Junkyard Gem: 1964 Pontiac Catalina Custom Ventura

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As Impala, Lark, Malibu and silver (among many others), the Ventura name began its career as the designation of an trim level or option package used on another GM model, then became a model name in its own right. Initially a designation for a snazzed-up Pontiac Catalina two- or four-door hardtopVentura’s name passed to a Pontiac-ized version of the Chevy Nova for 1971. from today Junkyard Gemfound in a Northern California car graveyardproudly carries both Catalina and Ventura badging.

In fact, the Catalina name itself began as a trim level for the 1950s Chieftain and Star Chief models, just to confuse everyone. When was this car built? the catalina it was the cheapest of four Pontiac models built on the same full-size B-Body platform as the big chevrolet and years 88 of the time (the star boss, Bonneville and Big prize ranked above him in the 1964 Pontiac Prestige-O-Meter).

The 1964 Catalina four-door hardtop with the Custom Ventura package offered a lot of luxury for the dollar, starting at $3,063. That’s about $29,821 when converted to inflated 2023 dollars. The main benefit of the Custom Ventura package was a fully Morrokide-trimmed interior. Morrokide was the name that GM applied Naugahyde faux fur when used in Pontiac vehicles; when used on Buicks, it was known as Cordaveenwhile Oldsmobile Naugahyde was called moroccan. Naugahyde took its name from the city of Naugatuck, Connecticut, where it was invented.

The Morrokide on this car is in bad shape. In fact, everything in this car is deteriorated and probably infectious.

You know to be careful when a junkyard car has rat feces warnings tinted on the glass.

That being said, I couldn’t resist examining the 8 track tapes that filled the interior. Here it is Hotel Californiathe 1976 hit album by the Eagles.

by supertramp Parisa live album recorded from 1979 breakfast in america turn, it’s here too.

Here it is The best of Carly Simonfrom 1975.

The tapes played on this Sparkomatic player, which probably lived in the glove compartment or under the seat.

The factory radio was AM only and includes the frequency markings for CONELRAD emergency frequencies of atomic attack. 1964 was the last year for mandatory CONELRAD radios in the United States.

The sorry state of this car suggested it had spent at least several decades abandoned in a field or driveway somewhere, but the bumper has a number of recent parking permits for it. the busy western neighborhood of Santa Cruz. This car must have been parked on the street and registered and may even have been driven in this condition.

There is much of the type of body rust induced by salt spray you see in California cars parked near the Pacific Ocean.

The base engine in the 1964 Catalina was a 389-cubic-inch (6.4-liter) Pontiac V8 rated at 235 horsepower, but that was only in base-equipped cars. three-in-the-tree manual transmission.

This car has the option of three speeds hidramatic automatic transmission, which meant the car got a 389 with higher compression and 267 horsepower; A manual floor-four was also available (and sadly rare on full-size Pontiacs).

A 421 cubic inch Pontiac V8 was optional, but I’m pretty sure this is a 389 (they can’t tell at a glance). The real players got the mighty 421 Trophy with triple carburetors and 370 horsepower, bolted to the four-speed manual.

The first model year of the famous Pontiac GTO was 1964, and his formula for printing money was simple: Take the midsize Pontiac Tempest coupe and drop the 389 full-size Pontiacs. Maybe some NorCal GTO owner will salvage this engine before it hits the shredder.

There was no way such a crude car was going to be restored, so the best we can hope for is that some of its parts live in other cars.

Only the incredible agility of the full-size ’64 Pontiac allows you to get through the tollbooth without paying.