All About The El Catalina: Pontiac's Cousin To The El Camino

When Ford launched the Ranchero in 1957, it revived the concept of American car-based pickups that had been popular in the pre-war era. Not wishing to be left behind, Chevrolet responded quickly with the 1959 El Camino, based on the full-size Brookwood wagon. This left Pontiac General Manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen questioning whether his division should also enter the market as well.

To test the idea, Pontiac Engineering built a single prototype. The project began with a 1959 Catalina Safari wagon, spec'd with a 389-CI V8 rated at 300 horsepower, and paired with a Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. Engineers stripped the wagon's body and installed the El Camino's cab and steel pickup bed. Quarter panels from a Catalina two-door were grafted to the bed, and a modified Catalina tailgate, bumper, and taillamps completed the rear. The front sheet-metal from the Safari remained, while the interior gained a Pontiac dashboard and coupe bench seat. While essentially a cut-and-shut job, the finished product was really rather polished.

The prototype, which would later be dubbed the El Catalina, was then presented to Knudsen and John DeLorean, who both admired the El Camino alternative. However, production was rejected, and for good reason, too. The combined Ranchero and El Camino market in 1959 totaled just around 37,000 units, and that was deemed too small to divide between multiple GM divisions. Knudsen also believed a pickup conflicted with Pontiac's growing performance image. As a result, the El Catalina project was shelved.

Instead of being destroyed, the lone prototype was repurposed as a delivery vehicle for Pontiac's parts store. Here, it managed to rack up over 100,000 miles before being sold on in 1969. That year, it received a salvage car title, and was sold first to Jimmy Douglas Auto Sales and later to Darrel Lotridge. Lotridge held the car for decades, but the El Catalina wouldn't see the restorative works he'd started complete until after 2008, when collector Tom Girrard purchased it and entrusted the restoration to Tom White of Massachusetts.

Its 2011 restoration revealed the complexity of the build — restoring a one-off prototype is surely no easy feat. However, once completed, White's work was recognized with a perfect 400-point score at the Pontiac-Oakland Club International national meet, along with Best of Show honors. Further awards followed, including multiple AACA National and Grand National titles and the Otto Rosenbusch Memorial Award at the 2014 Concours of the Americas.

The car was offered at Mecum's Kissimmee sale in January 2019, and while bidding climbed to $240,000, the El Catalina ultimately failed to meet its reserve, leaving the one-of-a-kind Pontiac unsold. If bidding had gotten a little higher, then the El Catalina would've sat comfortably among the priciest Pontiacs ever sold at auction.