A Mid-Fifties Star From Pontiac

            It may be hard to imagine as you’re walking around a typical car show that General Motors, or for that matter, just about anyone, else made a car in the mid-1950s except the Chevy Bel Air. The so called “tri fives” from 1955, 1956 and 1957 are generally very prominent at shows all over the country.

            But Russ Fisher knows better. He knows that not only were other quality cars made during those years but also great cars by other G.M. divisions. There’s a reason he should know this, he’s owned four.

            At a recent show Russ was showing off his latest era beauty, a 1956 Pontiac Star Chief convertible.

            “I bought it in 2008 and finished it in 2009,” he said. What he finished was a complete body off restoration. “We restored it to factory original,” he added.

            He wanted to keep this car as close to showroom quality as possible, right down to the paint. “Originally it was black on black but I like red,” Russ said. “These are original factory colors.”

            The car was in pretty good shape when Russ got it. “It had some rust on the frame but not too much,” he said. The car currently shows between 63-64,000 miles but he isn’t sure those are original.

            Not that it matters, Russ is obviously fond of Pontiacs. His very first car was a 1956 Pontiac Catalina 860 convertible which he kept and restored and only sold this past fall. He still owns two others besides the Star Chief.

            “I bought the car from a woman who was going to sell it eventually. I just had to convince her to sell it to me,” he said.

            Though he hasn’t driven the car a lot since he finished the restoration, he has entered a few car shows. One show in particular proved the quality of the both car and restoration job.

            “At the Pontiac Nationals it took Best in Class and the Preferred Vote,” he said. The Preferred Vote came from those in attendance who admired his car.

            While at first glance from a distance one might confuse the Star Chief with a similar era Bel Air, Pontiac made sure to give this car its own personal stamp. There were a number of parts that G.M. made interchangeable with the Bel Air but the Star Chief, which was introduced in 1954, was the division’s top of the line model, set with lots of chrome and upscale options, such as air conditioning in 1955 and seat belts in 1956.

            Fans of I Love Lucy may remember that when the show moved from New York to Hollywood in the 1954-55 season, it was a Star Chief convertible that they drove across country. And understandably so.

            “It has a long wheel base and it rides real well,” said Russ. And, like Pontiacs of the 50s and 60s, it had performance as well. In 1956 they introduced a new 316 cubic inch V-8 engine that, with the “Power Pack” option which included a four barrel dual carb, pushed 227 horse power.

            With looks, power and performance, it’s easy to see why Russ hasn’t looked beyond Pontiac.