research into this advert some time ago, and it would appear that this was never a Pontiac issued one, but has been released to look like one. Another urban myth.

Till the batteries run out, and then perhaps it could be a submarine!

Looks very Tron like, but at US$777,000 will only be toys for very rich boys.

I sure do love these tri-five Ponchos, and please do tell us more about it! Welcome to the forum.

I didn't notice it before, but the rear fender openings have been cut and radiused to match the front. They used to do this on the old gassers to get bigger tyres under there, or to make it look like a tri-five Chevy Nomad. Not saying it looks wrong, but just different.

Thanks for posting all the images; that was great viewing. Some truly beautiful cars, but also some not so nice in my opinion. It amazes me how somebody can turn something great to look at when it came out of the factory, into something absolutely hideous like the 55 F100 and 50's Chevy pickup customs. I guess somebody must have liked them!

How cool is that nugget of history!

That's one nice looking wagon you have there Mike. Welcome to the site.

Hi Jerry, unfortunately my Wonderbar radio was kaput when I got it, so it is only for display, and I have a stereo in the glovebox. The hidden antenna brings in both AM and FM on the stereo unit. This is what I purchased:= http://www.metraonline.com/part/Aftermarket_Antenna_44-UA200