Lawrence Street Sighting: Pontiac Deluxe

When I am out car-spotting in my hometown of Lawrence, cars that get shot are typical 1960s to mid 1970s cars in various degrees of decay; finding a pre-war anything is fairly rare, unless said car is a hotrod. In that case, I generally don't bother unless it's super cool or is something other than a generic Ford T-bucket; hell, I even pass on most non-T-buckets, too.

I have a strong love for the Tin Indian, and I shoot most of the ones I come across--even in Lawrence; while I am up and up with most knowledge of the 1970s and onward Ponchos, I am quite rusty with anything pre-GTO. I had to ask my friend Jason (who runs California Streets, and who I share Insomniac Garage with along with my friend Chris) what this is, even after doing Google searches for Pontiacs between 1937 and 1946. I finally settled on the fact that one is a  1939 Pontiac Deluxe two door; it lacks fancy trim, but once was home to some nice chrome up front. I would equate this car with maybe a two-door Grand Prix SE from the mid-1990s as far as content and placement in the Pontiac range. Surely, this one has more curb appeal than said Grand Prix ever will, despite not being in good shape. But I'll touch on that later.

Now, I can go out and state the obvious here, but if its obvious, why is it worth stating? This car has an interesting story. I am almost 25 years old, and as long as I can remember, this car has always been like this, or in various stages of "completeness"; as far back as I can remember, this 1939 Pontiac has never been fully finished, and it's gone through three sets of wheels, including a set of Torq Thrust IIs in satin finish, and a set of Colorado Custom wheels during the mid 1990s when Billet was in.

Now, I have no idea whether this car is ever going to be truly finished, but my money is on "no." Currently, it sports (besides the trim) all correct factory parts, including a set of proper factory hubcaps; since this is the first time I've seen them on this car, I would assume they would be in great shape. Nope; as it turns out, these things are extremely pitted and definitely deserve a second chance at life.

Inside, this poor Poncho is looking mostly original, and I'm glad to see the owner didn't Billet the shit out of it when it rode on Colorado Custom wheels; despite losing massive points due to the car never being done, I have to give the owner props for not destroying the interior at least.

So far, this is quite possibly the oldest car I've found roaming Lawrence, and I wish I could find more.