The 1949 Pontiac Streamliner Eight DeLuxe station coaster wagon was an anomaly in the postwar machine market place . After World War II , most U.S. automakers sprinkle off their 1942s and go along to sell all the cars they could grow . Problem was , they could n’t build nigh enough because they were handicap by sword dearth and strikes .
Classic Cars Image Gallery
Thus , nearly none of the Big Three halfway - price shuffle get to to change their looks – radiator grille in particular – from 1946 - 1948 , not even for model - yr identification . Pontiac did .
It was n’t necessary , but apparently Pontiac direction felt some loyalty to the one-year model change , so the 1946 and 1947 models feature recognizably dissimilar front death . So did the 1948 , which sported a " floating " taproom at the top of the wicket that doubled as a Pontiac nameplate . The overall effect was to make the front oddment count wider and more massive .
Meanwhile , Chief Pontiac ’s silhouette move up from the grille surround to the bottom of the Silver Streaks , which now numbered three , rather than five . The Chief invite extra massaging as he now razz atop the hood with a red translucent charge card face .
In back , the orthogonal taillights were traded for rotund lamp ( wagons had unlike round unit of measurement ) , which would be used in one form or another for a decade . On the fender , the triple " speedlines " were supplant by a single front fender chrome spear on the DeLuxe ( but not standard ) models .
Of the two serial publication , the Torpedo list semi - notchback sedans and coupes , plus a convertible security . The Streamliner production line was composed of fastback saloon . All model in both serial publication could be ordered as a Six or Eight , and most in standard or DeLuxe form . With all these permutation , there were 30 model number .
For some unexplainable understanding , the post wagon was placed in the Streamliner serial publication – though it was just a fastback . And it came in four model : Streamliner Six and Eight , even and DeLuxe . The wagon seen here is the Streamliner Eight DeLuxe ; at $ 2,490 it was the dear 1948 Pontiac .
The straight - eight engine displaced the same 248.9 three-dimensional inch it had since 1937 , though horsepower had pussyfoot up from 100 to 103 in 1947 , and to 104 for 1948 . For those purpose on more go , a in high spirits compression ( 7.5:1 ) nous boost production to 106 horsepower .
The magnanimous news for 1948 , however , was the arrival of GM ’s four - speed Hydra - Matic . It was a hit : of the 235,419 Pontiacs build that year – 171,946 were so equipped .
The paddy wagon , " a swell relative value , " Pontiac boasted , was to be the last traditional woody the division would ramp up . In 1949 , a " partial " woody bowed , with the wood mainly around the tailgate ; an all - steel wagon take over at mid - twelvemonth .
But in 1948 , Pontiac placard its wagon as " The beginning of a beautiful friendship! … there is no more close or square car to be had anywhere in the world … you may never do better than a Pontiac ! "
For more information on auto , see :
