1969 Pontiac Catalina Convertible

The third generation of the Catalina, along with the other full-size Pontiacs, had launched in 1965. For 1968 they received a mid-cycle refresh, going from stacked quad headlamps to a sleeker side-by-side headlight arrangement, but retaining the coke-bottle flanks of the previous years.

The Catalina was the bottom rung of the full-size Pontiac ladder. The rung above it was split between the sportier Ventura and the posher Executive (née the Star Chief Executive), and the Bonneville and Bonneville Brougham sat at the summit. 

The standard engine was a 290hp Pontiac 400 V-8 with a two-barrel carb and a 10.5:1 compression ratio. A 265hp 400 with an 8.6:1 compression ratio that could turn regular fuel was a no-cost option. There was an optional 428 large-journal V-8 making 360 horsepower, but the pair of tailpipes on this Antique Gold example would indicate that it has sportiest Catalina motor on offer: The 428 V-8 with an unsilenced air cleaner, low back pressure duals, and a 10.75:1 compression ratio that belted out 390 SAE gross horsepower.

The quickest way to tell the ‘68 full-size Ponchos from the very similar 1968 models is that the chrome front bumper on the 1969 cars had a vertical body-colored “Endura” insert in the center of the chrome beak dividing the grille.

This one was snapped with a Nikon Coolpix P7000 in August of 2015.