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We are back on 4 wheels again this month, in star-studded sunshine-yellow style, with a 1957 Pontiac Star Chief, proudly owned by Russell Wilson. Russell entered the automotive industry directly from school, and told us, “Apart from a 3-year stint in other work, I have spent my entire career in the automotive industry, so I consider myself a true petrolhead.” Russell is a member of the American Classic Car Club, a club with no rules other than new members must own an American classic that is over 25 years old. “We don’t have club rooms, but meet regularly for outings and events, and communicate via email, a quarterly club magazine which I produce, and a website for our almost 100 members, and we are a great social group of owners.” Russell added. In 2012 Russell started looking to replace his much-loved ’56 Bel Air and finally found a ’57 Pontiac 2 door hard top in the States. Body, boot and floors were in good condition but, as is usual from the US, a number of parts were missing (horns, wipers, speedo, stereo etc). The transplanted fuel-injected 5.3 litre Chevy Vortec V8 and 4-speed electronic transmission were in good order and the price was right, so the hard slog of importation, compliance and registration began. Russell said, “Some remedial work was required because the
car was modified with the modern drivetrain. I imported a number of parts to bring it up to WOF standard, along with an electronic converter that reads signals from the transmission and changes them to drive the original Pontiac speedo – and in kph.” Some further work, including replacement front brake rotors, was needed before VINZ finally passed the car as road-legal, some 3 months after importation. In mid-2018, the Star Chief was taken off the road and stripped back to a bare shell and repainted, along with rechroming the 7-piece front bumper, and hand-finishing lots of stainless-steel mouldings. The bright yellow paint job is flawless and complements perfectly the interior trim, which was factory designed to replicate ladies’ off the shoulder design dresses of the time. The star emblems on the seat backs were used for only a few months in 1957, before complaints were raised that they snagged ladies’ clothing, and were deleted from subsequent production. Russell’s Star Chief is therefore exceptionally rare – just one of two known to exist in New Zealand, and can be seen out and about at many car shows throughout the region.
