Does anyone have reference pictures for a '59 Pontiac?

[T-Ray]

Sorry to bother but one project I'd like to do... eventually... involves a '59 Pontiac and I would like to try to design and print some pieces but that brings up an issue, there really aren't that many great "dead-on" shots of these cars on the internet. So, if anyone has anything like that, that would be unimaginably helpful for me, when I get to that. 
Thanks

[ranma]

Any of these help?

[T-Ray]

Thanks! I think the things I need primarily are things like the back bumper

[espo]

4 hours ago, T-Ray said:

Sorry to bother but one project I'd like to do... eventually... involves a '59 Pontiac and I would like to try to design and print some pieces but that brings up an issue, there really aren't that many great "dead-on" shots of these cars on the internet. So, if anyone has anything like that, that would be unimaginably helpful for me, when I get to that. 
Thanks

Google is your friend. Search "1959 Pontiac" and look at the options that pop up. One option is Imagis, and this will give many pictures of real cars. They will offer to show you interior trim as well as body colors. Great way to do some research if you're going for a stock build of a particular body style or trim level. 

[stitchdup]

look through big car auction sites like barret jackson and the ilk. usually loads of well shot pics from almost every angle you can thing off. specialist classic sales sites are a good source too.

[TransAmMike]

Yep, plenty of images on Google as Dave  said.   Many of the individual cars seen are on  a website so click on them for even more pictures.

[T-Ray]

1 hour ago, stitchdup said:

look through big car auction sites like barret jackson and the ilk. usually loads of well shot pics from almost every angle you can thing off. specialist classic sales sites are a good source too.

Thanks, for some reason, I didn't even think of Barrett Jackson

[Ace-Garageguy]

If you really really want to print parts, fine, but you know...there are '59 Pontiac kits out there. Not cheap, but sometimes fairly reasonable if you wait.

Here's one...   https://www.ebay.com/itm/285419613841

There's diecast in 1/24 as well...like this Danbury Mint version for under $200.

Another option would be to buy either of these, take the dimensions you need directly from the parts, or make silicone molds to cast resin parts. Then sell the model on for most likely more than you paid for it.

Just a thought...

 

Edited January 19, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Russell C]

Seems auction sellers are uploading more and more photos of their cars to the Bring a Trailer site: https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=1959+Pontiac

[T-Ray]

15 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

If you really really want to print parts, fine, but you know...there are '59 Pontiac kits out there. Not cheap, but sometimes fairly reasonable if you wait.

Here's one...   https://www.ebay.com/itm/285419613841

There's diecast in 1/24 as well...like this Danbury Mint version for under $200.

Another option would be to buy either of these, take the dimensions you need directly from the parts, or make silicone molds to cast resin parts. Then sell the model on for most likely more than you paid for it.

Just a thought...

 

Believe me, I understand your point and I would ordinarily agree with it if I was going to make a model of a normal Pontiac. However, the thing that I want to do is make a replica of the El Catalina out of the '59 El Camino kit. I actually have a good majority of the pieces to the Pontiac that I found in a box of 60's model junk at a flea market but there was not a hood or a rear bumper. I figured that it would have been more economical to try and make a new hood and rear bumper as opposed to waiting for a reasonable promo/model to show up and hack up. 

[Brian Austin]

Fascinating:

"The restoration was farmed out to Tom White of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and in a 2014 interview with Richard Lentinello for Hemmings Motor News, White recalled:

 

There was nothing standard about this car. It used a station wagon gas tank, a Safari frame, convertible quarter panels, and the floorpan was altered to fit the chassis. In addition, we found that there were massive changes to the cowl in the area of the steering column, and there was a lot done to accommodate the drivetrain. There’s no VIN, just a body tag and an engineering serial number. The body tag reads 2180, which really does not exist in Pontiac books. The first two digits decode directly to Catalina, but the last two are the GM code for the El Camino. ..."

 

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2018/10/15/an-el-camino-pontiac-style-the-1959-el-catalina-prototype

[Brian Austin]

Note that the Pontiac parts are from a Catalina.  Most models handy for kitbashing would be the longer Bonnevilles, I'd think.  There is this resin Catalina kit. 

https://mcwfinishes.com/shop/ols/products/1959-pontiac-catalina-2dr-sedan

[Claes Ericsson]

You could reach out to this guy; I'm pretty sure he is a member of this forum:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/196180173262?hash=item2dad3fe1ce:g:oqcAAOSwLy9iAyuB

 

[T-Ray]

19 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

Note that the Pontiac parts are from a Catalina.  Most models handy for kitbashing would be the longer Bonnevilles, I'd think.  There is this resin Catalina kit. 

https://mcwfinishes.com/shop/ols/products/1959-pontiac-catalina-2dr-sedan

What separates a Catalina from a Bonneville, besides the length of course? The taillights look to be different between the two but they otherwise seem to be the same.