4-Speed Sleeper! 1964 Pontiac Catalina | Barn Finds

Boring looking tight? Oh sure, it’s incredibly clean but this 1964 Pontiac Catalina two-door stripper looks like something that your Uncle Herman, on your mother’s side, would have owned way back when. You know, drove it maybe 4K miles per year and kept it forever – nothing flashy for Uncle Herm, a Pontiac nameplate was juicing it enough. Well, don’t judge a book by its cover, this big Tin Indian has a lot more going on than initially appears. Hanging out in Burbank California, this two-door post sedan is available, here on craigslist where it can be yours for $22,500.

Pontiac had a vibrant lineup in ’64 with the Calalina anchoring the entry-level range beneath the Star Chief and Bonneville though there really wasn’t anything entry-level about a Catalina. Body style included four-door sedans, hardtops, and station wagons as well as two-door hardtops, convertibles, and sedans. And it’s that two-door sedan that is today’s subject as well as being an uncommon body style that year, it mustered just 12K copies.

The seller tells us that his car has experienced less than 1,000 miles since its restoration was completed. Claimed to be a California car, it shows as new. The finish, which looks like Skyline Blue, is without noticeable imperfections, and the chrome is strong as is all of the stainless trim. Before the doggie-bowl hubcap routine became code for a muscle car, that’s the way strippers came –  I know we had several in our household; my father wasn’t the kind of guy to spend much on frills. This body style is wearing some looong quarter panels and they appear to be razor-straight.

The interior is stated to be new and it is bright and clean. It’s also GM era all the way with its two-tone vinyl and cloth upholstery and nylon loop carpet. Completing the look are the front seat airplane-style seatbelts – none in place for the rear, however. Oh, and another item worthy of consideration is the four-speed manual transmission shifter along with a steering column mounted tachometer and under-dash engine gauges, hmmm.

OK, here it is, under that big Poncho hood is a decidedly, non-original 455, CI V8 engine in place of what was likely a 389 CI mill. As for mods, a high-rise aluminum intake manifold, headers, and a non-original carburetor are evident – along with the finned valve covers and open-element air cleaner. There’s no word as to how it runs, but I’m sure “strong” would be one appropriate adjective.

Well, it looks like Uncle Herm is kicking it up a bit; who knew he was such a sport. Looks can be deceiving, right?