A rare ride: 1938 Pontiac convertible sedan
A look at a 1938 Pontiac convertible sedan which is believed to be only 1 of 3 known to exist.
In the late 1920s, General Motors added companion nameplates to Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. The idea was to broaden market coverage and fill the price gaps between makes. Pontiac was introduced as the companion to Oakland in 1926 and quickly sold more cars than its parent, which was discontinued in 1931.
The 1937-’38 Pontiacs are sought out by collectors for several reasons. For starters, there was no longer a wood skeleton to rot or warp in a Pontiac body. General Motors bodies were now all steel, including the “Turret Top” roof of sedans and coupes in place of a fabric roof panel. Secondly, the channel-section frame with a central X member was beefed up. In addition, Pontiac replaced its troublesome Dubonnet system that was not very durable with a better independent front suspension. A Hotchkiss rear drive replaced a torque tube system that improved traction in all Pontiacs by this time.
Although engineering improvements are great, it is style that appeals first to a potential buyer, and the Pontiacs had plenty of style. The 1937 and ’38 Pontiacs featured wonderful Art Deco streamlining with swoopy pontoon fenders that bulged from the body, plus rounded hoods that towered over the fenders, butterfly hoods, teardrop-shaped headlamp housings, split windshields and rear suicide doors.
The 1937 and ’38 Pontiac was not a gussied-up Chevrolet. Pontiacs used GM’s new, larger B bodies shared with Oldsmobile, LaSalle and smaller Buicks. One does not have to be a contortionist to get into a relatively roomy ’37 or ’38 Poncho.
Of course, Pontiac’s Silver Streaks must be mentioned. They were designed by Franklin Q. Hershey and were first applied to Pontiacs in 1935. This design feature on the hoods and trunks of Pontiacs identifies them from several blocks away. Hershey allegedly saw a photo of an old French Napier race car with finned oil coolers jutting out from the top of the hood and was inspired to create the Silver Streaks.
In 1937, Hershey produced a grille ensemble consisting of five groupings split down the middle by the Silver Streak. The top grille element ran the length of the hood. Another distinctive feature was the 39-degree slant of the windshield. Virgil Exner, later to be famous at Chrysler Corp., made detail changes to the 1938 Pontiac. He designed a grille with 14 bars that were bisected with a Silver Streak. On the hood sides were 10 louvers for six-cylinder cars and 12 slots for the eights. In the center of the front bumper was an Indian head insignia.
Inside, a rectangular cluster housed the bar speedometer and axillary gauges in front of the driver featuring black graphics over ivory faces. For ’37, there was an generator “idiot light,” replaced in ’38 with an ammeter. The Pontiac interior featured comfortable “living room sofa seats,” and the back seat seemed miles away from the front seat thanks to the large body affording a spacious interior. The clutch and brake pedals jutted out from the floor that was nearly flat with only some transmission intrusion.
For both model years, Pontiac offered a flathead six and eight. The six generated 85-hp — equal to Ford’s Flathead V-8 that year! The eight-in-a-line flattie produced 100 hp. Both engines were vibration-free and quiet.
The Pontiac line included two- and four-passenger coupes; two- and four-door sedans with either a flatback or a bustle-back trunk; a convertible coupe; four-door station wagon; and four-door convertible sedan, its first. Because the open-top sedan was only offered in 1937 and 1938, and only as a flatback, it is a sought-after model. Pontiac shared its convertible sedan body with Buick, LaSalle and Cadillac while Chevrolet never offered the body style in the United States.
The undisputed image model of the Pontiac lineup was the new four-door convertible sedan. Out of 179,244 Pontiacs produced in 1937, Pontiac authority John Gunnell uncovered that just 1,266 convertible sedans were made. The threadbare 1930s were bad enough, but a recession hit in 1938 slowed the United States’ crawl out of the Great Depression and caused Pontiac output to tumble to a low of 77,713 cars. Speculating on that figure, the number of fliptop sedans built in 1938 was probably less than 520 units, because they were the most expensive model in the Pontiac line.
Documented Pontiac convertible sedan survivors include 13 examples from 1937 and just 3 from 1938. The featured vehicle is the 24th constructed in 1938 and is powered by the inline six. It has the column-mounted gear shifter that was first offered in ’38. Other features include safety glass, a lock button on the parking brake, heater and radio.
The owners’ history of the featured car can be traced to the beginning. A Mr. Childs bought it in 1938 and later traded it in for a new Chevrolet in 1947. An 18-year-old U.S. Navy recruiter bought the car at that point. He drove it 2,000 miles to Florida for flight school and 3,000 miles to San Diego for his carrier-based assignment. During the Korean War, the Poncho was stored outside. Upon his return from Korea, the original and faded dark-blue Pontiac was repainted beige. The sailor sold the car to an engineer student in 1952 who kept it until 1958. Ken Walker, of Sacramento, Calif., owned the soft top sedan from 1958 to 1960. Tom Stroup, also of Sacramento, was the caretaker from 1960 to 1985. John Edwards, who moved from Sacramento to Sheldon, Wash., had the convertible sedan from 1985 to 2015. From 2015 to his 2023 death, the Pontiac was owned by Don Bougher of Keizer, Ore. He founded the Pontiac-Oakland Club International in 1972.
With components of the Pontiac in various states of disrepair, Edwards decided to bring the soft-top sedan back to its former glory. For 10 years, he collected NOS parts for a future restoration. In 2003 he began a complete body-off restoration. The home restoration was an incredible investment of dedication, time, skill and money. During the restoration, Edwards had it repainted 1938 Winona Maroon for the body and black for the fenders. This color combination provides flair that really displays the lines on the car. The restoration cost reportedly exceeded $100,000.
In 2013, Edwards’ droptop sedan was one of ten cars invited to an indoor exhibition celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Pontiac. It won a platinum level trophy at the 400-plus car show.
In 2015, Edwards’ sun worshipping sedan participated in the eminent Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance in Oregon where the convertible won first place in class. This was a first for Pontiac at the event. It was a surprise that the home restoration, although impeccable, qualified to be entered.
When Edwards learned he only had a few months to live, he sold the Pontiac to Bougher, who bought it sight-unseen, because he found it too good to pass up since it was a turn-key car without any flaws. Bougher found the Pontiac to be a “see and be seen in” car, and enjoyed the convertible as long as he could.
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