1964 Pontiac Catalina - Sentimental Journey

Sentimentality-it has value to which few owners could ever apply a dollar amount, and Ray Kehr of Omaha, Nebraska, certainly never envisioned the unequivocal dividends that his $3,800 investment in early-summer 1964 would pay after his passing. No monetary offer to his family could ever be great enough for them to even consider parting with the '64 Catalina that he purchased new, and is now symbolic of Ray.

The Decisions
The Catalina's tale begins like many others- in 1963, Ray and his wife Charlotte were looking at vehicles to replace their '56 Chevrolet. "We decided on a new car, and Ray wanted a Pontiac-a big one with a big engine," says Charlotte. "We went to McKenzie Pontiac in Omaha, looked through the dealer literature, and ordered a Catalina. Ray picked the performance options, and I got to pick the color."

With an endless array of optional equipment available on the various '64 Catalina models, Ray ultimately chose a 389ci engine with Tri-Power induction to motivate his Sport Coupe, and he backed it with a four-speed manual transmission. Charlotte selected Marimba Red for the exterior, and Ray added tri-colored Ventura interior to complement the rich finish.

Memories In The Making
The Catalina was scheduled for production at GM's Kansas City, Missouri, assembly plant on April 27, 1964. It was then shipped to McKenzie Pontiac where the couple took delivery a few weeks later. "The price was $3,843, and we had to make monthly payments on it for three years, but Ray was so happy the day we got that car," recollects Charlotte.

For the next several years, he drove the Catalina regularly-when weather permitted. "It was always garaged, rarely driven in the rain, and he never drove it in the snow," she says. "It was his first new car, and it was his baby. He was so particular and always kept it very clean."

She continues, "He taught me how to drive a manual transmission so I could use it, and it took a while for me to get used to shifting. The clutch pedal was really stiff, and I wasn't ever comfortable driving it, so I didn't use it very often. I took routes with the fewest hills when I did, and I vividly remember how much power it had!"

Daughter Roberta recalls how proud of the car her father was, and a trip the family took to Estes Park, Colorado, with it in the '70s. "I remember riding in the back seat of the Catalina and how much fun that trip was," she says. "I also remember how poorly it ran in the thin mountain air, and how relieved Dad was to get it back home safely."

Retirement
Ray retired the Catalina from regular service in the late '70s with just 38,000 miles on its odometer and took it to the family farm for long-term storage. Though he made recurring pilgrimages to visit his Pontiac and maintain its overall operating condition, he never drove it again. Ray's dad, Alfred, owned the farm and subsequently passed his meticulous nature on to his son-he regularly cleaned and waxed the Catalina for Ray, never giving it a chance to get dirty.

As years progressed, Ray's father passed away, and then his own health took a sudden turn for the worse. Unexpectedly, Ray died in September of 2004, at the age of 61, and his prized Catalina sat dormant while the family regrouped. In May of 2005, Roberta's husband, Dave, offered to maintain the Catalina for Charlotte, and asked if she'd consider bringing it back to her home. She agreed, and, unexpectedly to him, went one step beyond that-she told him that the Catalina was his and promptly had the title transferred into his name.