CarBrandLogos archive · Pontiac · 1949

PontiacChieftain

Pontiac's first genuinely postwar car, with a lit-up chief on the bonnet.

Photo: JOHN LLOYD from Concrete, Washington, United States · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Pontiac history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Pontiac Chieftain, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Chieftain replaced the Torpedo in 1949 and was Pontiac's first properly new design after the war, sharing General Motors' new A-body shell with equivalent Chevrolets. Harley Earl's styling department gave it the lower, wider slab-sided look that GM was rolling out across the corporation, retaining the Silver Streak chrome bands running down the bonnet that had been a Pontiac signature since the 1930s.

1955 Pontiac Chieftan Hardtop · Sicnag · CC BY 2.0

1950 Pontiac Chieftan Silver Streak Sedan

Design and engineering

The detail everyone remembers is the hood ornament: a stylised Native American chief's head in translucent amber plastic that lit up with the headlamps. It was pure ornament and entirely characteristic of the period.

1950 Pontiac Chieftan Silver Streak Sedan · Sicnag · CC BY 2.0

1956 Pontiac Chieftain 2-door sedan, rear left

In production

Mechanically the car was conservative, using Pontiac's long-serving straight-eight with a three-speed manual or the four-speed Hydramatic automatic, until the division's first V8 arrived for 1955 and transformed the range's performance. Assembly ran from the main Pontiac, Michigan plant plus branch factories across the country. Production ended in 1958, with the Catalina taking over as Pontiac reinvented itself around performance rather than dignity.

1956 Pontiac Chieftain 2-door sedan, rear left · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1949–1958

Designer

Harley Earl

Technical specification

The Chieftain, in detail.

Production: 1949–1958
Class: Full-size car
Layout: FR layout
Transmission: 3-speed synchromesh manual; 4-speed Hydramatic automatic
Designer: Harley Earl
Assembly: (main plant); Pontiac, Michigan, United States; (branch assembly); South Gate, California, United States; Arlington, Texas, United States; Wilmington, Delaware, United States; Atlanta, Georgia, United States; Kansas City
Manufacturer: Pontiac (General Motors)