1963 Pontiac Catalina - Prominent Post

Myriad hobbyists fantasize about owning a Super-Duty Pontiac in their lifetime. Some might prefer an SD-421 Catalina from the early '60s, while others may fancy an SD-455-powered Second-Gen Trans Am. There's no denying that escalating prices in recent times have put these performers out of reach for average hobbyists. Then there are others, like 49-year-old Ken Colacino of Columbus, New Jersey, who amassed a small collection of the Division's most desirable models before prices soared.

The retired New York City firefighter tells HPP he's always had a keen interest in Pontiacs. "I purchased my first when I was 16-a '67 GTO with a 400 H.O. that I still own today. Later, I bought a Cameo Ivory '62 Super-Duty Catalina that I really enjoyed, but eventually sold. I still have a Buccaneer Red '73 Super-Duty Trans Am, a 421 H.O.-powered '63 Bonneville, and another '67 Ram Air GTO. I always wanted another early Super-Duty car, though."

Finding A Rarity
Knowing how serious Ken was in his quest to purchase another Super-Duty, renowned hobbyist Pete McCarthy steered him toward a '63 Catalina that was for sale in the Akron area. "It seems the owner wasn't completely aware of what he had, and while attempting to tune the Catalina's nonoriginal engine, he noticed how easily the inner fenders dented and wondered if his Pontiac was equipped with an aluminum front end. Apparently, with Pete's help, he found that he owned an original Starlight Black Super-Duty Catalina sedan."

Ken phoned the owner and discovered that the Catalina had just under 16,000 miles on its odometer, it had been repainted white, the original block was missing, and a 389 from a '61 Bonneville was under the hood. The car was accompanied by several Super-Duty pieces that were thought to be originals. The two negotiated a price and on January 24, 1992, Ken drove the Catalina 800 miles back to his home on Staten Island, New York. "It had nonstock gears out back and no exhaust system. This was the middle of the winter and it wasn't equipped with a heater, but I didn't care, I just was happy to own another Super-Duty car," he recalls of the trip.

Once home, Ken washed the Catalina's undercarriage to remove the road sludge from the journey and immediately placed the car into long-term storage while he saved money and gathered the correct pieces for its restoration. "I began researching the car's background and found that it was built on March 15, 1963-well after the corporate racing ban. The original manifest shows it was built with aluminum bumpers and a complete aluminum front end. It received no seam-sealer or insulation."

Ken learned that the Catalina was delivered to Cal Wible Pontiac in Medina, Ohio, and was campaigned by Jack Shaw's East Side Pontiac in Lakewood, Ohio, as the "AlumaChief." "I found some old videos taken at Dragway 42 in Medina, and you can see my Catalina running against Anderson Pontiac's '63 Catalina driven by Arlen Vanke. I was told the car ran 11.20s," he adds. After its tenure as a drag car, it appears that the Catalina was street raced, and then sat for a significant length of time.

Not long after purchasing the Pontiac, Ken decided to try his luck and began searching for its original numbers-matching block. "The car never left the area where it was purchased new until I took possession, so I was confident that if the block was still around, it'd be in that general vicinity. I placed ads in the newsletters of the local POCI chapters, and began making phone calls to knowledgeable hobbyists in that area," he states.

Ken's fortitude paid off when he hit the jackpot. "I contacted a hobbyist who was familiar with someone he thought might know of the block's whereabouts. Six years after purchasing the Catalina, I located and bought its original Super-Duty block. It was in pretty rough shape and appeared to have had something in the rotating assembly let go. As a result, the bottoms of the Nos. 7 and 8 cylinder walls were badly damaged."