After seeing all that cool stuff at the Hunnert Car Shootout, we decided to go looking for an awesome, old school racer for ourselves. We piled through all sorts of ’55 through ’57 Chevys, some high riding Fords, and then we hit pay dirt with a ’56 Pontiac.
So many retro-race cars are actually modern cars that have been reverse engineered to be “old.” While there’s nothing wrong with that, and in many cases it is the only option to create that look, finding a car that has been a racer for decades is the coolest path.
This 1956 Pontiac Chieftain has been terrorizing drag strips in Texas for nearly 40 years according to the seller. It’s a roller, and we really believe the price is right at only $3,500. From the photo, it seems to us that all the stainless stuff is there. The glass is in the car, the front bumper is present and accounted for, and lastly, those two stainless steel hood “suspenders” are polished up and ready to go.
Who knows the build quality and this thing could really be a nightmare up close, but it would be the perfect starting place to build something that really “fit” an event like the Hunnert Car Shootout, HAMB Drags, or other nostalgia type race.
Pontiac shipped these cars with a 317ci V8 in 1956 that made about 200 hp. We’d put a roots blown 389 in our fantasy version. If the new owner of this one puts a small block Chevy in it, we’ll be truly disappointed.
Is it us, or is $3,500 a really good price for this unique door slammer?
Source — RacingJunk.com — 1956 Pontiac 2dr hardtop Chieftain Drag Car
