The Catalina didn’t earn the status of being its own stand-alone model until 1959, as in the beginning, it was merely a trim-level designation for most Pontiac hardtops when the company first began using the name in 1950.  It was Pontiac’s lowest-priced full-size offering in ’59, and the car came standard with a 389 cubic-inch V8.  The Catalina received a restyling for the 1961 model that featured more squared-off body lines, and for ’63 the front end was modified to incorporate vertically stacked headlights, which replaced the horizontal units from the previous year.  If you’ve been in the market for a sixties GM B-Body and like droptop models, this 1963 Pontiac Catalina Convertible might be a good car to check out.  It’s located near Inglewood, California, and can be found here on Craigslist with an asking price of $29,500.

T.J., thanks for your great tip on this one!  The story goes that the owner just doesn’t have the garage room to store all the vehicles he’s picked up through the years, so he’s wanting to find new homes for a few of them to make room for others, with the Pontiac being one of the cars the seller is letting go of.  A couple of more available offerings are a 2005 Lincoln Avatar for $7,950 and a 2011 Dodge Charger R/T at $14,500.  All of the cars including the Pontiac are specified as “or best offer”, so the seller may be willing to negotiate prices on all 3 of them.

We don’t get a whole lot of specific details about the Catalina, but the seller does mention it’s been located and garaged in California for its entire 60 years and that the car is all original.  There’s no word on how long it’s been under the current owner’s watch and whether or not “all” actually means “everything”, such as the finish, but what we can see outside and inside sure looks the part of well-preserved, even down to the hubcaps.  Things inside are falling into the same category, with the components in there presenting nicely to be six decades old, and the seat is also power-assisted.

Sticking out like a sore thumb under the hood is that very blue motor, and it’s not the correct shade of the color either, plus I also seem to remember the air cleaner assembly was originally black in the ’63s.  But everything seems to be in good order in the engine bay area, and there are less than 50k miles showing on the odometer, although no mention if the ticker has ever turned over.  The seller claims the Catalina rides like a dream, but you’ll have to have cash in your pocket or some sort of proof of available funds to find out for yourself before a test drive will even be considered.  I’d like to have at least a little more information about the Pontiac before I got too serious, but overall I’m really liking this one.  How about you?