Pontiac 1946-1963 Limited Edition Premier

Road tests & articles from 4 continents cover the post-war Pontiac models from 1946 up to the end of 1963. Covered are the Streamliner, Torpedo, Chieftain, Silver Arrow, Super & Star Chiefs, Eight, Bonneville, Safari, Tempest, Strato-Chief, Ventura, Catalina & Grand Prix. Included are long term tests, new model intros, consumer analysis, touring, tuning & racing. With a total of 160 fully illustrated pages. SB. In common with almost every other manufacturer, early post-war Pontiacs were little more than slightly modified 1942 models that performed reliably, but were pretty unspectacular in most other respects. Things began to change as the Fifties dawned, but it took the arrival of a new V8 engine in 1955 to boost sales significantly. The Pontiac high performance era really got going in earnest following the arrival of Semon E. (Bunkie) Knudsen in 1956. At only 43 years of age and the youngest general manager in GM, Knudsen instigated a development programme that saw the factory actively involved with racing, the advent of the Super Duty V8 and horsepower boosting options made available. A sportier image that was designed to give Pontiac a broader appeal emerged in 1959 and this marked the beginning of the exciting Wide Track period, when these lower and longer models consistently outperformed the competition. As a result Pontiac moved up to third place in the US sales chart at the start of the sixties, a spot it would retain throughout the decade. This book graphically illustrates the transformation of Pontiac from being the maker of run of the mill, everyday family cars to one producing some of the leading and most popular high performance models.