t’s not often that a car has been in the same family for over 60 years. In 1955, Harry Tremaine Sr., Larry Tremaine’s grandfather, was driving a ’53 Pontiac when it was hit by a log truck, causing permanent damage to his leg. Once Harry recuperated, he went to Windolph Pontiac in Portland, Oregon, and ordered this top-of-the-line ’55 Pontiac Star Chief Catalina two-door hardtop.
Many years of driving pleasure with the Pontiac came and went until Larry’s grandfather died. His grandmother drove the car until 1979 and then put it into storage. In 1991, she transferred the title to Larry. In 1992, Larry and his family moved to Oregon to complete his medical residency. The car sat outside for a time and then was put into storage until 2017. That was when the old Poncho was put into Terry Morrison’s capable hands for restoration. Terry and Laurie have run Terry’s Kustom Auto in Wilsonville, Oregon, for many moons and have gone the extra mile to make the ’55 the best of the best.
This project was started with a completely original Star Chief Catalina hardtop, which was the top of the line and 7 inches longer than Chieftain models.
With the body returned, the final metalwork was completed. The body was painted in-house with Bronz Firegold Poly and White Mist two-tone and finished with PPG basecoat/clearcoat urethane. All the chrome and incidental parts that were on the original car have been restored.
The Pontiac overall looks just like a restoration. Terry solved that by designing a set of one-off wheels. He then color coated them to go along with the two-tone paint on the car. Rotiform Wheel Company is a specialty wheel manufacturer that supplied the CVT 18×8 and 18×9 wheels with custom-machined center caps. They have their own line of wheels but also make one-off wheels for customers. This application brought the Pontiac build up to current standards and into the limelight. Add the Diamond Back whitewalls (235/50ZR18 at the corners) and you have a perfect mix of today’s high-tech rides and the great customs of the past.