This 1961 Chevrolet Corvette matches well with the 1957 Ford Thunderbird
Lynn, a car enthusiast from Pinellas County, Florida, is proud of her 1961 Chevrolet Corvette and her husband’s 1957 Ford Thunderbird. Lin says he has owned more than 20 classic cars in his life.
Fox – 13 News
It took me a while to understand why my comments about vintage Pontiacs in my recent My Favorite Ride column were heard from so many people across the United States via text and email.
One of them featured Jim Biddle and his cool 1951 Pontiac Chieftain. By the way, thank you for letting me know that the car had a straight-eight (also known as an inline-eight) rather than a V8 engine under the hood. Pontiac didn’t offer a V8 until 1955.
Another question was why we don’t see many vintage Pontiacs on the streets or at car shows. “Where did all the vintage Pontiacs go?” was the first sentence.
The column ended with, “Does anyone have a 1940s or 1950s Pontiac? Want to check it out? Send us a photo.”
You all complied with that request.
These two columns appeared in Gannett newspapers across the country as part of USA TODAY’s article network, and appeared in all corporate newspapers. I work for a small newspaper in southern Indiana, covering crime and automobiles. This column usually doesn’t run this long.
But we don’t know where My Favorite Rides will end up or why certain rides go viral.
Are these Pontiac focused? The virus doubles.
I couldn’t have predicted something like this. And he apologized to Jim Biddle, who had agreed to let him write about the Chieftain, whom he has owned for 46 years, and made it clear that he was not one to seek the spotlight. “Few people read newspapers anymore,” I assured him.
So wrong.
I heard this from a Pontiac owner in Baltimore, Maryland. Bozeman, Montana. El Paso, Texas. New Orleans, Louisiana. Cocoa Beach, Florida and Canal Winchester, Ohio. Readers from Vancouver and Spokane, Wash., 345 miles away, contacted me after reading columns in their local newspapers, The Columbian and Spokesman-Review.
oh. The headline for this article should be, “A local woman’s quirky car column goes national and makes USA TODAY.”
Joel Steadifor sent me two photos of his 85-year-old classic Pontiac and shared my lament about the dearth of older, older Pontiac cars.
“I think the same thing a lot. I happen to drive a 1940 Pontiac Special Deluxe Coupe, and I’m usually the only pre-’50s Pontiac at the shows I go to,” he said.
“Pontiac parts are pretty hard to find, but I love my car and have never seen a ’40 coupe restored to its original condition like mine. I’ll include a few photos of ‘Beatrice.’ I hope you enjoy watching it. Keep the light burning for vintage Pontiacs (pre-60s!). ”
A lot of great pictures of Pontiacs have come my way. Some are included here.
We’re talking about a 1954 Star Chief, a top-of-the-line 1960 Bonneville convertible, a jet black two-door 1962 Catalina, a 1951 Chieftain, a 1954 Chieftain Custom Catalina, a 1954 Chieftain Special Station Wagon, a 1951 Tin Woody Station Wagon, and a 1940 Special Deluxe named Beatrice. Coupe, 1929 Special Deluxe Coupe. Roadster and two-tone 1955 Pontiac Starchief convertible. A cherry red 1948 convertible located in Bloomington, Indiana.
There may be more columns by the time this column is published.
As Joel Stedifor suggested, I think I’ll keep the light burning for vintage Pontiacs. You need to track down the stories behind these amazing cars. Please bring them to me.
Want to talk about cars and trucks? Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
